HPU Volleyball Takes Down Jacksonville in Four Sets for First Win

• High Point won the first match in the Ryan Meek era, 3-1, over Jacksonville Friday evening
• HPU recorded 59 kills to the Dolphins’ 28
• Senior Molly Livingston hit .440 with 13 kills

KENNESAW, Ga. — The High Point University volleyball team won its first match of the season, taking down Jacksonville, 22-25, 25-14, 25-16 and 25-18, Friday evening (Aug. 31) in Kennesaw, Ga.

The Panthers (1-3) hit .258 as a team and held the Dolphins (0-4) to a .117 hitting percentage. HPU lead in kills, 59-28, digs, 55-37, and service aces, 8-3. The win for the Panthers was the first under HPU first-year head coach Ryan Meek.

“I was really proud to see us battle through first-set adversity and steady out as the match went on,” Meek said. “Molly (Livingston), Katie (Tylman) and Adeline (Ellis) really set the tone for the team as we found our rhythm. It’s a great win for us over a very solid program and we’re looking forward to competing against two of the top teams in the country Sunday.”

Senior Molly Livingston led the Panthers with 13 kills and a .440 hitting percentage. Senior Katie Tylman hit .348 with 12 kills, while fellow senior Adeline Ellis had 10 digs and nine kills.

Sophomore Abby Bottomley had a game-high 17 digs, while junior Jenna Weidner served up three aces.

In the first set, the Panthers took a 21-20 lead on a senior Jordan Hefner kill, but the Dolphins won five of the next six points to claim the set, 25-22.

The Purple & White hit .321 in the second and held Jacksonville to an .056 hitting percentage on the way to a 25-14 set win. The third was much of the same, as HPU limited the Dolphins to .077 hitting and captured the frame, 25-16.

In the fourth set, the Panthers forced the Dolphins into eight hitting errors against seven kills, resulting in a -.033 hitting percentage. Jacksonville scored three in a row to cut the Panther lead to 20-18, but HPU scored the next five to finish off the match, 25-18.

Up next, the Panthers travel to Madison, Wis., to take on No. 2 Texas and No. 8 Wisconsin on Sunday, with start times of 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.