HIGH POINT, N.C. – Behind a spectacular offensive performance from a quartet of Panthers, the High Point University volleyball team earned a 3-1 victory over Radford (25-23, 21-25, 25-18) Friday evening inside the Millis Center.
“Everybody came out with good focus and the energy from the crowd really helped us out because Millis was rocking again,” head coach Jason Oliver said. “I was pleased with the level of play that we had at times. I think our team shows the type of mentality we need in spurts, but consistency will be the key for us going forward. Radford is a very well-coached team and I was pleased with the team’s focus and it’s always great to win at home.”
Three Panthers posted double-digit kills on the night, led by sophomore Camryn Freiberg, who totaled 15 while chipping in a service ace. Freshman Abby Broadstreet tallied a career-best 12 kills to go along with five digs and three total blocks while sophomore Haley Barnes added 11 kills and four total blocks (two solo).
Freshman Molly Livingston registered a career-best five service aces and added eight kills and five total blocks to round out the stellar offensive juggernaut for the Panthers.
Senior setter Gabi Mirand totaled 43 assists and notched 11 digs to post her second straight double-double and senior libero Annemarie Chin put together another superb evening with a match-high 26 digs.
HPU hit .147 as a team and limited the Highlanders to a .133 clip on the night. The Panthers held advantages in every major statistical category, including kills (55-46), assists (51-42), digs (87-79), aces (9-2) and blocks (10.0-9.0).
Radford opened up a 10-7 lead in the first set before HPU used a 3-0 run to take a 14-12 advantage. Consecutive kills from Freiberg, Barnes and Broadstreet moved the Panthers ahead 18-15, but Radford rallied with a 3-0 spurt to tie the score at 22-22. However, the Purple & White came up big late, scoring three of the final four points of the set to take it, 25-23.
The Highlanders raced out to a 13-9 advantage in set two and extended the edge to seven (17-10) on the strength of a 7-1 run. HPU used a 7-2 run to move back within two (19-17) and cut it to one (21-20) on a kill from Freiberg. But the Highlanders posted four of the final five points of the set to win it, 25-21.
HPU led 6-2 early in the third set before utilizing a sensational 9-0 run to break open an 18-5 advantage. The surge included a trio of aces from Livingston. Radford rallied with a 9-1 run of its own to move back within five (20-15), but HPU got kills from Freiberg and Broadstreet down the stretch to close out the set and win it, 25-18.
High Point went up 10-8 early in the fourth and moved ahead by three (16-13) on a thunderous kill from Broadstreet. From there, Freiberg and the Panthers were able to pull away for a 25-20 win to close out the match.
HPU returns to action Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. contest vs. Liberty inside the Millis Center.