HPU Volleyball Crumbles to JMU in Home Opener

The Dukes improve to 6-1 all time against the Panthers

By: Megan Hovey

HIGH POINT, N.C.- It was a home opener that the High Point University women’s volleyball team would like to forget.

The Panthers (7-4) lost in straight sets (25-22, 25-20, 25-20) to James Madison University (6-3) on Wednesday, the first time they’ve lost in straight sets at home since Nov. 16, 2019 against Presbyterian.

The Dukes didn’t seem to hold a candle to HPU after the Panthers came off of a successful weekend at the Fairfield Invitational. The Panthers defeated Sacred Heart in four sets and both Howard and Fairfield in three.

But that thought died quickly.

JMU started off the first set strong with an early 7-0 run, bringing the score to 10-3. HPU responded with a 3-0 run, lifting the score to 12-9. The Panthers weren’t able to capture the lead throughout the set, despite a late 5-0 scoring run at the end of the set.

The second set of the match proved to be the turning point for the Dukes.

JMU quickly began with a 4-0 scoring run to produce an 8-3 lead, sparking HPU head coach Ryan Meek to call the Panthers’ second timeout of the set.

Meek didn’t join HPU’s huddle, clearly frustrated at the Panthers’ efforts.

“Everyone had a shot to do something, and nobody did anything,” he said.

Confusion arose after HPU thought that they had received a kill while the referees ruled in favor of JMU’s dig to rebuttal the Panthers, bringing the Dukes’ lead to 22-17 in the set.

Meek began to heckle the referees, calling the decision to give JMU the point a “joke.”

A yellow card was then issued to the HPU bench.

Meek’s response to the referees’ calls?

“I don’t know what I’m allowed to say and what I’m not, so I’m going to say ‘no comment,’” he said.

The third set seemed to provide a glimmer of hope for the Panthers, with HPU producing a quick 4-0 scoring run to bring the score to 9-6. Scoring efforts by both teams kept the match alive, but a 6-0 run at the end of the set by the Dukes was too much to handle for the Panthers.

JMU’s Danielle Nathan closed out the afternoon with a kill to end HPU’s hopes of continuing into a fourth set.

Nathan posted the highest number of kills for JMU at 13, with Bre Reid following behind at 10. Hannah Roberts had one kill over two total attempts for a hitting percentage of .500. Annie Smith produced a hitting percentage of .455 with five kills over 11 total attempts.

Meek wasn’t shocked by HPU’s loss.

“It’s funny, people come out here and they see what happens on a Wednesday afternoon, and I’m like, ‘Well, I saw this on Monday,’” he said. “The reason I wasn’t up yelling at anybody was because I saw this all week in practice. I wasn’t surprised at all by what happened today because we had a terrible week in the gym.”

HPU’s Gabrielle Idlebird was a heavy favorite to make an impact in Wednesday’s match, coming off of 11 kills and a program-record .846 hitting percentage in the match against Fairfield.

She finished the afternoon with five kills, two errors, and a hitting percentage of .273.

Dylan Maberry, the 2021 Big South Conference Volleyball Player of the Year, struggled against the Dukes. She posted a .129 hitting percentage for the day with 10 kills, a stark contrast to her 38 kills and .402 hitting percentage over last week’s three matches.

Meek wasn’t sure what Maberry’s throught process was going into the match.

“It was a comedy of errors,” he said. “Dylan Maberry had six hitting errors hitting the shot we told her all week, ‘Don’t hit that shot,’ and she hit it six times. That’s twice a set.”

HPU heads to Austin, Texas to face off against No. 1 Texas on Friday. JMU heads back home to take on Appalachian State (No. 1 in the Sun Belt East standings) on Sept. 23.