HARRISONBURG, Va. – The High Point University volleyball team traveled to James Madison University on Friday afternoon to play in the first game of the JMU Invitational. Taking the Dukes to five sets, the Panthers fell short 15-12 in the final set.
"Although it didn't end how we wanted, we set a tone for how we need to play," head coach
Ryan Meek stated. "I loved seeing players up and down our roster contribute and us all stay together as a team. There are definitely some things to clean up, but I'm really happy with our progress and competitiveness tonight."
It was an outstanding evening for
Dylan Maberry, as she led the team with 20 kills to go along with her five blocks. Complimenting Maberry on the right side was graduate student
Christine Graf who added in 11 kills with six blocks. Both teams dominated at the net as middle blocker
BayLea Sparks carried the team with eight total blocks herself.
Site: Convocation Center
Score: High Point 2, James Madison 3
Records: High Point (0-1), James Madison (1-0)
The Panthers had some kinks to work through in the opening two sets of the evening. Trailing the Dukes throughout both sets, HPU kept the pressure on by keeping it a competitive close game.
High Point dug deep and got its groove going late in the third set. After going down 22-16, two service aces and five kills from Maberry helped give HPU the 24-22 edge. A service error by the Dukes secured the Panthers first win of the night which boosted a momentum shift into the next set.
All fired up, HPU advanced on a 7-4 lead early in the set. JMU attempted to take back the lead at 10-9 but not for long as the Panthers extended on a 5-1 run. The Dukes folded with five attacking errors through the last nine points of the game. Graf, Sparks and freshman middle blocker
Eve Wilson added in kills to help push the Panthers to a 25-20 victory and force a fifth set.
High Point posed a strong start to the first half of the final set with an 8-6 lead after a kill in the middle from Sparks. Five straight points for the Dukes gave JMU a 12-10 lead, which was the Dukes first lead since the first two points of the set. HPU was only able to tack on two more points before JMU scored the final point of the game.
UP NEXT: The Panthers return to the convocation center on Saturday, August 26 for a matchup with UMBC at 12:30pm.
#GoHPU
