The High Point University volleyball team dropped North Carolina A&T, 3-1 (25-12, 27-25, 25-7, 25-10) on Tuesday night in the Millis Athletic Center. HPU improves to 6-2 while N.C. A&T falls to 0-8.
"There were times we played really well and other times we did not perform to our abilities," said HPU head coach Chad Esposito. "We were a little bit flat tonight and at other times looked really good with our defensive movement."
Leading the Panthers was Audie Gonzalez with 15 kills while Anna Lott added 11. Kristina Taylor notched 38 assists and Julie Hershkowitz and Tara Dyer had 15 and 10 digs, respectively.
For the Aggies, Janae Mitchell and Aundia Gray had six kills each. Jordan Gray had 22 assists while Amber Inman had 13 digs.
High Point started the match strong, controlling the pace from the first serve. The Aggies closed the gap to two at the 7-5 mark, but that is as close as they would come as HPU cruised to take the 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second set N.C. A&T jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead, but the Panthers responded with a service run from Lauren Hatch to take the 9-7 advantage. The Aggies refused to go away and tied the game at 11. The Panthers responded with a 6-2 run, that featured a pair of service aces from Taylor, to go up 17-13. HPU remained in control and was up 21-16 before a late surge from the Aggies knotted the set at 21. The Panthers again took the lead and looked poised to take the win, up 24-22, but the Aggies responded and tied the game. A&T went on a 3-1 run to seal the win in he second set and tie the match up at one each.
"It was tough after such an intense weekend and getting off to such a good start in set one," Esposito said. "We got down and allowed A&T to do the things that they do well and it created some difficulties for us."
High Point dominated the third and fourth sets. In the third set the Aggies scored just one offensive points as the Panthers had just six errors in the set. Gonzalez recorded three aces while Lyndsay Rowley and Hershkowitz added one each. In the fourth set, High Point continued its solid defensive play allowing just four offensive points from the Aggies.
"After the break we were able to refocus and get back to executing our game plan. We were able to solidify the next two sets with strong serving and serve receive."
High Point will have a week off before returning to the court on Tuesday, Sept. 16 when the team makes the short drive to Greensboro, N.C. to face UNC Greensboro in Fleming Gym.
