PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The High Point University volleyball team traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a weekend tournament hosted by the University of Pittsburgh. The Panthers took on Wright State University on Friday night to open the tournament. HPU fell 3-1 to the Raiders.
Site: Victory Heights Arena & Sports Performance Center
Score: High Point 1, Wright State 3
Record: High Point (3-3), Wright State (4-3)
"We again didn't do what we needed to do against a very good opponent," Head Coach
Ryan Meek stated. "We had chances in sets one, three and four to make a few plays and take the sets and every time we backed away from the challenge Wright State presented. Credit to Wright State for competing hard and making plays and finding ways to win. We backed away when we had those chances, and they didn't."
High Point was led by its outside hitters in Élodie Lalonde and
Gabby Hill as Lalonde collected 13 kills and Hill put down 12. The middle attack remained efficient as
Maya Bukovcan and
Addison Freeland each hit over .300 while tagging seven kills apiece.
Catojo tied her season-high with 38 assists and
Kea Whillock collected 22 digs for her second game this season with 20+ digs.
Both teams battled through all four sets as the match tied 33 times and exchanged leads 12 times. An area that HPU dominated in was on the block, registering 10 blocks to Wright States four, led by Freeland with five block assists of her own.
In the opening set, High Point advanced on a 6-1 lead after putting together three points in two different sequences. The Panthers maintained a 10-4 lead with a kill in the middle from Freeland.
The Raiders tied the set at 14 all. HPU regained the advantage with a Lalonde kill to go up 21-19. Another kill on the outside from Hill kept the Panthers ahead 23-22. Two kills from the Raiders and an HPU attack error gave Wright State set one, 25-23.
In the second set, High Point took another early lead after back-to-back kills from Catojo and Hill to go up 7-5. HPU took advantage of Wright State's weak outside block and powered through multiple hits.
Mid-way through the set, Bukovcan heated up scoring four points for HPU with three hits on the slide and a double block in the middle with Lalonde, giving HPU a 14-12 lead. Bukovcan helped the Panthers build momentum and go on a 5-0 run as Catojo and Freeland posted a big-time block followed by a solo block from Hill to go up 18-12.
Another 4-0 run paved the way for a set two victory for the Panthers, 25-17.
In the third set, High Point trailed early, down 11-7. The team took advantage of a few mistakes from the Raiders and went up 12-11. Hill caught fire and knocked in three straight kills to keep the Panthers ahead 17-15. Hill continued to dominate on the outside and scored HPU's 21st point to give High Point a one-point advantage.
Four straight points for Wright State put the Raiders in a set point position. HPU rallied back and tied the set at 24 all but Wright State capitalized on a kill and a service ace to take set three 26-24.
Battling in set four, High Point fought back early from a five-point deficit to go up 11-10. Lalonde and Lardner tag teamed the 6-0 run with two kills each as Whillock led the run on the serve.
The Panthers maintained their lead at 16-14 but the Raiders became assertive on the kill and the block and went up 18-16. HPU rallied and tied the set at 19 all with a Lardner kill on the right side. Like the third set, Wright State went on a 5-0 run to go up 24-19 with a possible set point. Not backing down and fighting through the end, High Point went on its own 5-0 run to tie the set at 24 all.
Wright State was successful on back-to-back attacks and won set four 26-24.
UP NEXT: High Point returns to the Victory Heights Arena & Sports Performance Center to take on the host, No. 2 ranked Pittsburgh on Saturday, September 12 at 5:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
