RICHMOND, Va. – The High Point University volleyball team made quick work of VCU with a 3-0 sweep to open the VCU Invitational.
Sydney Palazzolo led HPU with 16 kills while middle blockers
Gabrielle Idlebird and
Kathryn Wesolich controlled the game at the net with a combined 11 blocks.
Head coach
Ryan Meek: "I thought we played well, especially the third set. I thought we made good decisions with the ball and played great defense. Blocking has been a big focus so to see us block 11 balls was big. We need to avoid the little slumps that plagued us last year, but we did that for the most part. Great start to the year, have two tough ones tomorrow."
The Panthers used an 8-1 run behind three straight kills from Palazzolo and two aces from
Maria Miggins to open the first set with a 13-6 lead.
The Rams fought to stay close, but two more Palazzolo kills gave HPU the push to take the first set, 25-18.
After winning the first point of the second set, High Point either trailed or tied VCU until finally regaining the lead at 16-15 off of an Idlebird kill. Six different Panthers had kills in the stretch while
Jenny Wessling also notched an ace as HPU took a 2-0 lead after winning the extended set, 27-25.
The Panthers battled with the Rams early in set three, but a 13-2 run pushed High Point ahead, 23-13.
Maggie Salley had three of her 10 kills in the run.
Up Next: High Point continues play at the VCU Invitational tomorrow, Saturday, August 27
th, facing Elon at 11:00 a.m. and Liberty at 6:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
