PROVO, Utah – The High Point volleyball team took on No. 16 Brigham Young University on Saturday night in the final game of the doTERRA Classic. After taking the first set, the Panthers fell 3-1 overall.
Dylan Maberry and
Kennedy Louisell led the game with a combined 35 kills as Louisell posted a new career-high 14 kills. As a team, HPU did not have its best hitting night, recording a .186 hit percentage while BYU posted a .361 hit percentage as a team.
In front of a packed Smithfield house, High Point showed up and stunned the crowd after taking the opening set in extra points, 28-26. The set witnessed strong back-and-forth action between the two teams, exchanging leads five times with 13 tie ups.
The Panthers took a three-point lead late in the first set with kills from
Arica Davis and Louisell to go up 19-16. The Cougars never lost reach and tied it back up at 20 all. HPU was the first to reach the 25th point after a service error from BYU. Two quick points for the Cougars gave BYU the 26-25 advantage but Louisell put the team on her back and hit down two big time kills. A Cougar attack error gave High Point the 28-26 win.
In the second set HPU had a slow start and after going down 6-1 early, the Panthers struggled to regroup and close the gap. A kill from
Eve Wilson cut the set to three at 13-10 but a strong front-line attack from BYU extended the Cougars lead back up to 19-11. BYU took set two 25-12.
High Point regrouped in set three and took to a 10-9 lead. A service error for BYU tied the game at 13 all before multiple errors from the Panthers resulted in separation for the Cougars, taking an 18-13 lead. Three straight kills from the Panthers kept HPU within three-points at 20-17 but a few strong serves from the Cougars ended the set 25-18.
In set four High Point went down 11-4 and after a team effort, the Panthers battled back and closed the game to two-points at 11-9. Three kills and a double block from Davis and Wilson kept the Panthers within one at 14-13. Louisell showed up again late in the fourth set with two strong kills mixed in with a double block from
Jayde Shelton and Davis to tie the set at 20 all. A kill from each team tied the set again at 21 all but HPU was only able to score one more point before the end of the set, falling 25-22 and 3-1 overall in sets.
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Up Next:
High Point flys south to play at Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday, September 3 for a non-conference matchup at 7:00 pm ET. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
#GoHPU
