Ashley Mellott tallied 23 kills to lead a quartet of Panthers in double digit kills as the High Point University volleyball team dropped Presbyterian 3-2 (25-23, 21-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-9) on Friday night in the Millis Athletic Center.
"I am really pleased to come out of this match with a victory," said HPU head coach Chad Esposito. "We were a little flat the first two sets , and I was really impressed with how well Presbyterian played all match. Defensively both teams were running a lot of balls down and putting a lot of pressure on offenses to try and terminate."
The Panthers (21-3, 9-0 Big South) recorded 67 kills on the night as a team. Audie Gonzalez and Stephanie Wallin added 13 kills while Lindsay Raus had 12. Gonzalez had her ninth double-double of the season with a team-high 21 digs. Julie Hershkowitz had 20 digs. Kristina Taylor had 52 assists in the match.
For the Blue Hose (6-16, 3-7 Big South) Kelsey McKee led with 19 kills. Lisa Shelley and Amanda Kettles notched 16 and 10 kills, respectively. Shelley also recorded a double-double adding a match-high 24 digs. Rachel Lewis had 44 assists.
In the opening set HPU and PC traded points as the set hat 14 ties and three lead changes. The two teams had their last tie at 21. High Point took the lead off a kill from Taylor and scored the next three to go up 24-21. A kill from Raus on the final rally gave HPU the 1-0 set lead.
High Point took a quick 6-2 lead in the second set, but PC battled back to tie the set at 13. The two teams kept the score close and were tied again at 20. Presbyterian scored the next three points to take the lead. Gonzalez had kill to get the ball back on High Point's side, but PC responded on the next rally with a kill from Shelley. An attack error by HPU on the next point gave PC the win and knotted the match.
The Panthers came out on fire in the third set and jumped out to a 5-0 lead fueled by four straight kills from Gonzalez. High Point continued its run and took its largest lead of the set at 22-12 off a kill from Raus. PC looked to make its move, going on a 7-1 run to close the gap at 23-19, but back-to-back kills from Mellott put the Panthers up 2-1.
High Point and Presbyterian kept the score close in the opening of the fourth set. PC took the lead at 11-10 and HPU was never able to overcome the Blue Hose as PC knotted the match.
In the final set High Point came out strong and took a 10-4 lead off an ace from Raus. The Blue Hose cut the lead to four at 10-6, but that is as close as they would come as HPU outscored them 5-3 to close out the match.
"It has been a week since we have played and we weren't 100% in sync, so it took us awhile to get going," Esposito said. "To Presbyterian's credit they stuck around and got back in there winning that fourth set. Ashley Mellott really stepped up and gave us that lead in the fifth set and we were able to sustain it. Every match in the Big South is a tough match, on any given night any team can play well and beat another. We have to maintain focus every time we step on the court."
High Point will host UNC Asheville on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in the Millis Center.
