HPU Volleyball Sweeps Season Series with Charleston Southern

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University volleyball team defeated Charleston Southern 3-0, 25-15, 25-14 and 25-19, Friday, Oct. 26 in the Millis Center.

“I felt like we played really well,” head coach Ryan Meek said. “I think on Tuesday we played a solid match, I don’t know if it was a great match. We really challenged them to come out and play a match that we could get everybody in and take care of business from beginning to end, and I thought we did that really well. We got Brantley Rhodes and Gabby Idlebird, who are two kids we are trying to get more time, a full set. It was great to see them come in and play well. It was the perfect match to relax and go into this three-day break on.”

High Point (17-8, 12-1) out hit Charleston Southern (9-9, 4-6) .347-.143, while notching 45 kills to the Buccaneers 30. The Panthers had 44 digs, while the Bucs logged 28. HPU logged 12 kills to CSU’s 10. Senior Molly Livingston led the way for the Panthers with a match-high 12 kills on a .632 hitting percentage. Defensively, sophomore Abby Bottomley was the leader with a match-high 18 digs, while Livingston had six blocking assists and seven digs of her own.

High Point led 10-7 in the first set before reeling off seven-straight points to take a 17-7 lead. HPU finished the set 25-15. The Panthers out hit the Buccaneers .286-.031 in the first set. HPU had five total blocks in the set. Livingston led the way for High Point with five kills on a 1.000 hitting percentage. She also logged five blocking assists in the set. Freshman Mackenzi Thornburg logged 10 of her match-high 25 assists in the set.

In the second set, High Point led 11-8 before going on a 4-1 run to take a 15-9 lead and gain control. HPU won the set 25-14. The Panthers had 17 kills on a .485 hitting percentage compared to the Buccaneers’ 10 kills on a .182 in the set. Senior Abby Broadstreet and Livingston were the leaders for the Panthers with four kills apiece. Bottomley recorded seven of her match-high 18 digs in the second set.

The Purple & White led 10-7 then went on a 7-0 run to take control at 17-7. The Panthers finished the set 25-19. Senior Katie Tylman and freshman Brantley Rhodes were the leaders for the Panthers with four kills each.

Up next, the Panthers will conclude their home conference schedule as they bring Radford into the Millis Center Friday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. This match will be HPU’s senior night.