Barnes Wills HPU Volleyball Panthers To 5-Set Win At Radford

• Sophomore Haley Barnes paced High Point with a double-double (20 kills and 14 digs)
• Senior Annemarie Chin starred defensively with a match-high 27 digs.
• High Point moves to 10-2 in Big South play and earns its 20th win of the season for the fifth time since moving to Division I.

RADFORD, Va. – Sophomore Haley Barnes provided the High Point University volleyball team with a gutsy 20-kill, 14-dig performance in a 5-set triumph at Radford in the Dedmon Center on Saturday.

Barnes led three Panthers (20-8, 10-2) with double digit kills as HPU earned its 20th win for the fifth time since moving to Division I. On the other hand, the loss drops the Highlanders to 12-13 overall and 5-7 in conference play.

“That’s a good win for our program,” head coach Jason Oliver said. “Obviously, we had chances to win this earlier than in five sets, but that’s a testament to the character of that Radford squad and it was a battle. It was awesome to play that kind of volleyball at the end of the year and squeak out a win on the road. I’m really proud of our sophomores Camryn Freiberg and Haley Barnes for rebounding after last match against Liberty and hopefully this will springboard them to a have a great end of the year.”

Flanking Barnes on the attack were sophomore Camryn Freiberg (18 kills on a .433 attack percentage) and junior Megan Kennedy (12 kills and 19 digs). In the middle, freshman Molly Livingston racked up nine kills, six digs and three blocks as redshirt-junior Savannah Angel added six kills and five blocks.

However, High Point won the match on the defensive side as senior Annemarie Chin registered 27 of the team’s 88 digs. Meanwhile, Radford could only muster 55 digs as the Panthers outhit the Highlanders .233 to .192.

Despite four early kills from Barnes, the first set couldn’t have been any more back and forth as neither team took a multi-point lead until Livingston’s ace gave HPU a 19-17 advantage. The lead peaked at four as the Purple & White pulled away for a 25-21 win behind 15 digs and four blocks on the defensive end.

Radford jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the second frame before three kills from Freiberg brought HPU into a tie (8-8). However, Radford answered with a 7-2 run to build a 15-10 edge. Once again, Freiberg came up with a crucial block and Barnes added a kill and an ace to spark HPU’s 11-1 run to regain the lead (21-16). Radford, then, cut lead to one (24-23) before Barnes ended the set with her ninth kill of the evening.

After the Highlanders gained a 5-2 lead out of the gate, two kills from Freiberg pulled the Panthers into a 7-7 tie. But the home team answered right back with seven straight to build a 14-7 advantage. HPU cut the deficit to one when Kennedy put down her eighth kill of the match (19-18). From there, the Purple & White pulled even at 22-all on a block by redshirt-junior Savannah Angel. An attack error from Radford gave HPU the lead (23-22) before the Highlanders scored the final three points to win the frame (25-23).

A couple of thunderous kills from Barnes allowed the Panthers to take a 4-point edge in the fourth frame (8-4). HPU’s lead, then, grew to five at 11-6 before the Highlanders stormed back with 10 of the next 15 points to even the score at 16-16. The Panthers were able to regain the lead on a kill by Barnes (17-16) before Radford’s 6-2 run gave them a 22-19 edge. High Point, then, got kills from Freiberg and Livingston to even the score (22-22), but the comeback came up short as the home team forced a fifth set (25-23).

The even play continued in the fifth set as the two squads split the first six points (3-3). HPU seized control of the frame on back-to-back kills by Barnes and Kennedy and a block by Livingston and Barnes (6-3). From there, the Panthers never trailed as they held on for a 15-11 win.

The Panthers return home on Thursday to play Charleston Southern at 7:00 p.m. in the Millis Center before hosting Coastal Carolina on Saturday for senior day.