Site: Boiling Springs, N.C. (Paul Porter Arena)
Score: High Point 3, Gardner-Webb 0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-19)
Records: HPU: 14-9 (6-1 Big South), GWU: 2-16 (0-7 Big South)
 
Next HPU Event: Friday, Oct. 25 -- vs. UNC Asheville (Millis Center, High Point, N.C.), 7 p.m.
 
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. -- Four different Panthers, including three freshmen, had multiple service aces as the team picked up a season-high 11 aces in a three-set victory over Garder-Webb University on Saturday, Oct. 19. Five freshmen recorded kills in the match, led by Megan Kratzer  with 16 - the most she's recorded in a three-set match.
 
"It was great to see our freshmen sustain a high level for a whole match," head coach Ryan Meek said. "It's that point in the year where they're no long freshmen and we've been preaching consistency with them. It was good to see them come out with confidence and take care of business."
 
High Point won the match's first point and then won the next six to take a 7-0 lead early. Freshman Kaley Rammelsberg served on that run and picked up a pair of service aces. Kratzer got things going early and had a big hand in the Panthers' dominant first set, racking up seven of her team-leading 16 kills in the opening set. It was the sixth time the freshman has picked up double-digit kills and the second-most of her career, behind only 20 against Radford.
 
Sarah Malone tacked on back-to-back aces late in the set to help High Point take the opening frame, 25-14. The team was hitting well as a whole in the first set, finishing with a .353 hitting percentage.
 
The Panthers continued to hit well in the second set, connecting at a .750 clip with the score at 14-8 in favor of High Point. That score came as part of an 11-2 run for HPU that saw the Panthers take a commanding 20-9 lead in the set.
 
Kratzer picked up another seven kills in the set to help High Point take the set 25-14 and a 2-0 lead in the match. The Panthers finished the set with a .419 hitting percentage to boost their percentage in the match to .385 after two sets.
 
Gardner-Webb took an early lead in the third set but HPU went on a 10-2 run to retake the lead and open the set up at 12-6. Service aces continued to come on big runs, with Maria Miggins picking up a pair during that run. Macy Miller was the Panther to pick up HPU's 11th ace of the day, a new season-high for High Point.
 
The Panthers won the race to 20 points in the third set but the Runnin' Bulldogs wouldn't go down without a fight, going on a 7-1 run to make it a three-point set. That was as close as the set would be from then on, with High Point getting the last five points it needed to win the match, with the match point coming courtesy of a Rammelsberg kill.
 
 
It was one of the best matches the team has had on both sides of the net, with the 11 service aces the most since Sept. 26, 2017, when the Panthers had 14 in a win over Campbell. The defense picked up 10 blocks for the sixth time this year, led by Rammelsberg with five, and two Panthers finished with double-digit digs - Abby Bottomley with 15 and Miller with 14. High Point finished with a .330 hitting percentage in the match, its highest of the season and best since Oct. 26 of last season against Charleston Southern (.347).
 
HPU returns home to the Millis Center next weekend for a pair of home matches. UNC Asheville comes to town on Friday, Oct. 25 for a 7 p.m. match, followed by USC Upstate on Saturday at 2 p.m. Friday's match against Asheville is High Point's 'Spook & Spike' match.