MATCH INFO
Wednesday, April 14 -- vs. UCF (Omaha, Neb.), 3:30 p.m. ET
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The High Point University volleyball team (16-0, 16-0 Big South) plays its fourth NCAA Tournament match in the last five seasons Wednesday afternoon (April 14) when the Panthers take on UCF (16-1, 8-0 AAC) in Omaha, Neb.
 
Matchup/NCAA Tournament History

• High Point and UCF have played each other only once before, coming back on September 11, 2009. The Knights got the better of HPU in the match played on the campus of UNCG, winning in four sets.
• This is High Point's fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament and fourth in the last five years.
• The Panthers have only won a set in the NCAA Tournament once, taking one in a four-set loss to No. 16 Purdue in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2017. Coincidentally, if the Purple and White win, their second-round matchup would come against the Boilermakers.

 
Across the Bench

• UCF enters the NCAA Tournament with a 16-1 record on the season, with the lone loss coming in five sets at Florida State.
• The Knights handled their eight-match AAC regular-season schedule with ease, dropping just one set in the eight matches. The AAC Tournament was a bit tougher as UCF needed a fifth set to make it past Tulane in the semifinals before defeating Temple in four sets for the championship and the AAC's automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament.
• UCF is one of the best teams at the net, sitting eighth in the country with a blocks per set average of 2.85.
• McKenna Melville is one of the best hitters in the game and enters the NCAA Tournament 11th in the country with an average of 4.58 kills per set.
• The AAC Player of the Year has 275 total kills for 58th in the country and her 5.17 points per set mark sits in the top 10 of the country.
• Anne-Marie Watson joined Melville on the All-AAC First Team and is second on the team in kills and kills per set with 138 and 2.30, respectively.
• Middle blocker Nerissa Moravec garnered Second Team All-Conference honors after leading the Knights and the AAC with 83 total blocks for an average of 1.38 per set - one of three UCF players to average over a block per set and good for 21st in the country.

 
Panther Notes
Last Time Out
High Point completed the second unbeaten conference season in program history with a pair of straight-set victories over Gardner-Webb to head into the NCAA Tournament 16-0. Annie Sullivan had a strong end to the regular season, totaling 18 kills in the season finale - the second-most she's had in a single match this season and the most in a three-set match.
 
Perfection
HPU took care of business in straight sets against Gardner-Webb to end the regular season with an unblemished 16-0 record, losing only a total of seven sets the whole year. It's the second unbeaten Big South season in program history, following a 16-0 campaign in 2017 where the Panthers only lost four sets in the 16 matches.
 
Going Dancing
Since the Big South is not holding a tournament this year, HPU will represent the conference at the NCAA Tournament with the automatic bid. It's the fourth time in the last five years that the Purple and White have made it to the NCAA Tournament, with three automatic bids and one at-large selection.
 
History-Making Libero
Last Wednesday (April 14), Abby Bottomley was named the Big South's Player of the Year. She's the second Panther in program history to earn the title and the first-ever libero in Big South history to take home the award. She earned three Libero of the Week awards during the season and became just the sixth player in Big South history to reach the 2,000 career digs mark after doing so against Charleston Southern.
 
Hey Now, You're All-Conference
Joining Bottomley on the All-Conference First Team was Sullivan, Kaley Rammelsberg, and Madison Smith, with Bottomley, Sullivan, and Rammelsberg, finishing 1-2-3 in the Player of the Year voting. Gabrielle Idlebird was a Second Team selection and Maria Miggins and Mackenzi Thornburg shared an honorable mention slot as HPU's two setters in a 6-2 rotation. The four First Team selections are the most in program history, as are the seven total selections.
 
AVCA Recognition
Not only were Bottomley and Rammelsberg All-Conference selections, they were also named AVCA Southeast All-Region players. Bottomley picked up First Team All-Region honors while Rammelsberg was an honorable mention, with Bottomley becoming the first First Team All-Region selection in program history. The duo joins two-time honorable mention Molly Livingston as the only All-Region honorees in team history. The Purple and Whtie are also the only non-Power-5 program in the Southeast Region with multiple selections this year.
 
