Site: Hampton, Va.
Score: High Point 3, Hampton 0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-19)
Records: HPU 19-5 (11-0 Big South), Hampton 2-16 (1-10 Big South)
Next HPU Event: Saturday, October 30, 2021 — vs. Campbell (Buies Creek, N.C.), 2:00 PM
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University volleyball team picked up its 27th consecutive Big South win on Friday evening (Oct. 29) against the Hampton University Lady Pirates. It was the team’s third straight sweep, moving them to a perfect 11-0 in conference play.
Ryan Meek: “I thought we played well enough to win tonight, but that’s it. We did some good things but would lose focus as soon as we built a lead. Hampton is physical with great arms and we let them have too many open swings. We’ll need to be more consistent to beat Campbell tomorrow in what is more or less a regular-season championship match.”
Panther Particulars
After a slow start, the Panthers got going when an ace from Gabrielle Idlebird tied the game up 7-7 in the first.
High Point would not look back once they got going, going on a 10-0 run to finish the first set, highlighted by a big kill from Sydney Palazzolo and capped off with a service ace from Sarah Malone. Palazzolo finished the match with 16 kills, tied with Dylan Mayberry for a game-high.
The Panthers kept the run going into the second, scoring the first seven points of the set. Gabrielle Idlebird also followed behind Palazzolo and Mayberry with seven kills, including an exclamation mark in the second set.
Palazzolo continued her success into the third set, showing up all over the scoresheet. In addition to the 16 kills, the freshman finished the game with three service aces and six digs.
HPU’s defense looked dominant throughout, holding the Lady Pirates to a .041 hitting percentage, picking up 66 digs and 6.5 total blocks in the match, including a solo block from Lucy Dumford towards the end of the third set.
High Point will look to keep the momentum rolling as it heads to Buies Creek tomorrow to face off against the Fightin’ Camels of Campbell University. The first serve is set for 2 PM and the game can be streamed live on ESPN+.