HIGH POINT, N.C. – In a Saturday afternoon matchup, the High Point University volleyball team took on Winthrop University in a battle for first place in the Big South Conference standings. Both teams entered the match 4-0 in league play, as the Panthers remained undefeated with a 3-1 victory.
"Great way to wrap up the weekend," Head Coach
Ryan Meek stated. "We had control of the first and Winthrop made a push, and I think it put us on our heels. We didn't do a great job responding until the third and fourth sets, and then our block and defense took over. I'm not usually worried about our offense, we usually find that. When we serve, block and defend at a high level, I think we can be very tough to beat."
Site: Millis Center
Score: High Point 3, Winthrop 1
Record: High Point (11-5,5-0 Big South), Winthrop (8-6, 4-1)
Talia Lardner had quite the outing on the right-side attack, recording a new career-high with 13 kills to lead HPU on a .632 hitting percentage.
Gabby Hill produced 12 kills while
Maya Bukovcan and Élodie Lalonde each added 10 kills apiece.
Remy Catojo guided the offense with 40 assists.
Along with the attack, the Panthers did an outstanding job protecting their side of the net, picking up 15 blocks as a team, led by Bukovcan with nine block assists and Lardner with eight block assists.
Jasmine Oduro also had a strong presence in the middle on the block with four block assists herself.
In the opening set, High Point held the lead through half of the set, leading 15-7 at the media break. A 6-0 run for Winthrop following the media timeout closed the gap to 15-13. The Eagles tied the set at 19 all and took a momentum shift through the end of the set, winning the first set 25-22.
In set two, High Point led 13-7 early with the help of a 7-2 run after Lardner put down three kills on the right side and picked up a block. Bukovcan came around on a slide immediately off the Winthrop serve and found the open spot in the back of the floor to make it 15-10 at the media timeout.
Hill hammered down three kills to help the Panthers extend their lead to 19-12 and force a Winthrop timeout. The Eagles made strides and closed the set to 21-19 which called for an HPU timeout. Lardner answered with two kills to keep the Panthers ahead 23-20. Bukovcan secured the last point of the set to win 25-21 and even the match 1-1.
Unlike the first two sets, High Point trailed early in the third down 7-3. Hill sparked a run to tie the set at seven all. Still trailing 12-9, HPU used an Eagles service error to build on an 8-0 run, the largest of the match. Lalonde registered three kills and a block during the eight point stretch. Another run, extended High Point's lead to eight, 21-13. The Panthers took set three 25-17 with an
Addison Freeland kill in the middle to go up 2-1 in the match. Through the first three sets, the Panthers collected 12 blocks as a team.
After taking a 6-1 lead in set four, there was no letting up for High Point. HPU quickly set out on a 15-5 advantage with hits from all over the front line. The momentum remained and led to a 20-9 lead for the Panthers, forcing Winthrop to take a timeout. Hill and Lardner picked up three of the final five points, leading to a 25-15 win and a 3-1 match victory.
UP NEXT: High Point will travel to Charleston Southern University on October 16 for a road contest in Charleston, South Carolina.
#GoHPU
