UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – On Saturday in the second day of the Penn State Invitational, the High Point University volleyball team took on Hofstra University in a close battle through four sets. The Panthers fell 3-1 to The Pride.
"We didn't play anywhere near the level we needed to against a conference championship caliber team," Head Coach
Ryan Meek stated. "We didn't have the execution, effort or focus needed to win a match at that level. We need to play better and together."
Site: Rec Hall
Score: High Point 1, Hofstra 3
Record: High Point (1-1), Hofstra (1-0)
High Point was led by
Maya Bukovcan with 11 kills in the middle on a .300 hit percentage.
Gabby Hill joined Bukovcan in the double digits club registering 10 kills on the outside.
Remy Catojo and
Morgan Duse-Anthony split time in the setter position as Catojo dished out 20 assists and Duse-Anthony handed out 13.
In the opening set, HPU leaked out on an early five-point run to go up 5-1 after landing kills from all over the front line. The Panthers continued the momentum and strung together six points to lead 11-3. After leading 19-10, High Point's largest lead of the set, Hofstra started to get a better grip on its offense and went on a four point run followed by another six point run to tie the set at 22 all.
Aisha Keric took a big swing on the right side to give the Panthers their 24th point of the set and lead by two. Hofstra tied the set at 24 all forcing the set to go extra points. HPU fell 26-24 in set one.
High Point regrouped in set two as Bukovcan and Hill did damage on the front line to extend the Panthers lead, 10-4. Holding an 11-5 advantage with an
Addison Freeland kill, The Pride kept the game interesting by closing the gap midway through the set and taking a 12-11 lead. From there the set tied four times before HPU connected on four straight points to be the first to the 20th point and lead 20-17. The Panthers stayed focused and took set two, 25-22.
In the final two sets of the match, High Point struggled to land kills on the attack, only registering nine in each set. Mixing up the rotation in the last two sets to try to get something going, the Panthers gained three kills from
Talia Lardner on the right side while
Kinnady Boothe showed a presence on the outside. Duse-Anthony provided strong minutes in the setter position and
Grace Killion saw time on the backline. HPU fell in sets three and four, 25-20 and 25-25.
As a team, High Point registered nine more kills than The Pride knocking in 54 to Hofstra's 45 but struggled with errors committing 27 on the attack to Hofstra's 18. The Pride also had a strong defense at the net putting down 13 blocks to HPU's six on the game.
UP NEXT: High Point will reset and get ready for a Top 10 matchup against No. 10 Penn State on Sunday, August 30 at 10:00 a.m. for the final game of the Penn State Invitational at Rec Hall in University Park, Pennsylvania.
#GoHPU
