Box Score BOX SCORE

The High Point University volleyball team battled back from an early 2-0 deficit but couldn't complete the rally and dropped a 3-1 match to UNC Greensboro Saturday at the Patriot Invitational hosted by George Mason. Courtney Johnk had 10 kills for HPU while Michelle Chakirelis had nine.

After hitting .074 through the first two sets the Panthers hit .360 in the third and won the set. Freshman Kristin Heldt had five kills in the winning frame. The fourth set was a battle, with the score tied at 24-24. The Spartans pulled out the win to take the match 3-1 (18-25, 21-25, 25-13, 24-26).

“UNC Greensboro did a great job of serving us out of system,” said head coach Jason Oliver. “If you look at the stats we played well but we showed our youth at times and had a hard time responding and adjusting. We need someone to step up and take control of the match.”

Johnk had 10 kills and two blocks while junior Jamie McDonald put down five kills and five blocks. Chelsea Davis chipped in eight kills and 17 digs while senior Breanna Holliday had a match-high 22 digs.

Errors hurt the Panthers in the first set and UNC Greensboro pulled out a 25-18 win. HPU committed four service errors and four ball handling errors in the frame, giving the Spartans eight unearned points. Johnk had three kills in the set while Heldt, Chakirelis and Davis each had two.

High Point limited the errors in the second set, with just three from the service line but the Spartans pulled out a 25-21 set win to take a 2-0 advantage. UNCG outhit the Panthers .088 to .033 in the second frame. HPU tied the set as late as 17-17 to force UNCG to use a timeout. After the break the Spartans controlled the match, putting down four kills to go with a block and three High Point errors.

The Panthers found their offensive rhythm in the third set, hitting .360 with 11 kills and only two attack errors and won the frame 25-13. Heldt had five kills and Johnk had three in the win. The Panthers took control of the frame with Davis at the service line, going on five-point run to lead the set 20-9. An ace by Davis gave HPU the 11-point lead. UNCG sided out on the next point but couldn't gain any momentum and HPU won the set 25-13.

UNCG had match point at 24-20 in the fourth set but the Panthers battled back to knot the match 24-24. Johnk had back-to-back kills early in the run and a Spartan attack error tied the set. Ariel Newman put down a kill to give UNC Greensboro match point again and Chakirelis committed an error for the Spartans final point of the match.

The Panthers return to action in the Patriot Invitational at 5 p.m. against Navy.