HIGH POINT, N.C. – For the second straight season, High Point University volleyball earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament after winning the Big South Tournament on the home court at the Millis Center Sunday afternoon. Taking it to five sets with the No. 2 seeded Winthrop University Eagles, the Panthers prevailed and secured the 3-2 win.
 
"It's emotional," Head Coach Ryan Meek stated. "I think all year we've been on our players to fight when they get hit and I thought we did tonight. That's the best response we've had all year being down and we came back and flipped the switch. I've been challenging them all year to see it happen. Obviously, I would have loved for it to have been cleaner, but to win in that fashion, I think is pretty special."
 
Arica Davis was named the Big South Tournament MVP after notching 15 kills on a .520 hit percentage with four blocks. Dylan Maberry and Jordyn Schilling were also named to the All-Tournament team after Maberry knocked down 13 kills and picked up 19 digs and Schilling collected a team-high 20 digs to help set the Panther offense up.
 
"This is the best I have felt in a long time," Davis said after winning the Tournament MVP. "This means so much to me… it was my last game of conference playing in this gym so I feel great. Everything that I put forward towards this team is showing outwardly and it means that my hard work doesn't go unnoticed. It definitely feels really good that the grind is being shown and catered to but honestly, I owe it all to my teammates and I'm just really thankful."
 
Fired up in the first set, the teams battled close through the opening points. Davis and Élodie Lalonde carried through the first points as Lalonde tagged her third kill of the day to make it 7-5. Lalonde crushed her fourth kill to keep HPU up by two at 13-11.
 
Mid-way through set one, Winthrop took a two-point lead at 16-14. A service error from the Eagles and a service ace from HPU's Brooke Briscoe tied the set at 16 all forcing Winthrop to call a timeout. Following the timeout, Winthrop earned a point, but the set soon was tied again with another Eagles service error. The set tied three more times before High Point took a 21-19 lead with a kill from Eve Wilson and a service ace from Allie Gray.
 
Winthrop took a one-point lead at 23-22 but the Panthers prevailed and scored three straight points with the help of an outside kill from Lalonde, a service ace from Kennedy Louisell and a big-time block from Wilson and BayLea Sparks.
 
After taking set one 25-23, the second set started out much like the first with back-and-forth scoring. Davis played strong in the middle, recording three kills and a block in the opening points to help HPU take a 10-8 lead. High Point stretched the gap to a five-point spread at 16-11 with a Lalonde kill on the outside to force a Winthrop timeout. Through HPU's last ten points of the set, the Panthers only allowed the Eagles to come within three points as Maberry put down the final point for the 25-10 win.
 
After leading 2-0 in sets, High Point experienced challenging and pressure situations in the last three sets of the match. The Panthers were on the verge of sealing the Championship Trophy in the third set with a 24 all score following a clutch kill from Davis. The Eagles managed to score the final two points after the 25-25 tie to make it 2-1 in sets.
 
Winthrop forced a fifth set to keep the Big South Championship excitement alive.
 
Both teams exchanged points at the start of the fifth set, including three tie ups. A double-block from Gary and Davis initiated a 4-1 run for the Panthers helping give HPU the lead at the mid-point switch. Davis, Wilson and Maberry contributed to the 12-9 advantage which forced Winthrop to use its second timeout. The slight lead helped High Point hold the lead and earn the 15-12 victory with a kill from Louisell.
 
"We're going to the NCAA's and now we will wait for the selection show and figure out where we're going next week," Meek added. "We will get rested up while enjoying Thanksgiving before getting ready for our next opponent."
 
Up Next:
High Point will watch the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, December 1 at 6:00 p.m. to find out its first round opponent.