HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point returned to the Millis Center for its third home game of the season to welcome the Charleston Southern University Buccaneers on Friday night. The Panthers came out with fire and dominated throughout the match to pick-up their third sweep of the season and second sweep in conference play. HPU advanced to 3-1 in league play.
High Point was led by Élodie Lalonde with 16 kills on a .306 hitting percentage. She added three assists, two service aces and three digs to her stat sheet. She brought the heat from all spots of the floor. It did not matter if she was on the front row or back row, she crushed the ball and threw CSU out of system.
"We challenged our team on some things this week and I felt like we responded," Head Coach
Ryan Meek state. "We made more hustle plays and were aggressive when the score was tight. I felt like we put together a full match and that's something we challenged them to do this week."
Site: Millis Center
Score: High Point 3, Charleston Southern 0
Records: High Point (6-8, 3-1), Charleston Southern (10-8, 2-2)
How it Happened:
Ryley Boyne opened set one on the outside strong for the Panthers, helping the team take an 8-4 lead off of a 6-0 run. She continued to thrive and put down three back-to-back kills to make it 11-6.
Charleston Southern remained close and closed the set to a three-point margin at 16-13 with a kill from Skylar Yates. Following a service error from the Buccaneers, Boyne and
Maya Bukovcan hammered down back-to-back kills to advance HPU's lead back up to six, 19-13.
High Point's 21st point was a beautiful sequence. Lalonde dug up a hard serve and pushed the ball closer to the net.
Remy Catojo went up with her right hand and set up a one-handed back set for Bukovcan on the slide. Bukovcan's power hit made it 21-16.
A double block from
Ella Grace Holloway and Bukovcan put the Panthers up 23-16. The Buccaneers had a late set surge and went on a 5-0 run to trail by two and make it 23-21. Two kills from Lalonde and
Addison Freeland ended the first set 25-22.
High Point cruised through set two and won by a landslide, 25-11. The Panthers held the Buccaneers to just six kills, registering a -.129 hitting percentage while forcing CSU to commit 10 turnovers.
The tone was set early with a dominant 7-0 run, followed by another 8-0 run mid-way through the set to lead 16-4. Charleston Southern could not stop High Point's momentum as the Panthers went on to take set two 25-11.
Set three witnessed a closer game. High Point led 7-5 with a Lalonde kill and then 9-6 with a Bukovcan kill. An attack error on CSU gave the Panthers an 11-8 lead but the Buccaneers quickly tied the set at 11 all with three straight kills.
The Panthers managed to gain some separation and go up 17-12. HPU held the five-point lead at 19-14 but CSU strung together four straight points and made it a one-point game. The Panthers remained focused and put three points on the board with two back-to-back kills from Lalonde and a middle kill from Freeland.
Charleston Southern attempted to close the gap but High Point handled business with the 25-22 win after a Holloway kill.
Extra Stats:
- HPU hit .376 as a team as three players each hit over .400.
- Catojo was the main setter and dished out 35 assists.
- The Panthers picked up 51 digs to the Buccaneers' 32, led by Kea Whillock with 20 digs for her second consecutive game with 20+ digs.
UP NEXT:
High Point welcomes Presbyterian to the Millis Center on Saturday, October 11 for a mid-afternoon matchup at 2:00 p.m. Follow along with live updates on X (@HPUVB).
#GoHPU