Our Fearless Leader
Head coach Ryan Meek was named the Big South's Coach of the Year this season, becoming the second High Point coach to win the award in program history. He led the Panthers to a 16-0 season and has totaled 42 wins in 46 conference matches the last three seasons - the most wins of any Big South team the last three years.
 
Conference Champs
High Point has now won its third regular-season championship in the last four years and fourth overall after sweeping Campbell. Combined with Big South Tournament victories, this year marks the fifth title in the last five years that the Panthers have won.
 
One of a Few
The Panthers are one of just six teams this season that have played and have not lost a match yet. Only Western Kentucky is undefeated with more wins than High Point as the Hilltoppers are 21-0 on the season.
 
Can You Dig It?
Bottomley made history against Charleston Southern on March 19 as she recorded her 2,000th career dig in the second match. She's just the second Panther to reach the milestone since the program joined Division I in 1999 and the sixth player in the Big South to hit 2,000 digs. Bottomley is currently second among active D1 volleyball players with 2,104 career digs while her 5.33 career digs per set average is the fourth-best in the country.
 
Staying in Lockdown Mode
High Point's defense has been stingy all season long, holding opponents to hitting just .090, the third-lowest opponent hitting percentage in the country. The Panthers have held opponents to hitting .100 or lower in nine matches, including a season-best -.074 in the second-to-last match of the year, and has only allowed an opponent to hit over .150 twice - both occurring at Charleston Southern.
 
Double the Weekly Awards
HPU took home multiple awards from the Big South on March 30 as Smith was named the conference's Player of the Week while Bottomley took home Libero of the Week honors. It was Smith's second Player of the Week win this season and the third Libero of the Week award for Bottomley. It's the first time this season that High Point has won multiple honors in the same week, something the Purple and White achieved three times in 2019.
 
Thank You Seniors
On March 25 against Campbell, High Point honored its three seniors in Bottomley, Kassidy Dickerson, and Ali Thanhauser. The trio has a combined winning percentage of .726 the last four years, with a mark of .935 in conference play, making them the most successful class in High Point's Division I history.
 
Going Streaking
The Panthers won all 16 matches in the regular season, the second-longest winning streak in program history, and the best start run in conference play since the Purple and White went undefeated in 2017 as part of a record 20 conference wins in a row. HPU has also won 12 conference matches away from home dating back to last season, one away from matching the program record while the eight consecutive road wins this year is a new program benchmark.
 
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 hit above .300 in nine of the 16 matches this season and have only hit below .200 twice. High Point has one of the most efficient offenses in the country, entering the NCAA Tournament in seventh place nationally with a .296 hitting percentage.
 
Two at the Top
Rammelsberg and Idlebird are the two best hitters in the conference and two of the top hitters in the country, entering the tournament in third and 31st place in the country, respectively, in hitting percentage. Rammelsberg has racked up 131 kills with 18 errors on 240 attempts to hit .471 while Idlebird has 104 kills with 23 errors in 213 attempts to hit .380. The duo also sit third and fourth, respectively, on HPU's kills list this season.
 
Nifty Fifty
The second 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.
 
Ready, SET, Go!
High Point won 25 consecutive sets before dropping the third one to Winthrop in the first match between the two last this season. 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
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.
 
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 the tournament with 2,071 digs and 120 service aces in her career, the second-most digs in program history and the seventh-most aces.
 
A Team Effort
Three Panthers had double-digit kills in both matches against Charleston Southern to make it four times that's happened this season. Sullivan and Rammelsberg were first and second on the team in both matches, with Sullivan leading the way with 19 and 15, followed by Rammelsberg with 12 and 13. Kratzer was third in match one with 11 kills while Maggie Salley had as many in the second match.
 
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 finished the regular season second in the conference with an average of 1.69 aces per set, putting it 33rd in the country. Bottomley's .49 aces per set are 30th in the country and second-best in the Big South.
 
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, and has won the new award a total of three times now. 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, giving her 19 weekly awards in her career.
 
 
Up Next: The winner of Wednesday's match will face No. 7 Purdue in the NCAA Tournament Second Round on Thursday (April 15) at 3:30 p.m. ET.