MATCH INFO
Friday, March 19 -- at Charleston Southern (Charleston, S.C.), 2 p.m.
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Friday, March 19 -- at Charleston Southern (Charleston, S.C.), 7 p.m.
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The High Point University volleyball team (10-0, 10-0 Big South) puts its undefeated start to the season on the line with a doubleheader at Charleston Southern (7-1, 7-1 Big South) on Friday (March 19).
 
Matchup History

• High Point and Charleston Southern have met 43 times heading into Friday since HPU joined Division I, with the Panthers holding a commanding 35-8 advantage in the series.
• HPU has dominated the series as of late, winning the last 29 meetings dating back to 2006.
• Only two of those 29 straight wins have needed five sets, with the Purple and White racking up 12 wins in straight sets during the stretch.

 
Across the Bench

• Charleston Southern is 7-1 on the season, entering Friday in second place in the Big South.
• The Buccaneers have won their last three matches, with the lone loss on the season coming in the first match with Campbell at the beginning of the month.
• Charleston Southern is second in the Big South in hitting percentage, connecting at a .234 clip, second only to the Panthers.
• The Bucs are also second in blocking with an average of 2.29 blocks per set.
• Reigning Big South Player of the Week Dayana Chara is one of three Buccaneers to average over 3.00 kills per set, picking up an average of 3.57 each set. Right behind here are Paige Reagor and Peyton Thompson at 3.39 and 3.25 kills per set, respectively.
• Reagor is one of the best in the Big South in blocking, stuffing an average of 1.29 shots each set.

 
Panther Notes
Last Time Out
High Point made it 10 wins in a row to start the season after sweeping Winthrop last weekend. HPU won the first match in four sets before picking up another win in straight sets in match two. The four-set win had only the second set so far this season that the Panthers have failed to win.
 
Staying in Lockdown Mode
High Point's defense continued to be stingy to start the season, holding Winthrop to hitting just .049 over the two matches combined. HPU has now held its opponents hitting under .100 in each of the last six matches and eight of the 10 played so far this season, highlighted by a season-best of -.044 against Presbyterian in the second match of the year. Nationally, the Panthers' season opponent hitting percentage of .061 is the second-best in all of Division I.
 
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 Panthers have hit above .300 in six of the 10 matches played this season and have only hit below .200 once. High Point has one of the most efficient offenses in the country, entering the weekend in eighth place nationally with a .306 hitting percentage.
 
Two in the Top-10
Kaley Rammelsberg and Gabrielle Idlebird are two of the top hitters in the country, entering Friday in ninth and 16th place in the country, respectively, in hitting percentage. Rammelsberg has racked up 81 kills with 13 errors on 148 attempts to hit .459 while Idlebird has 69 kills with 12 errors in 129 attempts. The duo also sit third and fourth, respectively, on HPU's kills list this season.
 
Nifty Fifty
Friday's win at Upstate was the 50th at HPU for head coach Ryan Meek. He reached the 50-win mark in just 73 matches, making him the fastest coach to hit the milestone in High Point's D1 history.
 
Going Streaking
The Panthers have 10 eight matches in a row to start the season, tied for the fourth-longest winning streak in program history, and is the best start to conference play since the Purple and White went undefeated in 2017. HPU has also won 10 conference matches away from home dating back to last season, the second-longest streak in program history, three behind the record set over the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
 
Ready, SET, Go!
High Point won 25 consecutive sets before dropping the third one to Winthrop in the first match between the two last week. The streak ended one short of matching the program record for consecutive sets won, as did the streak of matches won in straight sets at seven.
 
Milestone Matches
Senior Abby Bottomley reached two milestones of 100 against Upstate in the two matches. Her 17 digs to lead the team on Thursday was the 100th match she's ended with double-digit digs while her 15 on Friday led the team in the category for the 100th time out of her 105 career matches.
 
Career Highs
Against Radford on Feb. 25, Bottomley recorded a career-high five aces, the most any Panther has had in a single game since Megan Kratzer had seven against Charleston Southern in 2019. Redshirt sophomore Madison Smith led the Panthers offensively the next night (Feb. 26), recording a career-high 17 kills in the three-set match - the most any HPU player has had in a single match this season. 
 
Welcome to the Club
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 the win at UNC Asheville earlier this season (Feb. 17). She enters Friday with 1,978 digs and 113 service aces in her career, the second-most digs in program history and the seventh-most aces.
 
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. Against Asheville, it was Idlebird (11) who joined Sullivan (13) and Rammelsberg (10) in the double-digits club. 
 
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 2.0 aces per set, putting them 14th in the country. Abby Bottomley's .62 aces per set are ninth in the country and best in the Big South.
 
Set for Success
High Point currently sits at second in the conference in assists per set with an average of 13.28. The duo of Miggins and Mackenzi Thornburg are each in the top-10 in the conference for assists per set, averaging 6.2 and 5.1 assists per set, respectively.
 
 
Up Next: High Point finishes out the regular season at home, hosting Campbell next weekend (March 25-26) before Gardner-Webb visits the Millis Center the following week (April 1-2).