Junior Audie Gonzalez recorded her 1,000th career dig as she led the High Point University volleyball team past East Carolina University, 3-2 (25-17, 25-17, 27-29, 23-25, 15-12) on Friday at the High Point University Classic. HPU improves to 3-2 on the season while ECU falls to 5-1.

"Audie is such a tremendous all-around athlete and player," said HPU head coach Chad Esposito. "It is special that she got her 1,000th dig tonight along with the win."

Gonzalez posted a double-double with 23 kills and 15 digs to lead a quartet of Panthers in double digit kills. Ashley Mellott had 18 kills, Lindsay Raus added 14 while Stephanie Wallin recorded 12. Senior Kristina Taylor also posted a double-double with 18 digs and a career-high 67 assists. Libero Julie Hershkowitz had 26 digs in the five set match.

For the Pirates Lizzy Bruin had 17 kills and Erica Banning added 13. Katie Koop recorded 33 assists while Trish Monroe had 27 digs.

"This was a terrific team win," Esposito commented. "We had a total team effort tonight and to be able to play like we did in front of our home crowd just made the win even more special. Our team played with such heart and passion throughout the entire match and even at times when we struggled, they were fighting for every point. That is the sign of a truly special team."

High Point controlled much of the first set, taking the lead at 5-4 and going on an 11-3 run to take its largest lead of the set at 16-7. The Pirates tried to rally, cutting the lead down to four at 20-16, but HPU went on a run of its own to outscore ECU 5-1 to close out set one and take a 1-0 lead in the match.

In the second set the two teams traded points until High Point went on a five serve run to break the 12-12 tie and take the 17-12 lead. The Pirates were unable to overcome the deficit as HPU rolled to the 25-17 victory and take the 2-0 lead.

The third set was a battle between the two teams with 10 ties and eight lead changes. East Carolina held the two point lead at 24-22 but High Point fought back to tie up the score at 24 all. The two teams tied at the 25th, 26th and 27th points, before East Carolina broke the trend to win by two to force the fourth set.

East Carolina came out strong in the fourth set and took a quick 15-4 lead, but the Panthers would not go away and rallied behind the serving of Tara Dyer and Julie Hershkowitz to go on a 14-2 run and take the lead at 18-17. ECU was able to hold off the Panther surge to knot the match at two sets each.

High Point dominated the final set and led from the first point. ECU never got closer than two points as HPU claimed the victory.

"We made a lot of adjustments and were able to execute our game plan to combat East Carolina's strengths from our match last week," Esposito said. "Players stepped up all week and focused on this and on a lot of the little things that helped make us successful tonight."