HPU Volleyball Drops Match to Auburn at War Eagle Invitational

AUBURN, Ala. – The High Point University volleyball team lost to Auburn, 3-0, on Friday in the War Eagle Invitational. The Panthers got eight kills from sophomore Kristin Heldt and eight digs from sophomore Chelsea Davis.

“Auburn is a really good team and they put a lot of pressure on us,” said head coach Jason Oliver. “We will learn a lot from this experience and it will be fun to see how we respond tomorrow morning against a very good Georgia Southern team. We will learn from this game, put it behind us and improve as a team.”

Auburn snapped HPU’s four-game win streak with the 3-0 (19-25, 15-25, 17-25) defeat. High Point is now 4-2 on the season with one game left in the War Eagle Invitational.

Davis had seven kills to go along with eight digs and two blocks. Senior Courtney Johnk added six kills and freshman Wavie Chin and senior Molly Barlow had six digs each.

The Panthers got off to a slow start allowing the Tigers to jump out to a 15-10 lead in the first set. HPU scored four of the next five points to cut Auburn’s lead to two, 16-14 on an ace by Heldt. Auburn used a timeout to regain composure and held the lead the rest of the way, winning the set 25-19. Davis had six of HPU’s 13 kills in the frame.

Johnk went without a kill in the first set but made her presence known early in set two. She staked HPU to a quick 3-0 lead. She put down a kill for the first point, combined on a block with Jamie McDonald for the second and went up for a block on the third that forced Auburn attacker Courtney Mcdonald to send the ball long. The Panthers extended the lead to 7-3 on an ace by Johnk. Auburn rallied back to take a 13-12 lead and extended the advantage to 18-13. The Tigers went on to win the frame 25-15.

Auburn carried the momentum in to the final set, winning 25-17. Heldt had four of her eight kills in the final frame.

HPU will play its final game in the War Eagle Invitational on Saturday at noon. The Panthers will face Georgia Southern. The Eagles lost to Auburn and beat Jacksonville State on Friday.