TOURNAMENT INFO

Friday, August 27 -- at James Madison (Harrisonburg, Va.), 5 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch ($) | Match Notes
 
Saturday, August 28 -- vs. Illinois State (Harrisonburg, Va.), 2:30 p.m.
Live Stats | Match Notes
 
Sunday, August 29 -- vs. VCU (Harrisonburg, Va.), 1 p.m.
Live Stats | Match Notes
 
The High Point University volleyball team officially opens its 2021 campaign this weekend (Aug. 27-29) at the JMU Invitational, hosted by James Madison. The Panthers open the season with the host Dukes on Friday (Aug. 27) at 5 p.m. before playing Illinois State on Saturday (Aug. 28) at 2:30 p.m. and VCU on Sunday (Aug. 29) at 1 p.m.
 
Only the first match against JMU will be streamed and can be seen on FloSports for a fee. The link to the match can be found here.
 

James Madison Preview

Matchup History

• High Point and James Madison have played each other three times before, with the Dukes winning all three in straight sets.
• All three meetings have come in the state of North Carolina, with two occurring in High Point as part of a High Point Invitational and HPU Classic, with the other coming in the Mizuno Wildcat Classic, hosted by Davidson College in 2007.

 

Across the Bench

• James Madison went 7-3 in the abbreviated 2020 season played in the spring of 2021, with all but two matches coming against Colonial Athletic Association foes.
• The Dukes made it to the CAA Championship by finishing with the best record in the south division but lost to Towson in four sets.
• JMU was picked to finish second in the CAA again this year, picking up one
  first-place vote and finishing nine points behind Towson.
• Two Dukes were named to the Preseason All-CAA Team, led by junior Sophia Davis. Davis is coming off her second consecutive First Team All-CAA season in the spring, finishing the campaign eighth in the country in blocks per set with an average of 1.54. She also totaled 83 kills and hit at a .286 clip.
• Joining Davis on the preseason team was sophomore Miette Veldman, fresh off of taking home CAA and VaSID Rookie of the Year honors and First Team All-CAA awards. She led all CAA freshmen with an average of 4.26 kills per set and hit .270 while also adding 2.43 digs per set.
• Savannah Marshall was JMU's defensive leader on the back end, leading the team with a 4.97 digs per set average that earned her Second Team All-CAA honors.

 

Illinois State Preview

Matchup History

• Saturday will be the first meeting between High Point and Illinois State and the first time HPU will play a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
• The Panthers have previously played current MVC member Valparaiso as a part of the Catamount Clash hosted by Western Carolina in 2006 while the Beacons were members of the Mid-Continent Conference and defeated the Purple and White in straight sets.

 

Across the Bench

• Illinois State finished 16-6 in the 2020-21 season and won both the MVC regular-season and tournament title to reach the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season.
• The Redbirds were picked to repeat as champions of the MVC again in 2021 with three starters returning from last season's tournament team.
• ISU has won a combined four MVC regular-season and tournament titles in the four years under head coach Leah Johnson.
• Sarah Kushner was the only Redbird named to the Preseason All-MVC Team after picking up Second Team All-Conference honors a season ago. She finished second on the team with an average of 3.11 kills per set and added 2.94 digs per set and a conference-leading 0.43 aces per set after totaling 34 service aces - the best in all categories among returning Illinois State players.
• Nicole Lund returns to ISU after being named to the MVC All-Freshman Team a season ago with a .239 hitting percentage and a team-best 1.11 blocks per set.

 

VCU Preview

Matchup History

• High Point and VCU have played each other five times in the past, with the Rams coming out victorious in each of the first five meetings.
• The teams have played each other three times over the last five seasons, with the most recent meeting coming in 2019 when VCU defeated the Panthers in straight sets in Richmond.

 

Across the Bench

• VCU is coming off of a 13-5 season in the spring of 2021 where the Rams fell in the A-10 Championship Match to Dayton.
• VCU was picked to finish second in the A-10 again this year but garnered two first-place votes to finish just five points behind top-ranked Dayton. The two have been the teams to beat in the A-10 for a while now, meeting in the championship match each of the past four seasons - a span during which VCU has won the regular season three times.
• The Rams are led by ninth-year head coach Jody Rogers, who is a two-time A-10 Coach of the Year.
• A pair of All-Atlantic 10 middles lead the Rams in 2021 in Jasmine Knight and Lauren King. Both were named to the All-Atlantic- 10 Second Team and All-Rookie Team in their freshman seasons in the spring.
• King only played in half of VCU's sets but performed well when she was in, boasting a 3.07 kills per set mark and a hitting percentage of .359.
• Knight was third on the team in kills among eligible players with a 2.20 kills per set average and led the Rams with a .321 hitting percentage.

