#1 High Point Defeats #4 North Carolina A&T In Straight Sets to Reach Title Match
BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- No. 1 seed High Point swept No. 4 seed North Carolina A&T in three sets Saturday evening to advance to Sunday's Championship match vs. Campbell.
The Panthers were victorious by set scores of 25-22, 25-17, 25-18. Maggie Salley led HPU with 13 kills while Mackenzi Thornburg dished out 21 assists and eclipsed the 2,000 career assists mark. Jenny Wessling led the defense with 12 digs and Gabrielle Idlebird paced HPU with four blocks.
Head Coach Ryan Meek: "I thought we came out a bit tentative and A&T was aggressive taking advantage of our mistakes. Once we settled in I thought we played much better. Our block was impactful as was our serving. Our right sides really showed up big tonights. Maggie carried us offensively and Maddy (Smith) touched everything they set to the left. Looking forward to another big performance from them tomorrow."
HPU got out to a slow start and trailed the Aggies early on in set 1, but a big kill from Sydney Palazzolo allowed the Panthers to close in, 19-15.
Dylan Maberry also had two key winners down the stretch that put HPU within striking distance late in the first set.
The Panthers took their first lead a 21-20 after Sopheea Mink and Maria Miggins teamed up for a block before Maberry recorded a solo block of her own to take a 22-20 lead.
Palazzolo finished off the set with her third kill to give the Panthers a 1-0 advantage. The Aggies returned in the second set with the same competitive drive and stayed close to the Panthers until HPU opened a 5-0 run at 10-8. The run featured two Idlebird blocks and two Palazzolo kills that gave the Panthers some breathing room to eventually take a 2-0 lead.
Early on in the third set, Mackenzi Thornburg reached an accomplishment only five other Panthers have achieved in the NCAA Division I era. With her 15th assist of the evening, Thornburg reached 2,000 career assists and finished the night with 2,006 career assists. She sits just behind Gabi Mirand's (2014-15) 2,037 assists.
HPU cleaned up defensively in the third set and handled the Aggies, 25-18, to advance to their third Big South Championship in the last six seasons.