The Presbyterian College volleyball team lost the first game, but rallied to take the next two before High Point won the remaining two, including the deciding fifth set, as the Blue Hose fell to the Panthers, 3-2, in action tonight at Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C. PC fell by scores of 19-25, 25-17, 25-23, 14-25 and 12-15.
The Blue Hose lose for the first time in five matches to go to 8-14 overall and 5-2 in the Big South. High Point improves to 15-8, 4-3.
Leading PC was Presley Mabrey with 14 kills and Andrea Barman with 11. Chelsea Davis paced High Point with 17 kills, followed by 15 from Courtney Johnk.
Maddie Simpson led the Panthers in assists with 52 with Annemarie Chin held the defensive side with 17 digs. Leading the assists for the Blue Hose was Ashtin Frank with 39 and in digs was Mary Trimpe with 22.
PC recorded 51 kills and 27 errors for a .157 hitting percentage, while HPU had 64 kills and 27 errors for a .239. The Panthers led in kills 12.0 to 7.0
High Point opened up a 6-2 lead early in the first game, capitalizing on three PC errors and two kills by Jamie McDonald, who finished the night with 11. The Blue Hose cut it to 7-5 off a 3-1 run, highlighted by two kills by Allison Brown, who had eight total. Both teams traded points before the Panthers were able to increase their lead to four again, 10-6, taking advantage of two more PC attack errors.
High Point kept the margin to at least three down the stretch and led 19-14. Mabrey recorded back to back kills, while Andrea Barman posted a block to lead the Blue Hose on a 3-0 run to make it a 19-17 game. A service error and attack error gave High Point the four-point lead again at 21-17.
Another PC attack error made it 22-17 in favor of HPU before Hall ended the drought with a kill to make it 22-18. Johnk's kill took the score to 23-19, while a PC service error and attack error gave High Point the 25-10 game one win.
Down 8-4 in game two, PC took advantage of a HPU service error and three straight attack errors to knot the game at 8-8. Mabrey gave PC the lead off a kill to help the Blue Hose to a 10-0 run that saw the Blue Hose take a 114-8 lead, capped by back to back-kills by Berryman. A service error by the Blue Hose ended drought for High Point as the team trailed 9-14.
After back-to-back points the next few plays, HPU cut the margin to four off a kill by Johnk and to three off a PC attack error, trailing by just three, 13-16. PC took the lead back up to six, 19-13, off two HPU errors and a kill by Hall. Davis and Kristin Heldt contributed kills to lead the Panthers back to four at 15-19.
Barman made it 21-15 off a kill, while two Panther attack errors made it 23-14. HPU rattled off three straight, highlighted by a kill be Heldt as High Point crept back in, 23-17. That would be as close as the team would get, with Barman adding another kill to lead the Blue hose to the 25-17 game two win.
PC led 9-4 early, highlighted by a kills from Brown and Elizabeth Miler. Two kills by Heldt and another won by Johnk helped High Point cut the margin to four at 11-7, before Mabrey made it a five-point game again at 12-7.
A PC error and a block by Chelsea Davis cut the margin to three at 12-9, while kills by Davis and Jamie McDonald help the Panthers tied the game at 13-13. McDonald's next kill made it a 15-14 game in favor of High Point.
Both teams traded points as High Point led 16-15 before a Heldt kill made it 17-15, forcing a PC timeout.
PC came out of the timeout with a kill by Barman and took advantage of a HPU error to tie the game at 17-17. Barman gave PC the lead back with a kill but HPU's Heldt returned the favor to knot the game again at 18-18.
Tied again at 20-20, PC opened up a two-point lead off a kill by Berryman and Miler, before a Johnk kill cut the margin to 23-22. HPU and PC traded points with Barman putting the nail in the coffin with a kill to give PC the 25-23 win.
High Point used six kills, including two by McDonald and two by Davis, to open up a 9-2 lead in game four. PC cut the margin to four, 10-6, helped in part to two kills by Caroline Cann. The Panthers made in an eight-point game off three kills and two aces and led 16-7 before Frank's kill made it 16-8 for HPU.
The Panthers rattled off six straight points, highlighted by three kills from Davis, to take the 22-8 lead. Kills by Brown, Mabrey and Barman cut the score the score to 10, 24-14 before Heldt ended the fourth game with a kill.
The Blue Hose raced out to a 6-2 lead in game five, built on kills by Miler, Mabrey and Frank, but the Panthers chipped away at the lead and eventually took it away with an 8-1 run to go up 10-7. PC cut the margin to one at 10-11 off an ace by Trimpe, but the Panthers took the lead back up to 14-10. A kill by Brown and Barman made it 12-14 but Davis sealed the game five and match win with a kill.
The Blue Hose next travel to Liberty Oct. 19 for a 7 p.m. match before heading to Radford the following day for a 4 p.m. match.
