Box Score PDF

• Sophomore Katie Tylman paced the High Point offense with 15 kills while hitting at a .542 clip.
• Junior Haley Barnes eclipsed the 800-kill mark for her career with 12 kills while adding 13 digs.
• Sophomore Molly Livingston and freshman Jenna Smith tallied five and four aces, respectively, as the Panthers posted a season-best 12 in the match.
• The win gives High Point the Black & Gold Invitational title with the all-tournament team to be named at the conclusion of the final match.
 
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sophomore Katie Tylman racked up 15 kills as the High Point University volleyball served 12 aces in a four-set triumph over Wofford in the Black & Gold Invitational at Wake Forest on Saturday evening.
 
Tylman's 15 kills on a .542 attack percentage led three Panthers (9-4) with double-digit kills. Defensively, HPU held the Terriers (7-7) to a .144 attack percentage while hitting at a .262 clip.
 
The Black & Gold Invitational title is High Point's second title of the non-conference season as the focus turns to Big South action on Tuesday at Radford.
 
"Today was a great way to close out the non-conference season and rebound off a disappointing match last night," head coach Tom Mendoza said. "It would have been easy to look past today towards conference play or be hung up on last night, but we came out with a solid focus on beating two quality teams. I thought we had two great team wins with contributions up and down our roster. In the non-conference season we won two tournaments and finished second in the other two, which gives us confidence moving into Big South play.
 
From the outside hitter spot, junior Haley Barnes and senior Megan Kennedy provided well-rounded performances for the Purple & White. Barnes posted a double-double (12 kills and 14 digs) while eclipsing the 800-kill mark for her career. Similarly, Kennedy just missed a double-double with 10 kills and nine digs.
 
Despite not having her typical outing on the attack, sophomore Molly Livingston made her presence felt with a career-high five aces and six blocks. Freshman Jenna Smith also got it going from the service line with four aces to go with 11 assists and eight digs.
 
From her middle blocker spot, sophomore Jordan Hefner chipped in with five blocks and five kills while redshirt-senior Savannah Angel posted three kills and two blocks.
 
Orchestrating the offense along with Smith, junior Carly Jimenez registered 25 assists in the win.
 
High Point earned a plus-five advantage in kills (50-45) and digs (54-49) as both teams tallied 11 blocks. But the difference came at the service line where HPU registered 12 aces and just one error compared to Wofford's two aces and eight errors.
 
The Purple & White defense got rolling early as Barnes and Pilat combined for 14 of the squad's 19 digs in the first frame. Behind that defensive effort, the Panthers held Wofford to a .059 attack percentage while Tylman's six kills paced the offense to a 25-17 win.
 
In the second set, the teams went back and forth until the Terriers took a 17-14 lead. Tylman's ninth kill of the match turned the tide, though. Then, Smith's ace pulled the Panthers within one point before the teams split the next two points (18-17).
 
From there, High Point surged ahead on three straight Wofford errors as the lead swelled to 24-19 behind three kills from Barnes. However, the Terriers clawed right back taking the next seven points to take the set 26-24 and even the match.
 
Out of the break, HPU took a 6-4 edge before it became the Livingston show. The sophomore posted a kill and then three straight aces as the lead swelled to 11-5.
 
Wofford, then, cut the lead to four (11-7) with consecutive points before HPU posted a 5-1 run to take control of the set (16-8) as it held on for a 25-16 victory.
 
 The Terriers kept the fourth set close as HPU took an early 8-7 lead before the Purple & White ran away with the set on a 17-4 run (25-11).
 
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