BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – It was a fast game for the High Point University volleyball team on Friday night in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. The Panthers cruised through three sets against Gardner-Webb with a clean sweep to start the second round of Big South Conference play.
"We played a focused, disciplined match tonight. Everyone contributed and we were dialed in on details. Our floor defense was at the highest level it's been this year, and that's been a constant area of attention in practice. Great to see us play this way in a match leading into a battle tomorrow with Winthrop."
Site: Paul Porter Arena
Score: High Point 3, Gardner-Webb 0
Records: High Point (10-8, 7-1), Gardner-Webb (9-15, 1-7)
How it Happened:
The first two sets for the Panthers flew by as High Point won each set by a 10+ margin, defeating the Runnin' Bulldogs 25-10 in set one and 25-15 in set two. HPU was led by Élodie Lalonde with 13 kills followed by
Gabby Hill with eight kills and
Brooke Jeffrey with six. The Panthers dominated at the net on defense and put up nine blocks to Gardner-Webb's zero.
High Point stunned GWU early in set one by jumping out to an 11-1 lead. The Panthers strung together two strong runs with a 6-0 run to start the set before the Runnin' Bulldogs scored their first point of the match. The Panthers then followed up with a 5-0 run.
High Point's strong hits made it hard for Gardner-Webb to get in system resulting in a number of offensive errors for the Runnin' Bulldogs. Keying in on the serve,
Sydney McKay, who leads the team in service aces, sent over an ace that made it 20-7. Three of the Panthers' final five points of set one were scored by kills from Lalonde, Jeffrey and Hill.
Lalonde opened set two on fire, knocking down three straight kills to take a 3-0 lead. High Point continued to bring the heat as Hill started heating up on the outside, registering three back-to-back kills herself to put HPU up by 10 points at 14-4.
Gardner-Webb made it a seven point game at 14-7 and 16-9, but another High Point run sparked by
Addison Freeland advanced the Panthers lead back up to 12 with a 21-9 lead. HPU went on to take the set 25-15.
In set three Gardner-Webb took its first lead of the night after going out on a 4-0 run. HPU quickly turned it around and made it a one-point game trailing 4-3. A Jeffrey kill ignited a four-point run for the Panthers, giving HPU the lead back to go up 7-5.
After leading 8-6 with a
Remy Catojo kill, High Point trekked on an 8-0 run with the dominant net presence from
Maya Bukovcan and Hill who registered three blocks during the stretch.
Jasmine Oduro and Catojo went up for a double block to make it 17-7. The Panthers continued crushing the ball and an outside kill from
Ryley Boyne kept a 10 point lead at 23-13. Lalonde and
Talia Lardner registered the final two points of the set to give High Point the 25-16 victory and a three-set sweep.
Extra Stats:
- High Point registered 41 kills to Gardner-Webb's 25.
- The Panthers posted a .366 hitting percentage as a team and held GWU to a -.009 percentage.
- Catojo dished out 24 assists.
- Bukovcan and Lalonde combined for seven blocks.
- Kea Whillock produced her seventh consecutive match with double digit digs, registering 20.
UP NEXT:
High Point travels to Winthrop for a matchup on Saturday, October 25 at 2:00 p.m. in Rock Hill, S.C. Follow along with live updates on X (@HPUVB).
#GoHPU
