EUGENE, OR. – In the first round of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament, the High Point University Panthers faced the University of Oregon Ducks on Thursday night for the first time in program history. The Panthers put up a strong fight through all three sets before falling 3-0 in the end.
 
"I think it's just always difficult to end the season," Head Coach Ryan Meek stated, "and I don't know that I have words to wrap up everything from the year. I thought when we played the game the right way and did the things we needed to do, we made some plays and did some really good things. The hard part is, we haven't seen a team like Oregon really since the first weekend so I think we were a little overwhelmed by their physicality but I think as the match went on, we figured some things out and, and scored a little bit more. It was a great season… just a tough way to end it."
 
In the opening set, High Point made it challenging for Oregon in the early points. Big swings from the Panthers kept the ducks out of system. Kennedy Louisell hit a hot streak and connected on three straight points for High Point with a kill and two aces to make it 4-4.
 
Oregon created slight separation midway through the set but a kill from Arica Davis in the middle kept the Panthers within three at 10-7. The Ducks gained momentum and made a 6-0 run before stretching the lead to 10 points at 23-13, making it hard for the Panthers to recover in set one, falling 25-14.
 
High Point regrouped in set two and tied the set at seven all with a service ace from Isabella Healy after trailing through the first points. Three straight kills from the Panthers gave HPU its first lead of the set at 10-8. Oregon retook the lead shortly, but High Point tied the set at 11 all and 13 all with the help of BayLea Sparks on the middle attack.
 
Oregon held a steady three-point lead in the final points of the set, as High Point was unable to gain back the edge before the match point. HPU fell 25-17 in set two.
 
Set three opened much like the second set. High Point took a 5-2 lead early on the Ducks with a big kill from Sparks. Oregon went on a 6-0 run to make it 11-5. The Panthers took it one point at a time and closed the gap to three at 13-10 with an attack error by the Ducks.
 
HPU trailed by 3-4 points late in the set but never backed down. After going down 21-15, the Panthers made a late push and forced an Oregon attack error to cut the game to a two-point match and make it 23-21. High Point was unable to record another point and fell 25-21.
 
HPU was led by Louisell and Dylan Maberry with seven kills each followed by Sparks with six kills on a .385 hit percentage. Allie Gray handed out 18 assists while Jordyn Schilling picked up 17 digs. As a team High Point hit .118 while Oregon hit .259.
 
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This concludes the 2024 High Point Volleyball season, finishing with an overall record of 23-7 and a conference record of 13-1. High Point finished as the Big South Regular Season and Tournament Champions and earned the programs third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament under Coach Meek's seventh season at the helm.