CHARLESTON, S.C. – The High Point volleyball team hit the road for a long trip down south the Charleston, S.C. The Panthers matched up for the second time this season with the Buccaneers of Charleston Southern University and fell 3-1.
 
High Point had a slow start in set one and trailed at times throughout the set. After going down two points, two kills and a service ace from Dylan Maberry put HPU back on top at 8-7. The set remained close with back-and-forth lead exchanges. Eve Wilson tied the set at 16 all and Élodie Lalonde followed up with a kill on the outside to take the 17-16 lead.
 
CSU took a three-point lead at 20-17 but High Point battled back and tied the game at 20 all with a double block on the outside. High Point tied the set three times before Charleston Southern scored the final point to take set one, 26-24.
 
The Panthers turned it around in set two and opened on a 5-0 lead. A kill from Jayde Shelton made it 7-1, but CSU chipped away and closed the gap back to 8-6. HPU was not phased and continued to take swings and find the gaps. Spreading the attack from all three areas at the net, Arica Davis put two kills down in the middle to help the Panthers take a 14-9 lead.
 
High Point put the hammer down and pressed on to its largest lead of the set at 20-12 after a kill from Maberry. Charleston Southern closed the gap to four points at 24-20 before a net violation by the Buccaneers gave HPU the set point.
 
The third set started much like the first set with back-and-forth action between the teams. High Point led by one-point before a service error tied the set at 10 all. Charleston Southern advanced on a 7-1 lead which made it hard for the Panthers to close the gap. The Panthers dropped the set 25-17.
 
A big area that High Point struggled in was on the serve as the team had 14 service errors after the first three sets while CSU had three.
 
Lalonde helped High Point to a good start in the fourth set, taking two big swings to give High Point a 6-4 lead. After an 8-8 tie, the Buccaneers found momentum and took to a 15-10 lead forcing an HPU timeout. CSU kept the momentum and took to a six-point lead, but High Point kept battling. A middle kill from Davis and a double-block from Wilson and Davis made it 22-18. Charleston Southern managed to score the final three points of the set resulting in the 25-18 loss for the Panthers.
 
This was HPU's first loss in Big South regular season play since 2022, holding a 28-0 streak prior to Friday night.
 
Up Next:
High Point remains on the road this weekend to take on Presbyterian Saturday, November 9 at 4:00 p.m. in Clinton, S.C.