HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Panthers welcomed Charleston Southern University to the Millis Center on Friday night. After a long and close opening set, the Panthers took care of business with the team's 13th sweep of the season.
"I was happy to see us figure it out, but we need to start quicker," head coach
Ryan Meek stated. "We hit well over .300 the last two sets, but our defense was just ok. I'm happy we figured out a way to win but we have another tough match tomorrow that we need to be ready for."
Site: Millis Center
Score: High Point 3, Charleston Southern 0
Records: High Point (19-6, 12-0), Charleston Southern (9-17, 3-9)
The first set was a close battle between the Panthers and Buccaneers. High Point started off flat and took some time to get going on the attack. After being down through most of the set, big plays from multiple Panthers tied the game late in the set.
After the 24 all tie up following a Panther block by
Eve Wilson and
Hannah Hawkins, the set tied on five more occasions going into extra points.
Dylan Maberry and
Christine Graf played a significant role in keeping High Point alive, knocking in clutch kills on the outside. A Maberry kill ended the set, 31-29.
Set two looked much different for the Panthers. Taking an 11-4 lead early, HPU set the tone and held a steady lead, stretching it to an eight-point lead. At 21-15,
Kennedy Louisell came in and scored back-to-back points, first off a kill on the outside and next on a top spin serve for an ace before ending the set 25-18.
The Buccaneers challenged the Panthers in the third set. Wilson was putting in work in the middle, collecting three big kills to make it 14-12. CSU took a short lead at 16-15 but HPU answered with three straight points. High Point finished the match with a 25-20 win.
UP NEXT:
High Point returns to the Millis Center on Saturday for Senior Day at 2:00 pm. The Panthers welcome Presbyterian College.
#GoHPU
