HIGH POINT, N.C. – For the eighth time in program history, the High Point University volleyball team is headed to the Big South Championship game after sweeping No. 6 seed Radford University on Saturday night. In the last five games, HPU has swept its opponent. The Panthers will battle it out against No. 4 seed UNC Asheville on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.
 
"I thought we were locked in tonight from the start," Head Coach Ryan Meek stated. "We challenged the team to serve tough, play hard and defend at a high level. We accomplished all of those tonight. Tomorrow will be a tough match with a team that has been playing at a high level over the past few weeks and battles hard. We'll need to be ready to play our best and be gritty."
 
Site:  Millis Center
Score: High Point 3, Radford 0
Records: High Point (17-9, 12-2), Radford (1-20, 5-9)
 
How it Happened:

High Point jumped out rolling in the Big South semifinals. Ryley Boyne who started the match for the Panthers gave HPU a three-point lead at 8-5 with a kill on the outside. Remy Catojo, the starting setter made it 11-8 with a big time kill at the net from an over pass by the Radford defense.
 
Maya Bukovcan extended the lead to five with a kill in the middle to make it 14-9 and in two plays later, she added another one to make it 16-9.
 
High Point reached the 20-point mark and led 20-12 with another Boyne attack. Addison Freeland made it 22-13 with a middle kill, followed by three attack errors from Radford to end the set, 25-13.
 
High Point hit .480 as a team after the first set, led by Boyne and Bukovcan with three kills apiece. Kea Whillock led the way on the back row with 10 digs.
 
At the start of set two Freeland exploded up and punched one down at the 10-meter line to give HPU an early 3-0 advantage. Brooke Briscoe made it 4-0 with a nice service ace across the net.
 
An HPU service error gave Radford its first points of the set but the Panthers quickly gained back the serve with an attack error on the Highlanders. Élodie Lalonde registered a kill and Freeland kept it rolling to extended the lead, 7-1.
 
Curling around on the slide, Bukovcan kept High Point's six point lead, 12-6. Gia Padilla connected on back-to-back points, first with an outside kill and then a dump at the net from a Radford over pass to make it 15-8.
 
The front line continued to dominate in all areas and eluded to a 5-0 run to give HPU a 21-10 lead after a Whillock service ace. Gabby Hill crushed a shot on the outside late in the set leading to the 25-11 set two victory.
 
At the end of the second set, High Point was still hitting over .400 as a team, registering 28 kills on a .456 percentage, out hitting Radford 28-14 kills.
 
Maintaining the momentum, the Panthers opened set three with a 5-0 lead with the help of Lalonde who put down three kills. The Highlanders cut it to 5-4 but the Panthers cruised back to a 10-4 lead.
 
Padilla made it a nine-point game with a hit on the outside to make it 16-7. Continuing to dominate everywhere on the court, High Point went up 20-12. Radford attempted to close the gap but only came within four points at 20-16 as Bukovcan picked up her ninth kill of the game.
 
Two plays later, she registered her 10th kill of the match to lead the team in kills and help give High Point the 25-20 win.
 
Extra Stats:

• As a team High Point doubled its hitting totals compared to Radford, tallying 44 kills to the Highlanders' 23, while posting a .366 hit percentage and holding RU to a .061 hitting percentage.
• Lalonde finished behind Bukovcan with nine kills.
• Catojo produced 32 assists.
• Through all three sets, High Point never lost the lead and only let the match tie up on four occasions.
• This was HPU's third sweep this season over Radford. 

UP NEXT:
High Point will take on UNC Asheville on Sunday, November 23 at 4:00 p.m. at the Millis Center for the Big South Championship. The winner will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Follow along with live updates on X (@HPUVB).