HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University volleyball team hosts UNC Asheville on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Millis Center aiming to extend its nine-match winning streak.
 
The Panthers (14-6, 7-0) earned their fifth straight sweep on Tuesday night against Liberty becoming the second HPU team to open Big South play with seven consecutive wins.
 
MATCH INFORMATION
Sat., Oct. 14 | UNC Asheville | Millis Center | Live Stats | Live Video
 
PANTHER NOTES
Streaks!
• The Panthers enter Saturday's match tied for the ninth-longest active winning streak in the nation winning their last nine contests.
 
• Coming off five straight sweeps, HPU has won 17 straight sets, a program D-I record, which marks the second longest active streak in the nation behind American.
 
• A win would equal the 2007 squad for the second longest stretch since the program joined the Division I ranks.
 
Middle Dominance
• Junior Molly Livingston has anchored High Point's five straight sweeps racking up 53 kills and just two errors (.500) during that stretch.
 
• Livingston is hitting .460 in league play and hasn't hit below .375 during HPU's seven Big South contests.
 
• The Sun Prairie, Wis. product is carrying a .387 attack percentage overall, which is .063 clear of Lindsay Raus' HPU single-season record.
 
Digging Deep
• Freshman Abby Bottomley is 30th in the nation and leads the Big South with 5.19 digs per set.
 
• Only four freshmen in HPU's D-I history have collected more digs than Bottomley's 384 this fall. Her 5.19 digs per set average, though, is more than any other Panther freshmen.
 
Atop The Big South Standings
• Counting only league matches, High Point leads the league in hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, kills and assists.
 
• Livingston leads the Big South hitting .460 in conference play while Bottomley paces the league with 5.43 digs per set against league foes.
 
First Touch, First
• The first contact will play a huge role in Saturday's match, which features the top two serving teams in the Big South. UNC Asheville leads the league with 2.29 aces per conference set while High Point is second at 2.26.
 
• The match will feature the conference's top seven servers during Big South action. Asheville's Sheridan Salisbury (0.58/set) leads the conference while Barnes (0.57/set) is second. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs' KK Haley and Cara Guthrie and HPU's Abby Broadstreet, Bottomley and Livingston all average over 0.33 aces per frame.
 
Climbing the Career Rankings
• Barnes needs 11 digs to move from 10th to eighth in HPU's Division I career digs rankings. The Neenah, Wis. native has 1,054 digs, which is two shy of Molly Barlow and 10 behind Michelle Feiser.
 
• With two more solo blocks, Livingston will tie Sabrina Wahid four third in the Panthers' D-I solo blocks list with 48.
 
• Senior Carly Jimenez needs eight assists to move past Heather Butt and into seventh in career assists.
 
KNOW THE OPPONENT
All-Time Series

Series	Record
Overall	9-28
Big South	8-23
At High Point	5-11
Streak	Won 1

Last Time They Met
The Panthers and Bulldogs met three times splitting the regular season series with both teams earning home sweeps. Then, in the Big South Championship quarterfinals, HPU bested UNC Asheville in four sets.
 
Scouting the Bulldogs
UNC Asheville opened Big South play with two four-set home wins before dropping back-to-back five-set contests on the road. The team recovered last week with home sweeps of Winthrop and Charleston Southern and is tied for second in the league. However, the Bulldogs are 2-8 on the road in conference play between 2016 and 2017. Beside their dangerous serve, Cara Guthrie is the key to the efficient offensive attack averaging 3.79 kills per set while hitting at a .229 clip.
 
NEXT UP
The Purple & White continue their homestand against Gardner-Webb on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Millis Center.
 
#GoHPU