Site: Pittsburgh, Pa. (Fitzgerald Field House)
Score: #4 Pitt 3, High Point 0 (17-25, 17-25, 23-25)
Records: PITT 6-0, HPU 5-3
Next HPU Event: Saturday, September 11, 2021 -- vs. Bowling Green (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 11 a.m.
 
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The High Point University volleyball team lost in straight sets to the No. 4-ranked University of Pittsburgh in the opening match of the Panther Challenge on Friday morning (Sept. 10). HPU gave Pitt all it could handle in the three-set loss and took the tournament hosts to the brink in the final set before ultimately falling 23-25.
 
Freshman Sydney Palazzolo was the only member of the Purple and White with double-digit kills on the day, finishing with 16 and only one error on 30 attempts for a career-high and team-best .500 hitting percentage. Dylan Maberry and Maria Miggins each added six kills while Gabrielle Idlebird was right behind them with five. Miggins split the setting duties with Mackenzi Thornburg, with Thornburg leading the team with 20 and Miggins adding 13.
 
Idlebird had a strong day blocking at the net and finished with a team-high four blocks. Sopheea Mink was involved on three blocks and Miggins, Madison Smith, and Jackie Joyce each pitched in on two blocks. HPU out-blocked Pitt in the match, finishing with seven team blocks to the host's four. Jenny Wessling continued to lead the backcourt defense and finished with a team-high 13 digs, continuing her streak of double-digit digs in each match so far this season.
 
"It's good to play a team of this caliber at this point of the season. You really find out the things you need to work on," head coach Ryan Meek said after the match. "We need to work at executing at a more consistent level so when we see another team like this we give ourselves a chance to win. Now we're looking forward to getting on the court tomorrow against Bowling Green."
 
High Point kept it close in the first half of the opening set, with the lead switching hands five times in that span. A 3-0 run gave the Purple and White their final lead of the frame at 12-11 that forced a Pitt timeout. Palazzolo started the run with a kill, followed by one from Idlebird and then a block from Idlebird and Miggins. Pitt controlled the rest of the set out of the break and only allowed five more points to take the set 25-17.
 
The beginning of the second set was even better for HPU than the first, as the Purple and White led for the first 19 total points. Palazzolo picked up a kill to start the frame and High Point led by as many as four (6-2) didn't trail until a 6-0 run by Pitt gave the hosts the lead, 13-10. HPU was only able to cut the deficit to two points the rest of the way and dropped the second stanza by the same score as the first, 25-17.
 
High Point didn't go down without a fight and made things difficult for Pitt up to the end of the match. HPU took its first lead of the final set at 12-11 and led by as many as three, 17-14, before Pitt clawed back. A 4-0 stretch flipped the lead back to the hosts, but the Purple and White knotted things up again at 23-23. That was as close as High Point got as Pitt won the next two points, securing the match with its seventh service ace of the day.
 
HPU is back in action at the Panther Challenge tomorrow (Sept. 11) for two more matches. The Panthers start the day with Bowling Green at 11 a.m. before finishing the weekend with a match against No. 12-ranked BYU at 4 p.m.