By Phil Hrichak for VolleyballMag.com

High Point, like every unit in the NCAA Tournament, has had its share of challenges and first-time — maybe once-in-a-lifetime? — know-hows because of COVID-1 9.

Among them 😛 TAGEND

— Switching from the normal fall season to spring, a move made official by the Big South Conference just days before the Panthers were to end preseason camp in August 2020 ;P TAGEND

— Wearing face-coverings at all pairs and all practises ;P TAGEND

— Going 14 months, or more than 400 dates, without a competitive coincide ;P TAGEND

— And then, at times, playing in empty or practically empty gyms ;P TAGEND

But the Panthers, 16 -0 under third-year coach Ryan Meek, have one experience that seems to be theirs alone … they’re probably the only team in the field of 48 that had a match shelved because of rain.

Coach Ryan Meek/ High Point photo

It happened in mid-March, ahead of two equals scheduled at Charleston Southern.

“There was supposed to be a huge storm coming through, ” Meek said, “and their disposal decided to close campus at midday( on Thursday, March 18 ). We were supposed to play at 6, so we had them in a doubleheader the next day.

“We had a match rained out. I’ve never had that had occurred in volleyball.”

But things used to work just fine, in two ways.

The Panthers earned each parallel in five deep-seateds — their only five-setters so far.

They rallied from an 0-2 inadequacy in the opener, and two kills by sophomore Annie Sullivan( a 6-foot-1 sophomore from Richardson, Texas) intent things. In the nightcap, senior Abby Bottomley( a senior libero from Virginia Beach, Virginia) became simply the second player in HPU history, and just the sixth in the Big South, to outdo 2,000 busines burrows. And High Point improved to 12 -0.

“The nice part about the trip-up, ” said Meek, who on April 7 was appointed the Big South coach of the year, “was we got kind of a free day in Charleston to go explore a little bit.

“It wasn’t the end of the world.”

The move from fall to spring also seems to have helped the Panthers, who have a primary rotation of 10 and, in general, a young team.

Abby Bottomley/ High Point photo

Bottomley — appointed the Big South actor of the year, who causes High Point with 285 excavates, 5.18/ start — is the elderly manager and get defensive subsistence from sophomores Macy Miller( Mission Viejo, Calif ,) and Maria Miggins( The Woodlands, Texas ).

Sullivan results with 169 kills, 3.13/ laid. Juniors Gabrielle Idlebird( Mesquite, Texas) and Mackenzi Thornburg( Timberlake, N.C .) and sophomores Madison Smith, “whos had” 153 kills( Hilliard, Ohio) and Kaley Rammelsberg( Westerville, Ohio) lead the offense, and sophomores Maggie Salley( Lexington, S.C .) and Sophee Mink( DeForest, Wis .) terminated the cast.

Sullivan, Rammelsberg and Smith connected Bottomley as first-team All-Big South collections; Idlebird( who leadings with 63 blocks, 1.15/ plan) was second-team; and Miggins and Thornburg were honorable-mention.

“We were just so used to not being together all summertime and then getting back to campus and within two weeks, dallying some of the best competition we’re going to play all season, ” Bottomley said of a ordinary camp.

“It was really weird to have an entire semester to practice together before a season, But I do think it was very beneficial, especially with having such a young squad. I feel it was really a time for us to grow and become more cohesive.”

Meek said the delay didn’t alter aims, possibilities or his approach.

“Every year, we go in with the goal to earn the Big South Conference, and that didn’t change this year … We merely focused on being very good we could every day.

“We didn’t get too far ahead of ourselves since we are knew at any time, Covid could punch, and we’d be missing some kids.

“We used to joke with them in the tumble and early in the spring — you know in the arcade, that claw that comes down and grasps the doll? We would joke it’s like the COVID claw could come down and give four members of you, and everyone else would need to step up.”

When the season did start, February 4 at Presbyterian , no one was quite sure what to expect.

“I think there were maybe a little guts, time because it had been so long, ” Sullivan said. “But I conclude most people on the team were just so ready to finally have a game. I don’t believe any of us had ever gone that long without playing a volleyball match.

“So, I think we were all just super-excited … to play someone else because it had been so long.”

In the opener, High point and Presbyterian split the first two determines, then the Panthers made self-restraint, punching. 609 in the third set and. 438 in the fourth close out a 3-1 victory.

A run of reign followed. High Point wiped Presbyterian the next day, then earned seven members of its next eight equals by 3-0 tallies. Then came the two five-setters against Charleston Southern and later three straight brooms. The unbeaten regular season is the first in program history.

Now, the tournament bubble in Omaha, Nebraska, and a first-round match April 14 against American Athletics Conference-champion Central Florida await. High Point will be originating its fifth tournament appearance and fourth in the last five years, but is still searching its first NCAA Tournament victory.

The Panthers are one of time six unbeatens in the field( along with Jackson State, Towson, UNLV, Western Kentucky and top-seeded Wisconsin) and, at 16 matches, the government has the nation’s second-longest winning streak, behind Western Kentucky.

Bottomley said that after the selection show, perhaps 80 percent of the team went back and watched UCF’s match against Temple in the American Athletic Conference Tournament.

“All of us are just ready to go, ” she said.

***

UCF is 16 -1 and has won eight in a row. The Knights travelled 8-0 in the AAC season, led by league player of the year McKenna Melville. The junior from Eagan, Minnesota, has 275 kills (. 458/ give) and her next closest teammate, Anne-Marie Watson, had 138. Nerissa Moravec results with 77 blocks( 1.38/ designate ), and Arianna Arjomand heads with 197 shovels( 3.34/ specify ). UCF’s Todd Dagenais shared coach-of-the-year reputations with Temple’s Bakeer Ganesharatnam.

The winner comes Purdue.

We hope you experienced speak this article. Help keep free journalism free by becoming a VolleyballMag.com Sustaining Member: https :// volleyballmag.com/ sustaining-membership /

The post Obstacles, even a rainout , no problem for High Point after unbeaten Big South season sounded first on Volleyballmag.com.

Read more: volleyballmag.com