WASHINGTON, D.C. – The High Point Panthers finished off the weekend at the UMBC/Howard Tournament with a doubleheader matchup at The Burr gymnasium. The Panthers first took on Princeton University for the first time in program history and picked up a 3-2 victory. Later in the day, HPU picked up its first sweep of the season with a dominant performance over Howard.
"It's just a great feeling ending the day 2-0," Head Coach
Ryan Meek commented. "I thought in the Princeton match we battled and had to find a way to win. Everyone contributed and chipped in. It wasn't pretty but we found a groove in the 4th and 5th set and were able to end with a win."
Taking on Princeton for the first time, High Point faced a challenging opponent on Saturday morning. Going to five sets, HPU had its best performance in the final two sets.
The Panthers were led on the attack by three players in double figures including,
Dylan Maberry with 23 kills, and
Arica Davis and
BayLea Sparks each with 10 kills. Both teams matched up evenly across the stat lines as High Point led on aces (7) and digs (61).
In the fifth set, HPU led at the mid-game switch, 8-3. A kill from Davis kept the Panthers up five. A 4-1 run for Princeton closed the gap to 14-12 but
Allie Gray set up Maberry on the outside and secured the five set victory.
In the second game of the day High Point picked up the team's first sweep of the season over Howard, after having an all-around strong performance. HPU was overall the better team, finding the open gaps and putting up a fight on the block at the net. Across the stat line, the Panthers recorded 43 kills to the Bison's 36, seven blocks to Howard's three and matched with six aces a piece.
"The Howard match was our most complete match this year," Meek added. "We were engaged start to finish and stayed in a great groove from before. Happy to be headed home with two wins, including a non-conference segment ending sweep."
High Point opened the first set strong. The early 5-0 lead set the tone for the match as HPU took set one 25-19. A kill from Maberry mid-way through the set gave the Panthers a 16-11 lead. High Point extended the lead to seven with a kill from Davis at 20-13. The Bison attempted to close the 24-16 gap with three straight points, but Maberry secured the final point to earn the first set win.
High Point remained steady in set two and extended to an early 9-4 advantage.
Jayde Shelton entered the match and made a difference as she posted a kill and two blocks during the 5-0 run. Following the 9-4 lead, the Panthers and Bison exchanged points back-and-forth as High Point held a steady lead only allowing Howard to come within two points at 17-15. The Panther attack found a hot streak and hammered the ball down to score five straight points and make it 22-15. Up 24-18, Élodie Lalonde secured the set point.
Howard started the third set with their first lead of the day at 3-1. The Bison hung around throughout the third set and held the lead until the Panthers stretched on a 5-point run to take back the lead at 17-15. The Bison tied the set at 18 all. In the final seven points for the Panthers, HPU kept the lead and secured the final point with a Bison error for the 25-22 victory.
Maberry was the difference maker with 13 kills, three blocks and 10 digs. Lalonde trailed with 11 kills while Davis led with four blocks.
Jordyn Schilling had a strong night from the service line with a season-high four aces.
Up Next:
High Point opens Big South play at home against Radford on Friday, September 27 at 6:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