 

Panther Notes

Last Season

After a quick four months off after playing the 2020 season in the spring, High Point is looking to replicate its performance this fall. HPU went a perfect 16-0 in the regular season to win the Big South title and advance to the NCAA Tournament, where the Panthers took home a victory in the tournament for the first time in program history.
 

Postseason Panthers

HPU's five-set victory over UCF in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in April marked High Point's NCAA Tournament victory since joining Division I in 1999, joining the women's lacrosse team from 2017 as the only High Point programs to win an NCAA Tournament game. Prior to the spring, HPU had been to the NCAA Tournament four times and had won a total of one set over the four matches.
 

Picked #1 (Again)

High Point was predicted to win the Big South again this season, making it six years in a row the Panthers have been predicted to finish atop the conference. HPU garnered 119 points and 10 of the 11 possible first-place votes. The Purple and White's 14-point clearance over second-place   Campbell in the poll is the largest point discrepancy between the top two spots since former Big South member Liberty finished 21 points ahead of Radford in the 2012 preseason poll.
 

Preseason Honors

Two Panthers were named to the Big South Preseason All-Conference Team, highlighted by Preseason Player of the Year Madison Smith. Smith is the lone returning First Team All-Conference selection HPU had in 2020 and finished second on the team in kills with 172 for an average of 2.97 per set. Joining her on the Preseason All-Conference Team is Gabrielle Idlebird after finishing second on the Purple and White in hitting percentage with a .384 clip that put her 30th in the country.
 

Road Warriors

Including the exhibition match at UNC, High Point will begin its 2021 season with 18 matches away from home, including the entirety of its non-conference schedule. HPU doesn't play in front of the Millis Faithful until Oct. 8, against Campbell, the first of eight home matches on the schedule.
 

Iron Sharpens Iron

The 13 teams the Purple and White will face in non-conference action have combined for 13 NCAA Tournament appearances in the last two years with five teams (Army, Bowling Green, BYU, Illinois State, Pitt) joining HPU in last year's 48-team field in Omaha. The Panthers' non-conference opponents combined for a 148-54 record (.733 winning percentage) during the 2020-21 campaign, with only the Ivy League's Columbia not competing at all during the year.
 

Feels Like the First Time

Columbia is one of five new opponents HPU will face for the first time in 2021. Along with the Lions, High Point will take the court for the first time against Army, BYU, Fairfield, and Illinois State.
 

Defense Wins Championships

High Point got the job done with its defense last year, holding opponents to hitting just .103, the fifth-lowest opponent hitting percentage in the country. HPU held its opponent to hitting under .200 in 15 of the 18 matches played and held its opponent under .100 11 times.
 

Newcomers

HPU brought in five new players for the 2021 season with four freshmen and one transfer. Dylan Maberry switched out one shade of purple for another after transferring in from LSU while Claire Arend, Jackie Joyce, Sydney Palazzolo, and Jenny Wessling join the team as freshmen.
 

Our Fearless Leader

Head coach Ryan Meek was named the Big South's Coach of the Year last season, becoming the second High Point coach to win the award in program history. He led the Panthers to a 16-0 season in conference play and has totaled 42 wins in 46 conference matches in his first three seasons - the most wins of any Big South team the last three years.
 

Going Streaking

The Panthers won all 16 matches in the regular season and the first NCAA Tournament match last year for the second-longest winning streak in program history, and the best 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 two seasons, one away from matching the program record while the eight consecutive road wins last year was a new program benchmark.
 

Heavy Hitting

HPU hit .427 in its season-opening match in the spring for 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 18 matches last season and only hit below .200 four times.
 

Nifty Fifty

The second win at Upstate in the spring was the 50th at HPU for head coach 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 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.
 

UP NEXT

High Point heads to New York next weekend for the Black Knights Invitational hosted by Army for matches with the Black Knights, Sacred Heart, and Columbia, as well as a non-tournament match with Fairfield.