BLACK KNIGHTS INVITATIONAL INFO

Friday, September 3 -- vs. Sacred Heart (West Point, N.Y.), 11 a.m.
Live Stats | Match Notes
 
Friday, September 3 -- vs. Columbia (West Point, N.Y.), 3 p.m.
Live Stats | Match Notes
 
Saturday, September 4 -- at Army (West Point, N.Y.), Noon
Live Stats | Watch | Match Notes
 
 

FAIRFIELD MATCH INFO

Sunday, September 5 -- at Fairfield (Fairfield, Conn.), 1 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch | Match Notes
 
The High Point University volleyball team heads north this weekend (Sept. 3-5) for the Black Knights Invitational hosted by Army and a match at Fairfield. The Panthers will face Sacred Heart and Columbia on Friday (Sept. 3) as part of the invitational before concluding the tournament with a match against the host Black Knights on Saturday (Sept. 4). HPU will then round out the weekend by heading over to Connecticut for a match at Fairfield on Sunday (Sept. 5) before returning home.
 
Only the match at Army and the match at Fairfield will be streamed of the four matches this weekend. The match at Army will be broadcast on ESPN+ while Fairfield will stream Sunday's match on its in-house Stags Sports Network.
 

Sacred Heart Preview

Matchup History

• High Point and Sacred Heart have only played once before, coming in 2005 when the Panthers defeated the Pioneers in four sets.
• SHU is the only opponent at the Black Knights Invitational that HPU has played prior to this season.

 

Across the Bench

• Sacred Heart went 11-3 in the 2020-21 spring season, including a perfect 10-0 in NEC play.
• The Pioneers were denied a chance at an NEC Tournament Title after a positive COVID-19 test eliminated them from the conference tournament and allowed LIU to take the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
• SHU is 2-1 after the first weekend of the 2021 season after competing in the Boston College Invitational last weekend. The Pioneers lost in straight sets to host Boston College before beating Northeastern in five sets and sweeping Hartford.
• Setter Sarah Ciszek returns for her senior season after picking up NEC Offensive Player of the Year and Setter of the Year honors in the spring. She averaged 9.09 assists per set and hit .313 with 18 kills and three service aces in the 11 sets over opening weekend.
• Olivia Fairchild joined Ciszek on the All-NEC First Team a season ago and is the Pioneers' leader in kills per set (3.09) and hitting percentage (.329) heading into the Black Knight Invitational.
• Dominique Felix is the reigning NEC Rookie of the Year and is currently fourth on the Pioneers with an average of 1.73 K/S.

 

Columbia Preview

Matchup History

• Friday will be the first meeting between High Point and Columbia and just the second matchup between HPU and an Ivy League program.
• The Panthers played Cornell in 2006 at the Nike Portland Invitational in Portland, losing to the Big Red in straight sets.

 

Across the Bench

• High Point is Columbia's first opponent of the 2021 season and will be the Lions' first match since November of 2019 after the Ivy League canceled the entirety of the 2020 campaign.
• Columbia was picked to finish seventh in the Ivy League's Preseason Poll and is coming off of a 12-12 season with a 3-9 mark in conference action in 2019.
• Senior Emily Teehan is the only returning Lion from the 2019 squad to average over two kills per set as she connected at a 2.41 rate and hit at a .153 clip.
• Teehan is also the only returner to average over two digs per set as she posted a 2.07 digs per set average in 2019.
• Soah Franklin is Columbia's returning net-front presence defensively as she averaged 0.65 blocks per set two falls ago.

 

Army Preview

Matchup History

• Army is another team the Panthers are meeting for the first time this weekend.
• HPU has played fellow service academy and Patriot League member Navy in the past, winning all three matches against the Midshipmen, most recently meeting in 2017.

 

Across the Bench

• Army is coming off of a strong spring season in 2020 that saw the Black Knights win the Patriot League Tournament and earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history.
• The Black Knights have picked up where they left off early in the 2021 campaign and enter the Black Knights Invitational 3-0 after winning the Army Invitational last weekend with victories over Providence, Merrimack, and Iona.
• Cate Buckingham paces the Army attack with an average of 3.63 kills per set and a .386 hitting percentage.
• Preseason All-Patriot League nominee Paige Fixemer is close behind with a 2.88 K/S mark and a .304 hitting percentage.
• Allanah Cutler was also named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team and is second on the Black Knights with a .368 hitting percentage.
• Sayler Butters leads the backcourt defense with an average of 3.80 digs per set while Fixmer and Cutler are the stalwarts at the net, averaging 0.88 and 0.80 blocks per set, respectively.

 

Fairfield Preview

Matchup History

• Fairfield is the fourth new opponent High Point will see in 2021 and the third this weekend.
• The Stags are the fourth member of the MAAC High Point has played, a conference the Panthers have gone 1-2 against in their history, with the lone win coming against Marist in 2008.

 

Across the Bench

• Fairfield went 9-1 in an all-MAAC schedule in the spring, winning the conference, but was forced to withdraw from the MAAC Tournament before it started due to a positive COVID-19 test.
• The Stags were predicted to win the conference once again, finishing with six of the possible 10 first-place votes in the MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Fairfield started the season with a tough slate last weekend at the Rainbow Wahine Classic hosted by Hawaii and dropped all three matches in straight sets to the Rainbow Warriors, Texas A&M, and Marquette.
• The Stags had three players named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team, led by three-time MAAC Setter of the Year Manuela Nicolini.
• Joining Nicolini on the preseason team are middle hitter Luci Albertson and outside hitter Joelle Battles.
• Albertson is second on the Stags with an average of 1.78 kills per set while Battles is fourth at an even 1.0. Both totaled two block assists in the opening weekend on the island, with Albertson adding two solo stuffs as well.

 

Panther Notes

 

Last Time Out

High Point opened the 2021 campaign last weekend at the JMU Invitational and turned in a 2-1 record. The Panthers dropped the season opener against James Madison in five sets before bouncing back with a straight-set victory over Illinois State and a four-set win over VCU.
 

20-20 Vision

Freshman outside hitter Sydney Palazzolo was on fire in Sunday's (Aug. 29) victory over VCU, recording 21 kills and 21 digs in the win while hitting .381. It was HPU's first 20-20 performance since Big South All-Decade Team member Haley Barnes did so on Sept. 12, 2015.
 

Two on the All-Tournament Team…

Palazzolo and fellow freshman Jenny Wessling were each named to the All-Tournament Team at the invitational's conclusion. Palazzolo finished the weekend with an average of 4.71 kills per set - more than 1.0 K/S better than the next-best player among the four teams while Wessling led the field with an average of 4.75 digs per set.
 

...And in the Big South Weekly Awards

The freshman duo was also recognized by the Big South for their efforts on opening weekend, with Palazzolo named Player of the Week and Wessling picking up Freshman of the Week honors. Palazzolo became the first freshman named Player of the Week in the Big South since former Panther Annie Sullivan did so on Sept. 16, 2019.

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, Jacie 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

HPU returns to the northeast next weekend at the Panther Challenge hosted by Pitt. An all-Panther matchup starts the event when the Purple and White play the hosts on Friday (Sept. 10) at 10 a.m. before matches against Bowling Green (11 a.m.) and BYU (4 p.m.) on Saturday (Sept. 11).