HIGH POINT, N.C. – On Halloween Night, the High Point University Panthers participated in a joust with the USC Upstate Spartans in a Big South regular-season matchup. High Point opened the set with a victory and after going down 2-1, the Panthers persevered in the final two sets to win 3-2 over the Spartans.
"Just another great team win," Head Coach
Ryan Meek stated. "So many different players contributed and played big roles throughout the match. We have been talking about how getting challenged like tonight is so good for our growth as a team and I loved the way we responded in sets 4 and 5 to that challenge."
Site: Millis Center
Score: High Point 3, USC Upstate 2
Records: High Point (12-9, 7-2), USC Upstate (12-11, 5-5)
How it Happened:
On the middle attack,
Addison Freeland was the go-to player against the Spartans. Racking up 19 kills to lead the team, she registered a new career-high just three days after posting a 15-kill career-high against the College of Charleston. On top of registering 19 kills, she had the best hitting percentage of the night with .515.
Both teams opened set one dominating.
Maya Bukovcan heated up in the middle early with a block and back-to-back kills to tie the set at seven all. The set remained close until HPU tied it at 12 all and then gained some separation with four straight kills.
USC Upstate picked up five points to High Point's one with a kill on the outside from Élodie Lalonde and tied the set again at 17 all. The set tied again at 19 all before a double block from
Gabby Hill and Freeland sparked a three-point swing in favor of the Panthers. This run help HPU take the set 25-22.
In set two, High Point trailed early, 14-8. The Panthers made a push and closed the gap to two-points at 15-13 with a
Sydney McKay service ace. Bukovcan and Lalonde tied the set at 17 all after putting down three kills and a double-block. The set became a back-and-forth exchange through the final points.
After tying the set at 22 all, USC Upstate went up 24-22. Freeland hammered down a middle hit and made it 24-23 but an attack from the Spartans best outside hitter, Ady Grady gave USC Upstate the 25-23 win to even the playing field.
In the third set the Panthers led through majority of the first half of the set and went up 15-13. A 6-1 run for the Spartans flipped the script and gave USC Upstate a 19-16 advantage. The Spartans held the lead through the final points of the set and won 25-18.
With HPU down 2-1, the team had to regroup and lock in for set four. Determined and focused, High Point leaked out on a 5-1 lead. Maintaining the lead, the Panthers went up 14-9. A kill from
Gia Padilla made it 17-10 . Keeping the offense's fire going the Panthers went on to score eight straight points and claim set four 25-11 to force a fifth set.
High Point's momentum carried over into the fifth set as Freeland opened the set with three powerful hits in the middle, helping the Panthers go up 4-0. At the mid-set switch HPU led 8-3.
Ryley Boyne put down two kills in the Panthers last five points of the match and paved the way for a fifth set victory, 15-7.
After five sets, HPU took the match 3-2 at the Millis Center recording the second win this season over USC Upstate.
Extra Stats:
- The Panthers hit .315 as a team registering 63 kills to USC Upstate's 53 kills.
- In the final two sets, HPU held the Spartans to just six kills in each set.
- Lalonde added 15 kills on the night with a .273 hitting percentage.
- Remy Catojo recorded 51 assists for her third match this season with 50+ assists. She also added three service aces.
- Kea Whillock had a 20 dig performance.
UP NEXT:
High Point remains at home on Saturday, November 1 for a matchup with UNC Asheville at 2:00 p.m. Follow along with live updates on X (@HPUVB).
#GoHPU
