• The Panthers’ pair of Wisconsin natives – senior Haley Barnes and junior Molly Livingston – combined for 25 kills, 14 digs and six aces.
• For the second straight match, High Point upped its season-high in aces with 14 compared to one for Campbell.
• The Purple & White are 3-0 in Big South play for the first time since 2008 with all three victories coming on the road.
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The High Point University volleyball team racked up season highs in aces (14) and attack percentage (.333) in a three-set triumph at Campbell on Tuesday night.
The Panthers (10-6, 3-0) cruised to a 25-10 win in the first set and never let up winning the second set 25-19 before closing out the Camels (10-7, 0-3) in the third, 25-22. The win gives the Purple & White a 3-0 Big South record for the first time since 2008 with all three wins coming on the road.
“Our goal was to play a complete match to our standard whether that was three, four or five sets and I felt we did a great job of that as a group tonight,” head coach Tom Mendoza said. “We were able to put pressure on Campbell with our serve and transition game and, for most of the night, we were siding out at a high rate. It’s a match we can build on and find ways to keep raising our level as the season goes on. We will look for the same approach and effort gearing up for Radford on Saturday.”
Senior Haley Barnes rode a hot start to a 14-kill and three-ace outing while hitting .333 on the night. Similarly, her fellow Wisconsin product, junior Molly Livingston, added 11 kills and three aces to go with her .500 attack percentage.
“Tonight we really focused on controlling our side of the court,” senior Carly Jimenez said. “We had really strong serves and overall we played very consistent. We looked to each other to do our own job and that allowed us to play a clean match.”
Overall, the Panthers posted a season-best 14 aces with freshman Abby Bottomley adding three as Jimenez and junior Abby Broadstreet notched two apiece. In comparison, HPU allowed just one Camel ace on the night.
From the back row, Bottomley paced High Point with 14 digs as the Purple & White earned a 44-31 edge in digs. Due to that digging performance, the Panthers outhit the home squad .333 to .242 on the night posting a matching 44-31 margin in kills.
Setters Jimenez and sophomore Jenna Smith combined for 31 assists and seven digs in the match. Rounding out the attack, junior Jordan Hefner posted six kills while Broadstreet tallied five.
Smith served up an ace on the match’s opening point to spark an 18-4 run anchored by a blistering .625 attack percentage by the Panthers. The Camels rebounded to pull within nine, 19-10, before Bottomley’s back-to-back aces helped close the set 25-10.
Although Campbell’s offense found some rhythm in the second set, Barnes posted five kills while Livingston and Broadstreet added three apiece to give HPU an 18-11 edge. Once again, the Camels cut into the deficit, 23-19, before an ace from Barnes closed out the 25-19 victory.
Smith served up an ace before Livingston added two more as HPU vaulted out to a 13-3 lead after the intermission. For the third straight set, CU posted a run this time pulling within one, 22-21, but an error followed by Bottomley’s third ace gave the Panthers a 24-21 edge. After failing to close out the match on their first match-point opportunity, Livingston ended the match, 25-22, with her 11th kill.
The Panthers are finally in the Millis Center against a Big South foe on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Radford.