HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University volleyball team opens its home Big South Conference slate against Liberty on Friday and UNC Asheville on Saturday in the Millis Center.
 
The Panthers (9-5, 0-1) started the conference schedule with a setback at Radford on Tuesday night and will look to bounce back at home.
 
Friday's match will be the conference opener for the Flames (5-7) while the Bulldogs begin league play on Friday at Campbell before visiting HPU.
 
MATCH INFORMATION
• Friday, Sept. 23 at 7:00 p.m. versus Liberty (Live Stream | Live Stats)
• Saturday, Sept. 24 at 4:00 p.m. versus UNC Asheville (Live Stream | Live Stats)
 
MATCH NOTES
• Junior Haley Barnes is second in the conference averaging 3.31 kills per set.
 
• Barnes has posted 822 kills in her career and needs 136 more to climb into the top-10 of HPU's Division I career kills leaders.
 
• Sophomore Jordan Hefner is the reigning Big South Defensive Player of the Week and is averaging 0.87 blocks and 1.33 kills per set this year.
 
• Sophomore Molly Livingston is fourth in the league in blocks (1.07/set), fifth in points (3.63/set) and seventh in hitting percentage (.272).
 
• Liberty and High Point are first and third in the Big South in blocks per set, respectively. The Flames are posting 2.64 blocks each frame while the Panthers average 2.13 blocks per set.
 
• HPU is second in the conference in hitting percentage (.206) while the Flames are second in opponents hitting percentage (.154).
 
• Freshmen key Liberty at the net. Casey Goodwin is leading the team and is sixth in the conference with 2.76 kills per set and Anna Gragg is hitting .304 – third in the league.
 
• Friday's match is between the Big South preseason favorite in High Point and the preseason runner-up Liberty.

• UNC Asheville relies heavily on sophomore Cara Guthrie who averages 3.09 kills per set.

• Five of the seven preseason All-Big South selections will be in action in the Millis Center this weekend. HPU's Barnes and Livingston will go against Liberty's Anna Willey and Margaret Latchford before taking on UNC Asheville's Madison Vaughn.

NEXT UP
The Purple & White have Tuesday and Friday off before traveling to Winthrop on Saturday, October 1 at 4 p.m.
 
#GoHPU