Panthers win conference tournament volleyball title

HIGH POINT – High Point University kept rolling right into the NCAA Tournament.

The second-seeded Panthers swept fourth-seeded UNC Asheville 25-12, 25-13, 25-23 in the championship of the Big South Conference volleyball tournament Sunday in the Millis Center.

High Point captured its third straight conference tournament crown and sixth Big South title overall – and with it another berth in the NCAA Tournament, the program's eighth appearance.

"It feels great," Panthers coach Ryan Meek said. "For all of us, this has been the sole focus for 11 months. It's not just the tournament or the weekend or the conference season.

"It's workouts in the winter when it's cold. It's summer keeping in shape and all that kind of stuff. So it feels great to be rewarded for that and to win the championship. And to do it with a new team is awesome."

Addison Freeland and Elodie Lalonde each had 13 kills for High Point (18-9), which also beat sixth-seeded Radford 25-13, 25-11, 25-20 in the semifinals Saturday. Gia Padilla added seven kills and 11 digs.

Lalonde and Maya Bukovcan each had three blocks, while Freeland followed with two. Remy Catojo had 42 assists. Kea Whillock had 17 digs, followed by Brooke Briscoe with 16. Sydney McKay had three aces.

"It's obviously amazing," said Freeland, a sophomore middle blocker who was named the tournament MVP. "It was a really good tournament for us. So much emotions."

The Panthers – who have won last six straight matches by 3-0 scores – quickly built a sizable lead. They finished the first set on a 13-3 run, then won the first eight points of the second set and later led by 13.

"We were all hyped up, like the best mentality I've seen from our team so far," Freeland said. "We were so confident in our ability to trust our training. And we came in and fought from the start. We do goals before the game, and a lot of people's goals were to start off strong and maintain that the whole game.

"I think the whole game we were leading because we weren't looking at the scoreboard. We were going one point at a time, and every point mattered just as much as the last one. We'd be up like 20 to 12 and that point still mattered just as much."

The teams were much closer in the third set, as the Bulldogs (12-18), who upset top-seeded Winthrop in five sets in the semifinals, pulled even at 20, 21 and 22. But High Point, which only has a handful of carryovers from last year's team, won three of the final four points to seal it on a tip by Freeland.

Bukovcan had 10 kills and two blocks against Radford on Saturday, while Lalonde had nine kills. Freeland had two blocks, Catojo had 32 assists and two blocks, and Whillock had 15 digs and two assists.

Catojo and Biscoe joined Freeland on the all-tournament team.

The Panthers – who shared the regular-season championship with Winthrop, a tournament finalist the previous two years – will have a week off before learning their NCAA Tournament opponent in the selection show Sunday.

"It's always fun – always great," Meek said. "Capping off a season it's always what you're looking for. It makes Thanksgiving week a lot more fun when you know the girls are coming back and we'll get to play a little more. We get a week off to hang out, see what else is going on in the country and go from there."