• The win gives High Point its 12th straight win, which is the program’s longest winning streak since moving to Division I.
• The Purple & White have posted eight straight sweeps and claimed 26 consecutive matches – the longest active streak in the nation.
• Junior Katie Tylman led the Panthers with 10 kills while hitting .667 without committing an error.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The High Point University volleyball team continued its record-setting ways with a 3-0 sweep of UNC Asheville on Friday night in the Justice Center.
The Panthers (17-6, 10-0) broke the program’s Division I record winning their 12th straight match with the victory over the Bulldogs (9-12, 5-5). The triumph also moved HPU to 10-0 in Big South play for the first time in school history. On top of those incredible accomplishments, the 3-0 win was High Point’s eighth consecutive sweep and extends their nation-leading set winning streak to 26 frames.
Although High Point fell behind in both the first and third sets, the team was able to pull ahead and win all three sets by a comfortbale margin (25-18, 25-13, 25-18).
“Asheville came out with a lot of energy in the first set and we were giving points away a little too easily,” head coach Tom Mendoza said. “But I have to credit the team for gradually making changes to take control of the first and second sets. The third set was almost identical to the first and we’re excited to get out of here with the win. Overall, I felt our group showed a lot of poise and resilience with a tough road match, but we definitely have some areas that we’ll try to clean up to play a more complete match tomorrow evening at Winthrop.”
Junior Katie Tylman paced a deep and efficient attack racking up 10 kills, no errors and a .667 attack percentage. Combined with senior Haley Barnes (eight kills) and junior Molly Livingston (seven kills), the trio compiled 25 kills and just two attack errors on the night.
“Asheville is always a tough team to play because they challenge us and force us to play an extremely clean match,” senior Carly Jimenez said. “We were able to control our side of the net tonight and work through times that were hectic in order to come through with a win.”
While the offense outhit the Bulldogs .341 to .093, freshman Abby Bottomley led the defense with 15 digs as HPU earned a 38-31 margin in digs. Barnes added eight digs as junior Abby Broadstreet contributed four.
Orchestrating the offense, sophomore Jenna Smith dished out 16 assists and collected five digs while Jimenez was credited with 14 assists and two digs.
At the net, Livingston recorded a team-best four blocks. Along with her effort, junior Jordan Hefner and freshman Katie Doering both notched a pair of blocks on the night.
Providing the attack with depth, Broadstreet finished the night with six kills and Doering added four. All told, the Panthers registered 37 kills and limited UNC Asheville to 31.
For the second time six days, High Point outserved the Big South’s leader in aces. Behind two aces from Bottomley, HPU tallied four aces to the Bulldog’s three in the match.
The Purple & White carried a small lead for much of the opening frame before three kills from Tylman anchored a 6-0 run, which upped HPU’s lead to 22-16. From there, the Livingston added a kill and an ace as the visitors took the first set 25-18.
Barnes established herself early in the second set to spark an early run before the Panthers pulled away for a 25-13 win. In the frame, the Neenah, Wis. product racked up four kills and an ace.
The Bulldogs came out of the break with a purpose building a 6-1 advantage. However, a couple UNC Asheville attack errors gave the Panthers an opening. HPU took advantage as three kills apiece from Tylman and Livingston allowed the Purple & White to knot the frame at 13-13.
Then, Tylman continued her onslaught pounding down three kills to spark a 12-5 run to wrap up High Point’s eighth straight sweep, 25-18.
The Panthers continue their road trip at Winthrop on Saturday at 4 p.m.