Site: High Point, N.C. (Millis Center)
Score: High Point 3, USC Upstate 1, (25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 25-19)
Records: HPU: 16-9 (8-1 Big South), USCU: 6-15 (2-6 Big South)
Next HPU Event: Friday, Nov. 1 -- at Radford (Radford, Va.), 7 p.m.
 
HIGH POINT, N.C. -- The High Point University volleyball team hit a season-high 60 kills in a four-set match to beat USC Upstate 3-1 on Saturday, Oct. 25, as part of the university's homecoming celebration. Three freshmen accounted for over half of the 60 as Maggie Salley, Megan Kratzer, and Sopheea Mink were all in double digits.
 
"I didn't think we came out with the energy we needed," head coach Ryan Meek said. "We talked last night about coming out and putting out a great effort today and I don't think we did that. I am proud of our kids for fighting and finding a way to win without playing our best. You look at any good team in any sport and they find ways to win when they're not playing their best."
 
Serving was hot and cold for the Panthers as they served up 11 aces to match their season-high but also committed 13 errors on serves. Freshman Kaley Rammelsberg and junior Abby Bottomley accounted for almost all of High Point's aces with nine between them. Rammelsberg picked up six for a new season-high from a Panther, while Bottomley tacked on three, all coming at once.
 
HPU opened a quick lead in the first set with redshirt sophomore Katie Doering getting the game's first two kills, followed by a pair of Kills by Salley to make it 5-1. Salley was effective in the first set for the second day in a row, picking up seven kills to open the match once again.
 
Seven was also the number of service errors the Panthers committed in the opening frame, committing over half of their match total in the first. Upstate's first three points of the match all came on service errors as the Spartans picked up their first non-sideout point to cut the Panther lead to 5-9.
 
High Point stayed out in front for most of the set before a 7-1 run by Upstate out of a timeout switched the score in the visitor's favor at 22-20 and forced Meek to call a timeout of his own. The timeout worked as the Panthers took five of the next six points to close out the set, 25-23, capped off by a Kratzer kill. The Spartan's defense at the net was a big factor in keeping the first set and the entire match close, as the visitors picked up six of their 16 blocks in the first set, the most High Point has been blocked since playing Wisconsin last season (17).
 
The Spartans took an early lead in the second stanza, with four of their first five points coming from Panther errors. HPU briefly took the lead thanks to a 6-1 run, with a pair of Kratzer service aces ending the run. The lead didn't last long as Upstate went on a 5-1 run to retake the lead at 10-8.
 
Neither team was able to create any separation after that until Bottomley came around to serve with the Panthers up 16-15 and proceeded to rattle off three straight service aces, including one directly on the other side of an Upstate timeout. The Spartans tied the set once more but High Point held firm to take the set by the same score as the first, with a kill from Mink sending the match to the third set.
 
Upstate took the first point in the third set and the lead would never flip over to the Purple and White for the remainder of the set. The Panthers knotted it up four times before the score was 5-5, the last time High Point was not trailing. The Spartans went on an 8-2 run to make it a six-point set and had a lead as large as seven before HPU started to cut into the deficit. A 5-1 run for the Panthers made it a two-point affair but Upstate closed out the set with five of the next seven points, with set point coming on a Panther service error.
 
The Spartans led for the majority of the fourth set and had a two-point lead at 17-15 before Kratzer came up to serve. Kratzer proceeded to pick apart Upstate's defense on the serve, recording four straight aces to give the Panthers the lead, which they did not relinquish. The Spartans got two points back to cut HPU's lead to two again but High Point picked up the last four points of the match from a pair of kills from Salley, an ace from sophomore Mackenzi Thornburg, giving the Panthers 11 to tie the team-high this season, and a kill from Rammelsberg to seal the deal.
 
High Point plays a pair of matches next weekend, one on the road and one at home. The Panthers travel up to Radford for a 6 p.m. showdown on Friday night (Nov. 1) before coming home on Saturday to host Florida State at 1 p.m. Saturday's match against the Seminoles is HPU's  'Day of the Dead' match, with free Panther Sugar Skull hats for students.