High Point Volleyball Sweeps Davidson On The Road

DAVIDSON, N.C. – The High Point University volleyball team earned a 3-0 win at Davidson on Friday at the Wildcat Classic in Davidson, N.C. Three Panthers put up double-digit kills to lead HPU over the Wildcats in front of an energetic crowd at Belk Arena.

“Davidson pushed us until the end,” said head coach Jason Oliver. “It was a great environment in a packed gym with a bunch of loud fans. They fed off their fans and that makes this win that much more impressive for us. We are starting to learn as a group that our system will work if we trust it and trust each other.”

Senior Courtney Johnk and sophomore Kristin Heldt had 12 kills each and sophomore Chelsea Davis added 11. High Point hit .221 in the match with 50 kills while holding Davidson to a .160 attack percentage with 36 kills.

Davidson pushed High Point until the end, forcing extra points in the third set but HPU held on to sweep the Wildcats 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 29-27). The Panthers improve to 9-4 on the season.

In the final set there were five set points before HPU won the frame, 29-27, on a Davidson ball handling error. Michelle Chakirelis and Heldt had kills to fight off the two Davidson set points and Heldt’s final kill of the night gave HPU a 28-27 lead.

High Point took an 11-10 lead in the first set on a kill by Johnk and held the advantage for the rest of the frame. The Panthers stretched the lead to five, 19-14, and used that buffer to hold off a late Davidson run. The Wildcats cut the lead to one, 22-21, after an HPU service error. High Point scored the final three points of the set to win 25-21. Simpson and Chakirelis blocked an attack by Rachel Earnhardt for the final point.

The second set was a defensive battle but High Point edged Davidson, 25-20. As a team, HPU hit .282 with 17 kills to win the frame. With the score tied 19-19, the Panthers went on a 6-1 run to win the set. Simpson had two kills in the run and HPU again finished the frame with a block, this time a solo block by Jamie McDonald.

Freshman Annemarie Chin recorded a team-high 16 digs and freshman Wavie Chin came up with 13 digs in the win. Chakirelis hit .400 with seven kills and redshirt-sophomore Maddie Simpson posted 38 assists, five kills, nine digs and two blocks. McDonald finished the match with three kills and six blocks.

The Wildcat Classic continues on Saturday with matches against Green Bay and NCCU. High Point will face Green Bay at 10 a.m. and North Carolina Central at 3 p.m. Green Bay beat NCCU in three sets on Friday.