Site: Buies Creek, N.C.
Score: Campbell 3 (25, 22, 22, 25, 15), High Point 2 (19, 25, 25, 22, 12)
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The High Point University volleyball team dropped a heartbreaker in five sets to Campbell in the Big South Tournament Final on Sunday evening. The Panthers battled back in the fifth set from down 5-1, but could not pull of the come-from-behind win they needed.
Sydney Palazzolo led HPU with 19 kills and 19 digs while
Dylan Maberry chipped in 16 and
Gabrielle Idlebird added 13 kills.
Mackenzi Thornburg passed out 27 assists and
Sopheea Mink tallied four blocks.
Ryan Meek: "I felt like we fought really hard and I don't doubt or question our battle and desire to win. I think we didn't do as good of job paying attention to details or executing as well as we needed to. I think that Campbell made us one dimensional, and that's not when we're at our best. So I think we needed to play a little bit better volleyball, but the fight was there, the desire was there, we've just got to play better volleyball."
Panther Particulars
Sopheea Mink got things going with a big kill out of the middle for the Panthers early in the first set, but Campbell distanced themselves, leading 10-6 to force an early HPU timeout.
Overcoming a slow start in the first set, HPU battled back in set 2, as
Gabrielle Idlebird landed a kill to give the Panthers the 4-3 lead early on.
With the whole set going back and forth,
Dylan Maberry finally cleaned up an over pass and gave the Panthers a 23-22 lead late in the second.
HPU evened the match at one set apiece and carried the momentum into the third set as
Maberry and Meek combined for a block and
Maria Miggins served three aces in a row to take a 11-7 lead.
Another block from
Idlebird and
Sydney later in the set kept the Panthers rolling, and HPU eventually took the 2-1 lead.
Campbell rallied in the fourth set, keeping a steady one to two point lead over the Panthers. The set featured many extended rallies, including one that resulted in a slam from
Sydney Palazzolo after
Miggins saved a set that was tight to the net.
While HPU would battle back to pose a threat, the Panthers could not regain the lead and the Camels forced the fifth and deciding set. Campbell opened up the fifth set with a 5-1 lead, but the Panthers would storm back on a run of their own.
Idlebird's serving ignited the spark HPU needed while she also made great defensive plays to keep rallies alive to allow the offense at the front to finish off the point.
Maberry had one of her 16 kills during the stretch that that tied the set a six points apiece.
Palazzolo notched two more winners late in the set, but Campbell's offense and ability to continually keep rallies alive proved to be too much for the Panthers.
The Panthers dropped to 24-7 on the season and finished Big South regular season play with a 15-1 record.
