BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- The High Point University volleyball team took it down to the wire with Campbell on Saturday afternoon. The five-set match was a nail bitter to say the least but unfortunately, the Panthers came out on the short end, falling 2-3 to the Camels.
Sydney Palazzolo collected her second 20+ kill game while also adding 16 digs. Behing Palazzolo, was
Dylan Maberry and
Maria Miggins who each collected 13 kills, tallying Miggins' career-high.
Site: Gore Arena
Score: High Point 2 (25, 15, 23, 25, 13), Campbell 3 (23, 25, 25, 19, 15)
Records: High Point (7-6, 0-0), Houston (9-2, 0-0)
The Panthers set the tone early in the first set, leaking out on a 9-2 lead, with kills from Palazzolo,
Gabrielle Idlebird and
Ally Van Eekeren.
Campbell steadily closed the gap to tie the game at 17 all. High point pushed through with the help of Maberry's two back-to-back kills, extending the Panthers lead to 21-19.
Palazzolo railed one off the Camels defense to tag HPU's 24th point before Van Eekeren secured the match point with a block at the net to take the 25-23 win.
Unlike the first set, the Panthers were flustered in set two as the Camels gathered their first lead of the match. After being tied at 11 all, Campbell collected three to four points to High Points one, in a series of four events at the end of the set.
The Camels opened set three with a 6-1 lead, but High Point notched four straight points to get back within two. Palazzolo gave the Panthers their first lead of the set with a kill to make it 14-13.
From there it was a back and forth battle between the two teams. Down 24-22, Miggins kept the game alive with a hit to make it 24-23, but a kill from Campbell gave the Camels their second win on the day.
The fourth set opened like the first set as High Point went on a 6-0 run to take a 9-5 lead. The Panthers held the lead stretching it to five with a service ace from Mayberry.
Miggins closed out set four with a kill to earn the Panthers second win of the afternoon, making it 2-2 between the teams, and calling for a fifth and final set.
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It was an intense atmosphere during the final set of the day as the teams exchanged leads four times throughout the 15 points. The Panthers were down 10-13 but three straight kills would tie it up at 13 all. One from Maberry and two back-to-back from Miggins. With the match on the line, the Camels were able to knock down two hits to seal the 15-13 win over High Point.
Up Next: High Point travels to the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina on Friday, October 14 for a Big South contest with UNC Asheville. The first serve is set for 6:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
