Four players tallied double digit kills as the High Point University volleyball team defeated Big South rival Winthrop, 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 27-25, 25-18) on Friday night in the Winthrop Coliseum.
"This was a great road victory especially against a Winthrop team that is playing much better than when they were at our place," said High Point head coach Chad Esposito. "Our defense was unbelievable tonight and kept us in some long rallies. It allowed us to score points and take away their advantages. "
Leading the Panthers was (24-5, 12-2 Big South) was Lindsay Raus with 15 kills. Audie Gonzalez had 12 kills while Ashley Mellott and Stephanie Wallin had 10 kills each. Kristina Taylor recorded 44 assists and Julie Hershkowitz had a season-high 31 digs.
For the Eagles (9-16, 5-7 Big South) Shannon Sitzmann tallied 22 kills while Kelley Taylor had 11. Chrissie Albers and Kelsey Hall recorded 25 and 23 assists, respectively. Janice Rivera had 27 digs.
High Point and Winthrop opened play trading points and were tied at nine. The Panthers went on an 8-1 run to go on top 17-10. Winthrop responded with a run of its own and pulled to within one at the 21-20 mark. Errors by the Eagles and a pair of kills from Mellott gave HPU the final four points to take the win in the first set.
The Eagles came out strong in the second set, taking a quick 12-5 lead. High Point looked to rally and pulled within five at 15-10, but that is as close as the Panthers would come as Winthrop rolled to the win, knotting the match at one set each.
HPU took an early 7-4 lead behind the serving of Lauren Hatch to open the third set. Winthrop battled back and tied the set at 13 each on a service ace from Sitzmann. The Panthers responded with a 7-2 go back on top 20-15 off a kill from Anna Lott. WU would not back down and again knotted the score at 22. The two teams saw ties at 23, 24 and 25, but a kill from Raus and an attack error by the Eagles gave the Panthers the final two points to clinch the set.
High Point and Winthrop kept the fourth match close and were tied at 11 before High Point broke open the scoring with a 6-2 run to go up 17-13 off a kill from Raus. The Eagles looked to rally, but High Point easily closed out the set to secure the match.
"It was so important for us to get back to playing the way that we are capable of playing. Mentally we really pulled it together tonight. I am very proud of the way we responded in adverse conditions tonight and were really able to maintain our focus throughout the entire match."
The Panthers will be back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 11 when they host Big South foe Liberty. . Match time is set for 7:00 p.m.
