• Senior Annemarie Chin led the Panthers with 37 digs on the night.
• Sophomore Haley Barnes paced HPU’s attack with 14 kills including seven in the third set.
• High Point will be back in the Millis Center this weekend (Sept. 11-12) to entertain Davidson, Marshall and Wake Forest in the Panther Invitational.
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The High Point University volleyball team got another 30-plus dig performance from senior Annemarie Chin, but fell in four sets to UNCG in Greensboro, N.C. on Tuesday night.
Fresh off a Big South Defensive Player of the Week honor, Chin racked up 37 of the Panthers’ 71 digs. Her 37 digs were the most in a 4-set match in her career at HPU are the most in head coach Jason Oliver’s tenure.
“I thought we showed a lot of grit coming back in the third set,” Oliver said. “There are nights when you have it and nights when you don’t and we didn’t have it tonight. But I have to give credit to UNCG they kept pressure on us and we’re going to grow from this. I’m glad this happened early in the year so that we can make adjustments, move forward and win a championship in our house.”
Sophomore Haley Barnes led HPU’s offensive attack racking up 14 kills with seven coming in the third set. Freshman Jordan Hefner made an impact at the net collecting six kills and six blocks while fellow freshman Molly Livingston registered five kills and three blocks. At setter, senior Gabi Mirand tallied 21 assists on the night while adding an ace and two kills.
UNCG hit .259 on the night while holding HPU (4-4) to a .067 attack percentage. The Spartans also earned a +14 margin (85-71) in digs.
The Spartans jumped out to an early 6-3 lead before Barnes ferociously slammed an attack to the floor to make it 11-10. However, UNCG responded with a 6-1 run to build a 17-11 advantage. From there, the Panthers weren’t able to pull any closer than five despite Chin’s set-high eight digs (25-15).
The second frame played out much like the first as UNCG took an 8-4 lead only to see HPU cut it to 8-6 on two kills by Barnes. But once again the Spartans went on an extended run to make it 23-12 lead before closing the set by a 25-14 score.
An ace from Chin and a block by Hefner and Livingston sparked the Purple & White out to a 5-2 advantage in the third set. The lead swelled to five as Mirand compiled two kills and an ace (12-7). However, UNCG answered with a 5-0 run to knot the score at 12-12. The Spartans took their first lead of the set at 15-14, but the lead was short-lived as HPU responded with a 5-2 spurt to make it 19-17.
The Spartans bounced right back and tied the score at 21-21. The teams traded points before HPU survived four match-point opportunities for UNCG and took a 28-27 lead. Junior Greta Griswold finally brought an end to the set with a huge ace (29-27).
The Spartans vaulted out to a 12-point lead in the fourth set (18-6) and never looked back taking the set 25-12 and securing the win.
The Millis Center will be abuzz again this weekend as the Purple & White are back to host the Panther Invitational on Sept. 11-12 against Davidson, Marshall and Wake Forest.