PROVIDENCE, RI – The High Point University volleyball team traveled up to play at Brown University for a mid-week non-conference matchup over fall break. Visiting the Bears for the first time in program history, High Point swept Brown 3-0.
After cruising through the first two sets, the Panthers experienced a tougher battle in the third set. The Bears forced the third set into extra points before a big block from
Eve Wilson called the set at 37-35. HPU's 37 points scored was the most points scored in a single set since the point set change from 30 to 25 in 2008. The most points ever scored in a single set by the Panthers was in 2005 when High Point defeated Liberty 38-36.
In the opening set, the Panthers made strides early going on a run at 10-5.
BayLea Sparks had a strong presence in the middle, helping High Point win the battle at the net. HPU boasted on another run, stacking on six points to the Bears' solo point.
Arica Davis racked up big kills in the first set with four. The Panthers coasted through the final points with an 8-2 run to earn the 25-13 set win.
Davis continued to cook in the middle in set two, leading the match with 8 kills while hitting .700. High Point made good judgments on when to hammer the ball down and when to go soft and find the open placement on the court.
Jayde Shelton did a good job of finding the open gaps by going up with a big swing and then faking the defense with a tip. The Panthers stretched on a 14-8 lead. The Bears attempted to close the gap with a slight run to make it 15-12 but the Panthers pushed on and went up 23-16, leading to the 25-19 set victory.
Brown rallied in the third set and made things interesting for High Point. The Bears took their largest lead of the match at 13-7. High Point later went down 20-15 and fought back to cut it to 20-19. HPU strung together five straight points to take a 24-21 advantage on the verge of securing the match point. Brown was not giving up and tied the set at 24 all to force the set into extra points. At this point in the set, High Point did not have any more subs and had to finish out the game with the same six on the court.
Going into extra points, the Panthers had 10 opportunities to take the set after going up by one point, but the Bears held on. High Point took the set after a service error gave the Panthers the 36-35 advantage followed by a block on the outside from the duo of Wilson & Sparks for the 37-35 win.
Dylan Maberry (14), Davis (9) and Élodie Lalonde (8) led the match on the attack, while Davis, Shelton and Sparks combined for 13 blocks.
Up Next:
High Point has a quick turnaround and will play at the University of New Hampshire on Wednesday, October 8 at 6:00 p.m. in Durham, New Hampshire.
#GoHPU
