High Point, N.C. – On Thursday night, the High Point University volleyball team had its first home game of the season, where the Panthers not only secured a win but swept Wofford College, 3-0 in front of an electric Millis Center atmosphere.
HPU was led by Maya Bukovcan with 14 kills on a .560 hitting percentage in the middle. Aisha Keric had a career night with 12 kills on the right side to hit .320. Gabby Hill joined in double figures with 10 kills of her own, hitting .474 to help High Point boast a .305 hitting percentage as a team.
A highlight of the night was Remy Catojo's 34 assists which led to her eclipsing her 1000th career assist at High Point, just nine games into her sophomore season.
"I thought it was a great team win tonight against a very good Wofford team," Head Coach Ryan Meek stated. "Everyone found ways to contribute and keep the level steady."
Site: Millis Center
Score: High Point 3, Wofford 0
Record: High Point (5-4), Wofford (6-4)
The game started off with a lot of back and forth between the two teams. A kill made by Hill gave the team momentum to go on a run and lead the set 10-6. Wofford scored three back-to-back points and closed the gap to 10-9. High Point responded as Lalonde and Bukovcan each put down a kill to put HPU up 14-10.
The teams went back and forth, making it 16-14, but HPU took a timeout and it was just what the team needed to get back into the action. A kill by Bukovcan with the assistance from Catojo put the Panthers up 17-14, sparking a run to extend it to 20-16. Wofford responded by tying the set at 20 points but HPU's
Addison Freeland prevented the Terriers from taking the lead by getting her second kill of the game. Wofford responded with its own kill, making it 22-21 as HPU called a timeout.
After the timeout Keric and Bukovcan had two kills, putting set point insight for the Panthers. Wofford responded with two points of its own, making it 24-23 but Bukovcan made the final attack, getting her sixth kill of the game and winning the first set for HPU, 25-23.
The second set started off going back and forth. The game was tied at 4-4 but a kill by Hill gave the team the strength they needed to start a run going up 7-4. Wofford responded by making it a one-point game, but HPU prevented the tie with Hill completing yet another kill, making it 8-6. Freeland, Keric, and Bukovcan followed their teammate with four combined kills, making the score 12-8. This was enough kills to scare Wofford into a timeout.
After the timeout, Wofford came back scoring three consecutive points, making the score 12-11 and forcing HPU to take a timeout of its own. There was some back and forth between the teams yet again, but a kill by Catojo, her first of the game, made the score 15-12 and forced Wofford into another timeout. The Panthers strung together three kills with two from Keric and one from Bukovcan, extending the lead, 19-15.
High Point landed three more consecutive kills to make it 23-21. The Panthers were able to get to their match point, leading 24-22 and Keric was able to finish off the set with a final kill, her eighth of the game and win the set 25-22 to lead 2-0 in the match.
Both teams came into the third set strong and tied it up to 4-4 but Wofford took its first true lead of the match, with three kills to go up 7-4. However, after this deficit and some strong plays made by both teams, HPU was able to climb back up the scoreboard tying the game 10-10.
After leading 16-13 over the Terriers, Wofford tied the game with two kills and an HPU attack error but the Panthers responded by making four kills. Bukovcan knocked down two kills, Hill followed with one and
Havani Embry picked up a hit from the backline leading the team to a 20-16 advantage to gain momentum and separation.
Wofford responded again, this time with two kills but it still wasn't enough. Keric scored her 12th kill of the night making it 23-20. From there Wofford continued to battle but Keric and Freeland blocked the Terriers to put HPU at match point, 24-20 where once again Wofford was blocked by Freeland and Lalonde, giving High Point its final point and end the match 25-20. HPU picked up its first home victory with a sweep.
UP NEXT: High Point will take on North Carolina A&T in the High Point Invitational in the Millis Center on Friday, September 18th at 7:00 p.m.
#GoHPU
