Box Score PDF

• Junior Haley Barnes led the Panthers with 17 kills while picking up 12 digs in the victory.
• Sophomore Abby Broadstreet tallied a season-high with nine kills and 11 digs to go along with three aces.
• Sophomore Molly Livingston and junior Amy Pilat were named to the Wolfpack Invitational All-Tournament Team.
 
RALEIGH, N.C. – The High Point University volleyball team erased an 11-point deficit in the first set to grab momentum en route to a 3-1 over Delaware in the Wolfpack Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
 
Junior Haley Barnes paced the Panthers (7-3) with 17 kills and 12 digs in the match as they posted a 56-46 edge in kills over the Blue Hens (4-5).
 
"Today was a quick turnaround from beating N.C. State last night to playing SMU this morning, then turning around and playing Delaware right away as well," head coach Tom Mendoza said. "We've been working on keeping our level of play up late in matches and as we fatigue, so this was a great experience. There were some stretches that we would have liked to play cleaner, but overall we handled it well and fought through a solid Delaware team to finish off a good weekend. We will go back and look at the film and work to continue to improve for Wake Forest next weekend."
 
Including Barnes, five Panthers finished the match with at least seven kills in the victory highlighted by sophomore Molly Livingston tallied seven kills in the first set en route to a 12-kill, five-block performance.
 
Likewise, sophomore Abby Broadstreet had her biggest outing of the season registering nine kills, 11 digs and three aces. She also keyed to 11-0 run from the service line.
 
Two other sophomores – Katie Tylman and Jordan Hefner – rounded out the balanced offense with eight and seven kills, respectively.
 
Defensively, High Point earned a 52-50 edge in digs while holding the Blue Hens to a .189 attack percentage. Junior Amy Pilat tallied 13 digs in the match while freshman Jenna Smith added eight to go with 25 assists.

Pilat and Livingston were named to the all-tournament squad - Livingston has earned the honor in all three tournaments this season.
 
The Panthers struggled early in the first set falling behind the Blue Hens by 11 points (22-11). Livingston changed momentum with a kill to spark an 11-0 run behind Broadstreet's serving – two aces – to even the score at 22-22.
 
From there, the teams went back and forth until Tylman, Livingston and Barnes posted three straight kills to complete the comeback and give HPU a 28-26 victory.
 
High Point kept the momentum going in the second frame as a 6-1 run gave the Purple & White a 10-5 edge. However, Delaware quickly fought back to tally a 17-13 advantage.
 
Once again, the Panthers clawed back with a 9-3 run to regain a 22-20 lead. However, HPU couldn't close the set as the Blue Hens scored five of the last six points to take the set 25-23.
 
In the third frame, High Point used two kills from Barnes and an ace from both Broadstreet and Livingston to take a 7-2 lead. From there, Delaware couldn't get any closer than three (10-7) as the Panthers earned a 2-1 lead with a 25-17 victory.
 
Smith sparked HPU in the fourth set as she served the Panthers on a 7-0 run to begin the frame as Broadstreet added two kills. However, the Blue Hens wouldn't go quietly as they cut the deficit to one (16-15).
 
But the Panthers never gave up the lead as Tylman posted three kills down the stretch to help HPU earn the 25-20 win.
 
The Panthers remain in the Triad next weekend playing in Wake Forest's Black and Gold Invitational. HPU opens action on Friday at 4:30 against Charlotte before taking on Wake Forest (Sat. 1 p.m.) and Wofford (Sat. 5 p.m.).
 
#GoHPU