Stephanie Wallin led a trio of Panther attackers with double-digit kills as the High Point University volleyball team defeated Big South rival Winthrop, 3-1 (25-18, 25-14, 22-25, 25-14) on Friday night in the Millis Center. The win marked the first time that High Point has defeated Winthrop in volleyball. The Panthers improve to 6-0 in League play (17-3 overall) while the Eagles fall to 2-3 in the conference and 5-12 overall.

The Panthers also sponsored "Dig for the Cure" on Friday night, raising over $4,500 for the Susan G. Koman Foundation.

"This was a historic win for us tonight," said High Point head coach Chad Esposito. "It was even better that we were able to do it for such a worthy cause in the 'Dig for the Cure' match. Our team continues to excel on the court, in the classroom and in our community service endeavors."

Wallin recorded 16 kills in the match. Lindsay Raus and Audie Gonzalez both added 10 kills each. Gonzalez recorded her eighth double-double of the season, also recording 13 digs. Julie Hershkowitz led the back line with 20 digs in the match. Kristina Taylor had 40 assists. Senior Ashley Mellott hit a career milestone tonight, recording her 1000th career kill.

For the Eagles, Shannon Sitzmann had 14 kills. Sara Felts added 10 kills. Chrissie Albers had a double-double with 23 assists and 10 digs. Janice Rivera led the team with 16 digs.

The Panthers came out strong in the opening set, taking a 12-7 lead behind the serving of Gonzalez. Winthrop cut it to two at 13-11, but High Point responded to take a five point lead at 17-12. HPU closed out the set outscoring WU 8-5.

High Point jumped out to a quick 17-7 lead off a kill from Mellott. Winthrop was unable to overcome the deficit as HPU rolled to the 2-0 set advantage in the match.

Winthrop made some adjustments during the intermission to come out strong in the third set. They took their largest lead of the set at 18-12. The Panthers battled back to cut the lead to two at 23-21. The two teams traded serves to keep the Eagles on top by two. A kill from Sitzmann on the final point would give WU the set.

The Panthers opened the fourth set with a service run from Gonzalez that featured three straight aces to put High Point up 9-3. HPU would get the ball back two rallies later as Taylor went on a service run of her own to give High Point a 14-5 lead. High Point easily closed out the set to secure the match.

"We played really well as a team tonight," said Esposito. "We completely got Winthrop out of rhythm in the way that we served tonight which led to our being able to get advantages in this match. I'm proud of the way our team continues to work hard especially on defense and their ability to come together as a unit. We have selfless players who are really proud in just being a team."

High Point will be back on the court on Saturday when it hosts St. Andrews Presbyterian at 3:00 p.m.