HPU Volleyball Panthers Fall to Marquette in the NCAA Tournament

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The High Point University volleyball team fell to Marquette, 0-3, 11-25, 19-25 and 15-25, Friday night (Nov. 30) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee, Wis.

High Point (21-10) logged 27 kills, 42 digs and six blocks, while Marquette (27-6) had 39 kills, 39 digs and seven blocks. Senior Abby Broadstreet led the Panthers with nine kills, while senior Katie Tylman was tops on the team with a .364 hitting percentage and six kills of her own. Sophomore Abby Bottomley led the way defensively with a match-high 17 digs, while senior Jordan Hefner recorded four total blocks.

“Coming in we knew it was going to be a really tough match,” head coach Ryan Meek said. “Marquette, we knew, was really good and had a lot of weapons. I thought they played great. I thought they were a step ahead of us at every point. They served really well, passed really well, kind of got us out of what we like to do. They did a great job on their side of the net. They only had eight hitting errors in three sets. They really did a great job taking care of the ball forcing us out of what we like to do. One night doesn’t define our season. This team achieved things this program has never seen and set a knew standard for High Point volleyball.”

Marquette won the first set 25-11. Bottomley logged nine of her 17 digs in the set.

The Panthers opened the second set with a 4-1 lead. Marquette tied the set at 9-9 and the teams traded points before Marquette won the set 25-19. Senior Abby Broadstreet posted a team-high five kills in the set, while Bottomley had six digs.

Marquette took the third set 25-15.

Allie Barber led the Golden Eagles with 12 kills on a .407 hitting percentage.

The Panthers won the 2018 Big South Regular Season and Tournament titles for the first time in program history. The six seniors on the roster led High Point to three-straight NCAA Tournaments for the first time in program history. High Point posted a 14-2 conference mark, only dropping three total sets in the 14 wins.

Senior Molly Livingston was named Big South Player of the Year and Big South Tournament MVP. HPU had four other players collect Big South honors with Bottomley named First-Team All-Big South, senior Jordan Hefner earning second-team honors, senior Katie Tylman earned honorable mention and academic team honors and freshman Madison Smith named to the All-Big South Freshman team.

Broadstreet and Madison Smith earned Big South Tournament Team honors. Bottomley ranked among the top 30 in the NCAA in digs per set and finished her season 28th in the category.