High Point, N.C. - Despite four Panthers with double-digit kills HPU fell to Big South leader UNC Asheville Saturday 3-0 (16-25, 25-13, 24-26, 21-25) at the Millis Center.
Freshman
Courtney Johnk (Larkspur, Calif., Redwood) led the HPU offense with 14 kills while
Stephanie Wallin (Plymouth, Minn., Robbinsdale Armstrong) and
Megan Smith (Bellbrook, Ohio, Bellbrook) each contributed 12.
Anna Lott (Lincoln, Neb., Lincoln Northeast) added 10 kills for the match.
“It was a tough loss but I have to tip my hat to UNC Asheville,” said Jason Oliver. “They made plays when it mattered. It is a positive note for our team that we know we can pay and beat the best teams in our conference. It sets us up well to have a great conference tournament.”
UNC Asheville took the first set 25-16, holding HPU to a .075 attack percentage. However, the Panthers came back to hit .448 in the second set and win the frame 25-13. Wallin had four kills in the set and
Holly Fong (Sebastopol, Calif., El Molino) put up 12 assists.
High Point took a 20-18 lead late in the set on a kill by Wallin and extended the lead to 22-18 on back-to-back attack errors by Asheville. The Bulldogs battled back, knotting the score at 24-24 on an attack error by Smith. It was two more HPU attack errors that gave UNC Asheville the 26-24 set win, and 2-1 match advantage.
HPU outhit UNC Asheville .267 to .214 in the fourth set but the Panthers struggled from the service line, committing four service errors in the 21-25 loss. The Panthers tied the set at 18-18 on a kill from Wallin but UNCA was able to outscore High Point 8-3 in the final points of the set to win the match 3-1.
Megan Kaminskas (Flagstaff, Ariz., Flagstaff) finished the day with eight kills and a solo block while Fong had a double-double with 47 assists and 14 digs.
Julie Hershkowitz (Scottsdale, Ariz., Seton Catholic) had 25 digs for the match.
High Point falls to 16-15 (5-9 BSC) while UNC Asheville improves to 23-8 (12-2 BSC). The Panthers are on the road for the final pair of Big South matches at Liberty and Charleston Southern this week.