Site: High Point, N.C. (Millis Center)
Score: High Point 3, Hampton 0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-20)
Records: HPU 14-5 (6-0 Big South), Hampton 1-12 (0-5 Big South)
Next HPU Event: Saturday, October 16, 2021 — vs. Charleston Southern (Charleston, S.C.), 6 PM
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University volleyball team swept Hampton in straight sets en route to its 22nd consecutive Big South win on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 9). Junior Maria Miggins had a triple-double in the 3-0 win over the Lady Pirates. Miggins also recorded a career-high 11 kills on Saturday. High Point won both of its matches in the return to the Millis Center over the weekend.
Ryan Meek: The goal is to win and we were able to do that twice this weekend. I thought today we were maybe a little emotionally spent after last night you know there was a lot of emotion and then come back shortly after the match ended. Most of us weren’t out of the gym until 10 PM last night then we were back 12 hours later so I don’t know that we did a great job on the emotional side today. I don’t think we played bad volleyball, I thought our serving was pretty bad but I thought for the most part the volleyball looked okay. If you told most teams they were going to hit .280 they would take that in a heartbeat so I think we did some good things on the court. I think we need to be a little better emotionally and detail-oriented. But a win is a win.
Getting It Started in Millis
Panther Particulars
HPU started the first set on a 7-2 run.
A Maggie Salley kill put HPU up 13-10 in the first set. Salley’s kill came during a 7-1 run for the Purple & White.
Madison Smith recorded a kill that pushed the Panther lead to 17-11, a Jenny Wessling ace made it 18-11.
Sopheea Mink fired off a rocket of a kill to give High Point a 22-16 lead as the Panthers started to pull away.
HPU won the first set 25-22.
Hampton looked to answer in the second set, the Lady Pirates led by as many as five as they looked to even up the match.
Just when Hampton looked to be close to evening up the match with a second set win, the Panthers dug deep and fought back into the set. After trailing 12-7 HPU got the Hampton lead down to two as Gabrielle Idlebird’s kill brought the Lady Pirates’ lead down to 13-11.
Senior, Mackenzi Thornburg provided what might have been the play of the match to bring the Panthers back within one. Thornburg was able to track down to long balls which kept the play alive and allowed Dylan Maberry and Idlebird to score for the Panthers off the block. Thornburg’s effort play made it just a one-point Pirate lead.
This kicked off an 8-0 run for the Panthers which they used to pull out the second set win 25-19 in a comeback effort. High Point took a 2-0 set advantage into the break for the second day in a row.
High Point was able to seal the deal in the third set winning 25-20. Idlebird and Smith put the finishing touches on the third set with a few kills down the stretch as HPU won its 22nd straight Big South match in a row. High Point remains the only unbeaten team in the Big South Conference.
Both Idlebird and Miggins finished with a match-high 11 kills on the day.
UP NEXT
High Point will play two next weekend in South Carolina as the Panthers will face Charleston Southern on Friday at 6:00 PM then at Presbyterian on Saturday at 2:00 PM.