The High Point University volleyball team fell to Coastal Carolina, 3-1 (13-25, 21-25, 25-17, 20-25) on Saturday in Big South action. HPU falls to 23-5 overall and 11-2 in League action while Coastal improves to 20-8 on the season and 9-3 in conference.
Stephanie Wallin tallied 16 kills in the match. Lindsay Raus and Audie Gonzalez each had seven. Kristina Taylor had 37 assists and Julie Hershkowitz notched 11 digs and hit a milestone with her 1,000th career dig.
Chelsy Kimes had 27 kills for the Chanticleers while Amanda Russell added 11. Meagan Tracey put up 52 assists and Brett Starbuck recorded 22 digs.
The Chanticleers opened the first set with a 17-5 run. The Panthers tried to battle back, but the deficit proved too much as CCU rolled to the 1-0 match lead.
In the second set HPU and CCU kept the match close, but Coastal opened up the scoring to take a 14-6 lead off a service ace from Megan Pollard. The Panthers closed the gap with an 8-2 run to pull within two at 16-14. CCU pulled ahead by four, but the Panthers again cut the lead and were within one at 22-21. Three straight kills by Kimes gave the Chanticleers the final three points to take the 2-0 set lead.
High Point came out strong in the third set, taking a 12-9 lead. The Panthers kept the momentum going with an 11-6 run to take a 23-15 lead. On the next rally Gonzalez got a kill to give HPU set point. An attack error by CCU on the final point gave HPU the set win.
High Point and Coastal traded points to open the fourth frame and were tied at eight. Coastal went on a 12-5 run to take a 20-13 lead. High Point made a run of its own and closed the gap to three at 22-19. A pair of kills from Kimes and an attack error by the Panthers gave CCU he final points to take the match.
"I'm really disappointed in our effort today," said head coach Chad Esposito. "We started out really flat and really out of sync and Coastal was able to take advantage of that. It was an important match for us, being on the road and we just didn't play well enough to win today. We pulled it together a little bit in the third set and tried to make a match of it. Unfortunately we let them get a little lead in the fourth set that we were just never able to overcome. We struggled today to try and find our rhythm. We have to get refocused and get back to where we had been playing this season."
High Point will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 7 when it travels to Rock Hill, S.C. to face Winthrop University at 7:00 p.m.
