BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – On Saturday evening, the High Point University volleyball team clinched the Big South Tournament No. 1 seed after defeating Gardner-Webb University 3-1 on the road.
Élodie Lalonde exploded with 19 kills on the attack, followed by
Maya Bukovcan with 13 kills. Three Panthers hit over .350, including Lalonde, Bukovcan and
Aisha Keric who contributed eight kills on the right side. On the attack, HPU put down 58 kills to GWU's 36.
Site: Paul Porter Arena
Score: High Point 3, Gardner-Webb 1
Record: High Point (18-6,12-1 Big South), Gardner-Webb (16-12,6-7 Big South)
"We did not show up tonight with the effort and focus required to win a college volleyball match," Head Coach
Ryan Meek stated. "We were able to figure things out enough and Maya and Élodie stepped up big time for us to escape with a win. Credit Gardner-Webb for a great match and challenge. We have to be better from start to finish."
High Point got off to a strong start in the opening set, taking a 16-12 advantage. Lalonde carried the first 16 points with eight kills on the outside. From there, Gardner-Webb found momentum on its home court, going on a 9-1 run to take the lead 21-17. HPU rallied off three straight kills to trail 23-22. GWU managed to take the final two points and set one, 25-22.
The Panthers caught fire and took to a 9-4 lead early in set two. Back-to-back kills from
Gabby Hill followed by a double block from Keric and
Jasmine Oduro put HPU ahead 14-6. The runs continued as the Panthers went up by 10 points, 19-9, after a 5-0 run. High Point cruised to a 25-15 set two win to even the match 1-1.
Set three had a slow start for HPU. A solo block from Hill tied the set at 13 all. Bukovcan sparked a 4-0 run to lead by two but GWU tied it back up at 17 all. Late in the set, the Runnin' Bulldogs led 22-20. Bukovcan heated up and put down three kills to help the Panthers go on a 5-0 run and take set three 25-22.
In what ended up being the final set of the night, both teams battled through back-and-forth action exchanging points. High Point took its first big lead of the set at 15-11 after stringing together four straight kills across the front line. The momentum continued as the Panthers led 20-14 from a
Remy Catojo kill before holding onto its six point lead at 23-17 with a Lalonde kill. Catojo and
Kinnady Boothe put down the last two kills of the match to win 25-19 in set four.
UP NEXT: High Point will travel to Radford University on Friday, November 13 for the final game of the Big South regular-season at 6:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
