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HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University volleyball team kicks off its 4-match homestand against Radford and Liberty in the Millis Center this weekend.
 
The Panthers (11-7, 1-1) enter the weekend winners of six of their last seven matches while Radford (8-8, 1-2) and Liberty (8-8, 3-0) come in with .500 records.
 
Last Time Out:
On Friday night in Conway, S.C., the Chanticleers snapped HPU's 6-match winning streak with a 3-1 home win. The Purple & White came out strong taking the first set, but couldn't continue the success against the preseason Big South favorites.
 
Freshman Molly Livingston paced the offensive attack for the Panthers with 11 kills on a .474 attack percentage. Meanwhile, sophomore Haley Barnes recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs. Senior setter Gabi Mirand equaled her season high with 16 digs to go along with 33 assists.
 
Defensively, senior Annemarie Chin racked up 18 digs as the Panthers earned a 76-73 edge in digs. At the net, freshmen Jordan Hefner and Livingston combined for five of the team's seven total blocks.
 
Scouting the Highlanders:
Despite being 8-8 after 16 matches, the Highlanders have already racked up two 3-match winning streaks on the year. In its last outing, Radford earned its first Big South win at home against Gardner-Webb in four sets.
 
Sophomore Maddie Palmer – a preseason all-conference selection – is the focal point of the Radford attack. The outside hitter is leading the Big South with 4.32 kills per set and is 10th in the league and second on the team with 3.60 digs per set.
 
Freshman Haley Kleespies doesn't qualify for the conference stat leaders with just 42 sets played, but is averaging 10.81 assists per set on the year. Meanwhile, redshirt-senior Megan Short anchors the middle with a .367 attack percentage and 0.68 blocks per set.
 
Last Time They Met:
HPU and Radford played two 5-set thrillers last season with the Highlanders edging the Panthers both times. In the two matches, Barnes averaged 3.00 kills and 2.40 digs per set while Mirand dished out 10.40 assists per set.
 
Scouting the Flames:
After a 4-8 start, Liberty comes into the weekend riding a 4-match winning streak with three of those victories coming against Big South foes. Redshirt-senior Caroline Douglas leads the squad and is seventh in the league with 2.84 kills per set.
 
In the middle, the Flames rely on redshirt-senior Jade Vorster and sophomore Sirena Vorster. The sisters combine for 4.69 kills and 1.79 blocks per set with both tallying an attack percentage over .280.
 
Sophomore setter Anna Willey is second in the Big South with 9.39 assists per set while freshman libero Margaret Latchford is fifth in the league with 4.33 digs per set.
 
Last Time They Met:
After splitting the two regular season showdowns, the Panthers swept the Flames in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Big South Tournament in Conway, S.C. last year. In the sweep, then-freshmen Barnes and Camryn Freiberg combined for 19 kills as Mirand tallied 14.00 assists per set and five service aces.
 
Panther Notes:
• Senior Annemarie Chin is sitting atop the Big South and at fifth in the nation with 5.77 digs per set.
 
• Chin has racked up 1,643 digs in her career and is 83 digs away from tying Audie Gonzalez for second all-time in the program's Division I era.
 
• The Purple & White lead the league and are 10th in the nation with 17.20 digs per set.
 
• Sophomore Haley Barnes is third in the Big South with 3.56 kills per set and has registered nine double-doubles on the year.
 
• Freshman Jordan Hefner leads all Big South newcomers with 0.93 digs per set and a .328 attack percentage.
 
• In the last seven matches freshman Molly Livingston is averaging 2.24 kills and 0.76 blocks while hitting at a .411 clip.
 
• After averaging 1.74 kills per set after the team's first 10 matches, sophomore Camryn Freiberg is posting 2.79 kills per set over the last three weeks.
 
Next Up:
The Panthers will continue their homestand next weekend against Winthrop (Oct. 16 at 7:00 p.m.) and Presbyterian (Oct. 17 at 2:00 p.m.) in the Millis Center.
 
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