HIGH POINT, N.C. --- Brianna Starr (Blue Springs, Mo.) and Tyler Cockrell (Tulsa, Okla.) each tallied 13 kills as the High Point Panthers rallied for a four-set victory over Gardner-Webb in Big South Conference play on Saturday afternoon.
High Point (10-13, 4-6 Big South) won the match by scores of 26-28, 25-21, 25-20 and 25-16, attacking at a .228 clip in the contest while holding Gardner-Webb (12-16, 5-5 Big South) to a hitting percentage of .147. The Panthers recorded 60 kills, 92 digs and seven blocks in the contest, as Gardner-Webb countered with 50 kills, 75 digs and 12 stuffs.
"This was a tough loss against a very solid HPU team," said head coach Leo Sayles. "We just ran out of steam after a week with obstacles and a hard fought win last night. I thought we might pull off a big win after set one. I'm still proud of our team, and glad we are still in a good position for a push to finish the regular season."
Starr and Cockrell paced the Runnin' Bulldogs with 13 kills each, as Starr added 13 digs to post a double-double. Heather Feldman (Eden, N.Y.) chipped in a double-double of her own with 37 assists and 11 digs, while Kacy O'Connor (Southport, N.C.) and Anna Pashkova (Iowa City, Iowa) tallied 19 and 15 digs, respectively. Sydney Marshall (Norcross, Ga.) recorded five kills and a match-high seven blocks.
Kristin Heldt led the way for High Point with a match-high 19 kills, attacking at a .319 clip as Haley Barnes added a double-double with 11 smashes and 19 digs. Gabi Mirand tallied a double-double of her own with 41 assists and 14 digs, while Wavie Chin and Annemarie Chin posted 25 and 15 digs, respectively.
High Point jumped out to an early 8-5 lead in the first set before Gardner-Webb fought back, taking a 15-14 advantage on the heels of a 10-6 run that was capped by three straight kills from Cockrell.
The momentum would seesaw back and forth between the two sides throughout the remainder of the frame, with High Point fighting off four set points before the Runnin' Bulldogs closed out the set with a Montour smash to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Panthers stormed back early in the second, opening the set with an 11-3 run before Gardner-Webb responded, clawing back to cut the lead to 12-10 on back-to-back kills by Montour. High Point would respond with a 9-5 spurt, pushing the margin to 21-17 following a Jimenez kill.
After Gardner-Webb cut the lead to 21-20, High Point countered with four of the next five points to even the match at 1-1 with a smash from Camryn Freiberg.
Gardner-Webb fought back in the opening moments of the third, snatching an early 7-5 advantage on a kill from Marshall before High Point responded, stringing together a 6-0 spurt to claim a 13-7 advantage on a tandem block from Heldt and Katie Vincent.
The Runnin' Bulldogs quickly countered with a 9-4 run to close the gap to 17-16 following an opportunistic kill by Starr. High Point would answer with an 8-4 spurt, claiming the set and a 2-1 lead in the match following a smash from Chelsea Davis.
The Panthers carried the momentum into the fourth, opening the set with a 7-1 surge before pushing the margin to 16-5 on the heels of an 8-2 run. Gardner-Webb would fight back with eight of the next 13 points, closing the gap to 21-13 to force an HPU timeout following an ace from Kelly McNamara (Hendersonville, N.C.).
High Point came out of the break with four of the next seven points, closing out the set and the match on a kill by Heldt.
Gardner-Webb is back in action on Friday, November 7 when the Runnin' Bulldogs host Winthrop at 7:00 pm in Paul Porter Arena.
