ROCK HILL, S.C. – The top two teams of the Big South Conference matched up on Friday night in Rock Hill, South Carolina. After a strong battle, the High Point University Panthers brought home the win against Winthrop University, 3-1.
Kinnady Booth led the match with 14 kills on a .265 hitting percentage. Élodie Lalonde and
Maya Bukovcan each produced double digit kills and combined with nine block assists. Lalonde also picked up 13 digs.
Site: Winthrop Coliseum
Score: High Point 3, Winthrop 1
Record: High Point (17-6,11-1 Big South), Winthrop (14-7,10-2 Big South)
"Just a complete team effort tonight," Head Coach
Ryan Meek stated. "Everyone carried weight and did their jobs. I thought sets three and four were some of the grittiest volleyball we have played this season. We responded to every challenge and kept playing controlled and hard. We have a very tough match tomorrow night at Gardner Webb that we need to start preparing for tonight mentally and physically."
In the opening set, after trailing early, High Point gathered four straight points to go up 13-12 with a
Sydney McKay service ace. HPU maintained a steady two-point lead as Boothe sent over a kill to make it 18-16. Winthrop took advantage of the Panthers errors and went up 19-18. After tying the set at 20 all, High Point put down four kills and a double block to take set one, 25-21.
Set two witnessed long rallys of back-and-forth action. After tying the set at 18 all on an attack error from the Eagles, Winthrop went on a 4-0 run, leading to a 25-20 set win, to tie the match 1-1.
In set three, HPU trailed 4-1 early but quickly regrouped and went on a 12-2 run, led by Boothe with multiple kills. The 13-6 lead gave the Panthers a large cushion as HPU continued to dominate on the attack. Bukovcan put down a kill on the right side to make it 18-10. Back-to-back kills from Boothe kept High Point ahead by eight points at 21-13 as she followed up with another kill to make it 22-14. Lalonde secured the final point to win 25-17.
High Point opened set four with a 6-3 lead after collecting three kills and a block, all coming from the duo of Lalonde and Bukovcan. Bukovcan continued to bring the heat at the net securing two more kills and another block to pave the way for a 3-0 run and lead 9-5. Winthrop made moves midway through the set, tying the set at 11 all. Lalonde helped
Addison Freeland on a double block before recording back-to-back kills to put HPU ahead 15-12.
After leading by a point at 16-15, Lalonde picked up two kills on the outside to help High Point take a 19-15 advantage. The Panthers held on to their lead as Boothe secured the final two points to win the set 25-20 for the 3-1 match win.
UP NEXT: High Point continues its road trip with a game at Gardner-Webb University on Saturday, November 7 at 6:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
