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• A day after setting a career high in digs, senior Megan Kennedy upped her career best in kills with 21 on the day.
• Junior Haley Barnes recorded her 12th double-double of the year with 20 kills and 12 digs.
• Five different Panthers racked up double digits in digs as High Point held CSU to a .159 attack percentage.
 
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Senior Megan Kennedy and junior Haley Barnes each registered double-doubles as the High Point University volleyball team picked up a 3-1 victory at Charleston Southern on Saturday.
 
From their outside hitter spots, Kennedy (21 kills) and Barnes (20 kills) combined for 41 of the Panthers' (16-7, 7-3) 63 kills. Meanwhile, the Bucs (11-13, 6-2) could only muster 50 kills and a .159 attack percentage against HPU.
 
"Charleston Southern has been a very difficult place for teams to get a road win, so I'm very proud of our effort to put together a strong match and win in four sets," head coach Tom Mendoza said. "I was very happy with most areas of our game through the first two sets and I felt we rebounded back into form for a majority of the fourth set. Six of our seven sets this weekend were the quality that we are looking for and that's the type of consistency that we want to continue to build on moving forward."
 
Less than a day after upping her career high in digs, Kennedy set a new career mark with 21 kills. The Coppell, Texas native added 13 digs for her fourth double-double of the year.
 
Likewise, Barnes posted a double-double – her 12th of the season – with a dozen digs to go with her 20 kills. Both Kennedy (.367) and Barnes (.320) hit over .300 as High Point hit at a .250 clip on the day.
 
As a team, the Panthers racked up 70 digs as five different players tallied double digits in digs. Junior Amy Pilat notched 11 digs while junior Carly Jimenez and freshman Jenna Smith added 12 and 10, respectively.
 
The Purple & White rode their middle blockers on Friday night, but the Bucs focused on sophomores Molly Livingston and Jordan Hefner holding them to just nine kills combined. However, the duo made an impact on the defensive side combining for nine blocks.
 
Rounding out the Panthers' attack, sophomore Katie Tylman posted nine kills and two blocks as redshirt-senior Savannah Angel had four kills and a block.
 
The home team built a 15-9 lead midway through the opening frame. However, Barnes and Kennedy combined for seven kills as the Panthers finished the set on a 17-9 run to take a 26-24 victory.
 
In the second set, HPU grabbed a 6-4 lead before Barnes hammered down three straight kills to make it 9-4. The Neenah, Wis. product then added two more kills and two block assists to help up the lead to 14-6.
 
Then, after CSU battled back to within four (14-10), Barnes served up a 4-0 run as HPU regained an eight-point advantage (18-10). From there, the Bucs couldn't get any closer than six as the Panthers took the set 25-15.
 
Out of the intermission, the Charleston Southern defense was able to slow down the High Point attack. After allowing HPU to hit over .300 in the first two frames, the Bucs held the Panthers to a .158 clip to take the set 25-18.
 
The squads split the first 12 points before two kills from Barnes sparked a 4-0 spurt to give HPU a lead (10-6). The Bucs refused to go quietly clawing back to within one at 22-21, but Kennedy posted two kills down the stretch to secure the 25-22 win.
 
High Point and Charleston Southern will matchup again on Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. in a makeup contest in the Millis Center.
 
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