MATCH INFO

Thursday, February 25 -- vs. Radford (Millis Center, High Point, N.C.), 2 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch | Match Notes
 
Friday, February 26 -- vs. Radford (Millis Center, High Point, N.C.), 1 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch | Match Notes
 
The High Point University volleyball team (4-0, 4-0 Big South) has its first home matches of the season when Radford University (3-3, 3-3 Big South) visits for a pair of contests on Thursday (Feb. 25) and Friday (Feb. 26).
 

Matchup History

• High Point and Radford have met 48 times since HPU became a Division I program, with the Panthers holding a slight 28-20 advantage in the series, including a 24-18 mark in conference meetings.
• Radford won the first nine meetings between the two in High Point's Division I infancy but the Purple and White have dominated the series as of late, winning nine of the last 10.
• The teams met in the Big South Tournament Championship three years in a row from 2016-18 with HPU winning twice and the Highlanders once.

 

Across the Bench

• Radford is 3-3 on the season and has one series sweep, has been swept one time, and has split one series.
• The Highlanders opened the season with a sweep of Gardner-Webb before failing to win a single set in two matches with Charleston Southern.
• Most recently Radford defeated Presbyterian in five sets before losing to the Blue Hose in five the next day.
• These will be Radford's first two rad matches of the 2020-21 season, a situation in which the Highlanders were just 2-8 in 2019.
• Three Highlanders have 40 kills on the season, led by Samantha Reitz with 43. Right behind Reitz are Hailey Flowers and Morgan Lawson, each with 40.
• Kennedi Johnson averages a block per set, good enough for fifth in the Big South, while Grace Green and Shelby Hernandez anchor the back-end with averages of 3.43 and 3.36 digs per set, respectively.

 

Panther Notes

Last Time Out

High Point is coming off its second-straight series sweep, this time winning two matches at UNC Asheville on Wednesday (Feb. 17) and Thursday (Feb. 18). The Panthers defeated the Bulldogs in straight sets on both days and have only lost one set in the young season. HPU hit above .300 in both matches, recording a .342 mark in Thursday's contest. 
 

Player of the Week

Junior Gabrielle Idlebird was named the Big South's Player of the Week on Tuesday after recording a season-high 11 kills in Thursday's win. She hit .611 in that match - the best of any Big South player in match-week three and the third-best single match performance in the conference all season.
 

Welcome to the Club

Senior Abby Bottomley became the sixth HPU player in its Division I history to join the 1,000 digs and 100 service aces club with her four-ace performance in Wednesday's win. She enters Thursday with 1,876 digs and 102 service aces in her career.
 

Leading the Nation

With 31 kills on 44 total attacks this season, sophomore Kaley Rammelsberg is hitting .614 through the Panthers' first four games and currently boasts the best hitting percentage in the country. Idlebird isn't far behind, with a hitting percentage of .483, good enough for second in the Big South and fifth in the country.
 

A Team Effort

In the second match against Asheville (Feb. 18), three Panthers recorded double-digit kills in a match for the second time this season. It first happened against Presbyterian in the season opener (Feb. 4) when Annie Sullivan (16), Maria Miggins (10), and Rammelsberg (10) each had 10+ kills. On Thursday, it was Idlebird (11) who joined Sullivan (13) and Rammelsberg (10) in the double-digits club. 
 

Heavy Hitting

HPU hit .427 in its season-opening match, the third-highest hitting percentage in a single match in High Point's history since the scoring format switched to the current 25-point method. The high hitting percentage was helped by hitting .609 in the third set and .438 in the fourth set, committing only three errors in the two sets combined. High Point's current hitting percentage of .342 not only leads the conference but is fifth in the country.
 

Ace, Ace, Baby

The Panthers served up 13 aces in their second victory over Presbyterian (Feb. 5), tied for the third-most service aces in a single match in HPU history in the current 25-point scoring system. High Point currently leads the conference with an average of 2.38 aces per set, putting them sixth in the country.
 

Staying in Lockdown Mode

High Point's defense put the clamps on Presbyterian in opening weekend, holding PC to hitting just .045, including holding the Blue Hose negative in all three sets of the second victory. HPU's opponent hitting percentage (.076) currently sits at fourth in the country.
 

Set for Success

High Point currently sits at second in the conference in assists per set with 13.00. The duo of Mackenzi Thornburg and Miggins are each tied for sixth in the conference for assists per set, each collecting 5.46 per set and 71 total assists through the first two series of the season.
 

New Award, No Problem

Bottomley was the first recipient of the Big South's Libero of the Week honor earlier this season (Feb. 9) after recording at least five digs in all seven of HPU's sets over the opening weekend of play. The Libero of the Week award replaces the Defensive Player of the Week award, an honor that Bottomley took home six times in 2019 to set a conference record for the most times in a single season. She was named the Defensive Player of the Week 14 times through her first three seasons and was named Freshman of the Week twice, making this the 17th weekly award of her career.
 

Picked #1

High Point was predicted to win the Big South this season, making it five years in a row the Panthers have been predicted to finish atop the conference. HPU garnered 77 points and six first-place votes to finish three points ahead of last year's champion Winthrop's 74 points. The Eagles also picked up the remaining three first-place votes.
 

Preseason Honors

Three Panthers were named to the Preseason All-Conference Team: Bottomley, Sullivan, and Rammelsberg. Winthrop was the only other school with multiple players named to the Preseason All-Conference Team while HPU was the only team to have three representatives on the team.
 

Schedule Format

This season teams will play back-to-back conference matches only against the same opponent at the same site on consecutive days. Each team will finish with 16 Big South contests, with the regular-season champion earning the conference's auto-bid to the NCAA Championship with no Big South Tournament being played this season.
 

Postseason Panthers

HPU's 3-1 victory over Morehead State in the first round of the NIVC a season ago marked High Point's first postseason victory since joining Division I in 1999. The Panthers have been to the NCAA Tournament four times in that stretch but have only one a set once, coming in 2017 with a 3-1 loss to Purdue.
 

All-Decade Dominance

High Point had three players named to the Big South's All-Decade Team this summer for the years 2010-19, tied for the most with Radford. Four-time All-Conference player and 2018 Player of the Year Molly Livingston headlined the list for the Panthers. She was joined by three-time All-Conference selection and 2016 Big South Tournament MVP Haley Barnes and current Panther and three-time All-Conference selection Bottomley.
 

Strength in Numbers

HPU has 22 players on its roster for the 2020 (played in spring 2021) season, making it the largest roster in the Big South. The Panthers narrowly edged out Radford as the Highlanders are carrying 21 players this season.
 
 
Up Next: High Point is back on the road next weekend, traveling to USC Upstate for matches on Thursday (March 4) and Friday (March 5).