High Point, N.C. – On Friday night, the High Point University Panthers took on North Carolina A&T on the second day of the High Point Volleyball Invitational. After a back and forth battle in front of an exciting crowd, the Panthers won in the fifth set to pick up their second win of the home invitational.
Gabby Hill led the team with a career night, achieving 23 kills on 38 attacks, to boast a .526 hitting percentage. Aisha Keric posted another career-night in back-to-back games, putting down 15 kills with a .379 hitting percentage.
"Gabby and Aisha [Keric] were amazing tonight and bailed us out of a tough situation," Head Coach Ryan Meek stated. "North Carolina A&T gave us trouble all night and competed their butts off and I don't think we matched their energy all the time. I thought we were good for most of the fifth set, but we are lucky to come out with a win tonight."
Site: Millis Center
Score: High Point 3, North Carolina A&T 2
Record: High Point (6-4), North Carolina A&T (5-6)
Right out of the gate, the Panthers came to play, leading with a score of 5-1. NC A&T fought back and were able to get some kills, but HPU's Élodie Lalonde held them back by scoring five kills with three assists from setter Remy Catojo, and advance 15-9. The Aggies gained some momentum and had four kills of their own, but HPU continued to lead the game, 17-13. From there, the Panthers seemed to have run away with it, with NC A&T making some costly errors. High Point won the first set 25-15.
Set two started off with both teams trading kills, and the score kept climbing higher and higher with no one taking the lead. Notably, Hill made six kills with five assists from Catojo, but the Aggies still led the game 18-17. HPU started falling behind after experiencing a rough patch while NC A&T produced good offense, allowing them to reach their match point 24-19. High Point was able to hold them off, going on a run and gaining three points, upping the score and closing the gap to 24-22. After a long volley in the next play, NC A&T won the set on an attack error and tied the match 1-1.
Set three started like the second with a back-and-forth between the two teams. A kill by
Addison Freeland gave the team the push they needed as Hill followed up with three kills, and
Grace Killion came through as well with a service ace, putting the team up 10-6. NC A&T responded with two kills of their own to make it 10-8, pushing HPU to call a timeout. High Point came out of the timeout strong, with Lalonde getting two kills, Catojo with a kill of her own, and a service ace by
Sydney McKay pushing them to 15-13 lead.
From there, the teams had some back and forth where NC A&T was able to come back and tie the game at 22-22. Hill was able to push through, putting up two kills and getting the team to match point, 24-22. The set was settled after an attack error by the Aggies, giving HPU the set 25-22 and a 2-1 advantage in the match.
In the fourth set, HPU started slow, trailing 3-0 early before trailing 6-2. The team was able to get back on track with four assists from Catojo, setting up her teammates McKay, Hill, Freeland, and Keric. Continuing to trail 15-9, Hill and Catojo started to heat up and registered three kills, getting their team to within five points, down 18-13.
With four more kills made by Keric and service aces from Hill and
Kea Whillock, HPU was able to chip away and crawl back to within two points at 23-21. Three more kills from
Maya Bukovcan, Catojo and Hill allowed the team to prevent the Aggies match point and tied up the game 24-24. From there, the teams went back-to-back on kills. The Aggies tried a second time for their match point, but the Hill and Catojo duo struck once again, getting a kill and forcing the set into extra points. NC A&T won the set, 27-25 and tied the match 2-2, leading to a fifth set.
The fifth set remained electric in the Millis Center as High Point took the lead early on and brought the home crowd into it. Catojo assisted in five kills, getting her 44th assist of the game and leading HPU to a 9-7 lead. Both teams continued making kills, with Keric getting her 14th kill of the game and Hill getting her 23rd kill of the game, putting High Point ahead 13-10.
A kill from Freeland got HPU to match point, 14-11. NC A&T had more to give. After getting the ball on a service error, they were able to make a kill and a service ace, tying the game 14-14 and keeping the fans on their toes. The ball was given back High Point after a service error made by the Aggies, allowing the Panthers an opportunity to end the game. With a final kill from Keric, the Panthers were able to secure a victory, winning the match 16-14 and the game 3-2.
UP NEXT: High Point will take on Radford at home on September 25 at 6:00 p.m. inside the Millis Center to kick-off Big South Conference play.
#GoHPU
