Box Score |
BOX SCORE (PDF)• Senior
Chelsea Davis led the Panthers with a double-double (12 kills, 12 digs)
• Freshman
Camryn Freiberg added 11 kills and hit .588 in the match
• The Panthers open the Big South Tournament Thursday as either the No. 6 or No. 7 seed.
Â
CONWAY, S.C. – The High Point University volleyball team pushed Coastal Carolina to the limit Saturday afternoon before ultimately falling to the Chanticleers, 3-1, inside the HTC Center in the Panthers' regular season finale.
Â
The Purple & White dropped the first two sets (25-18, 25-19) but stormed back to win the third frame, 25-18. HPU took the Chanticleers to the brink in set four but fell just short in a 25-23 effort.
Â
HPU finishes the regular season with a 6-8 league record (12-15 overall) and will learn its Big South Tournament seed at the end of the day on Saturday. The Panthers will enter the tournament as either the No. 6 or No. 7 seed this coming Thursday at CCU.
Â
"We fought extremely hard in today's match," head coach
Jason Oliver said. "I thought our team showed a lot of character and resiliency coming off a quick turnaround from a 7 p.m. match last night to a match today at 11:30 a.m. We're excited about the opportunity to come down here and play the conference tournament next weekend. We're going to take a lot of positives away from this match."
Â
Three Panthers posted double-digit kill totals to lead the HPU offense. Senior
Chelsea Davis registered her sixth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 12 digs, while freshman
Camryn Freiberg added 11 kills and hit a sizzling .588 while contributing three solo blocks. Sophomore
Megan Kennedy added 11 kills and six digs for HPU.
Â
Junior
Gabi Mirand distributed 32 assists and added six digs, while junior libero
Wavie Chin notched 21 digs to lead the HPU back row.
Â
CCU raced out to a 10-4 lead in the opening set and led 17-9 midway through the frame. The Panthers used a 3-0 run to cut the Chanticleers' edge to three (18-15), but Coastal Carolina responded with a 3-0 run of its own to go back up six (21-15) and hold on for the first set victory.
Â
After CCU led 7-3 early in the second set, HPU cut it to one at 10-9. But a kill from Eszter Nagy pushed CCU back up five at 17-12 and the Panthers could not get closer than three (19-16) for the remainder of the frame as the Chanticleers took the second set, 25-19.
Â
HPU surged back in set three and led 11-9 early in the frame. The Panthers used a 3-0 run – featuring kills from Heldt and Freiberg – to move ahead by five (15-10) and HPU extended its lead to seven (23-16) after an ace from Davis. The Panthers punctuated the fourth-set victory with a kill from Freiberg to make it 25-18.
Â
In set four, CCU used a 6-0 run to go up 13-7, but HPU responded with a 5-0 run of its own to cut the Chanticleers' edge to 15-14. A block from Davis tied the set at 17-17 and the Panthers again tied the game at 20-20 on a block from senior
Katie Vincent. CCU set up match point at 24-22, and HPU deflected the next point after a kill from Kennedy. But CCU took the final point on a kill from Leah Hardeman to win the set, 25-23, and the match.
Â
HPU will open the 2014 Big South Tournament this coming Thursday. The Panthers will enter the event as either the No. 6 or No. 7 seed and
Â
#GoHPUÂ