• Sophomore Camryn Freiberg led four Panthers with at least seven kills posting nine while hitting at a .750 clip.
• The High Point defense racked up 59 digs to hold Gardner-Webb to a .056 attack percentage in the win.
• The Purple & White have won eight straight matches, the longest winning streak in head coach Jason Oliver’s tenure at High Point.
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – It was mostly treat for the High Point University volleyball team as it earned a 3-0 triumph over Gardner-Webb on Saturday in Boiling Springs, N.C.
In front of a masquerading crowd, the Panthers (19-7, 9-1) registered their eighth consecutive victory – the longest streak in head coach Jason Oliver’s tenure. Meanwhile, the Runnin’ Bulldogs fell to 9-18 overall and 3-7 in Big South action.
“We came out focused and determined to finish off the weekend with a victory,” Oliver said. “We played with a lot of poise and that’s a good thing for our program. Top to bottom, everyone showed the type of focus that we need to win matches in the Big South and it was great to complete the weekend the right way.”
Playing Batman for HPU was sophomore Camryn Freiberg who led the squad with nine kills while hitting at a .750 clip. Freshman Molly Livingston took up the role of Robin with seven kills, 11 digs and three total blocks.
Despite having to play without her halo, redshirt-junior Savannah Angel tallied seven kills and three blocks as sophomore Haley Barnes gave the Panthers four players with at least seven kills.
From her setter spot, senior Gabi Mirand dished out more goodies than the average household with 30 assists in the match. On the other hand, the Purple & White’s defense made it harder for Runnin’ Bulldogs to find kills than it was to find Waldo in the mob of masks in Porter Arena holding them to a .056 attack percentage.
From the back row, senior Annemarie Chin was a quick as Flash racking up 18 digs in the match. Behind Chin’s performance, High Point earned a 59-41 edge in digs while the offense posted a 45-22 advantage in kills.
Mirand and Livingston combined for a block on the first point of the day to give HPU a 1-0 lead. However, the Runnin’ Bulldogs kept pace to make it 7-6 despite two kills from junior Megan Kennedy. But the Purple & White turned up the heat scoring 11 of the next 12 points to build an 18-7 advantage and cruised to a 25-11 win. HPU’s attack controlled the set hitting .536 behind Livingston’s 5-for-5 frame.
Déjà vu struck in the second set as the two teams started close (5-4) before the Panthers posted a run (8-1) to take control with a 13-5 advantage. From there, HPU pulled away for a 25-13 triumph behind four kills from Freiberg and eight digs from Chin.
In the third set, the Panthers didn’t wait to make a run winning eight of the first nine points to earn an 8-1 lead. GWU fought back to within six on multiple occasions, but couldn’t get as closer as the Panthers earned a 25-13 victory to close out the afternoon’s Halloween festivities.
High Point wraps up their 6-match road trip next weekend at Liberty (Friday, Nov. 6) and at Radford (Saturday, Nov. 7).