The High Point Panthers women's volleyball team is an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team representing

High Point University High Point University is a private university in High Point, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The university was founded as High Point College in 1924, and it became High Point University in October 1991. HPU of ...

as part of the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

. They play their home games at

Millis Athletic Convocation Center The James H. and Jesse E. Millis Athletic and Convocation Center is a 1750-seat multi-purpose athletic and academic facility on the campus of High Point University (HPU) in High Point, North Carolina. The basis of the building is Alumni Hall, whic ...

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...

History

High Point University created a volleyball team in 1973, with the Panthers joining the present-day

Conference Carolinas Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at the Divisio ...

, where they played until the 1997 academic year. The Panthers competed only in the NAIA until 1992, had dual membership with the NAIA and Division II in 1993–1994, and moved up to exclusively Division II in 1995. The program had a spate of successful seasons from 1975 to 1980, winning six straight conference titles and peaking with 42 wins in back-to-back years in 1977–1978. However, the NAIA did not begin sponsoring women's volleyball championships until 1980, and the

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

did not invite them to its volleyball championship. High Point made the NAIA tournament four times: 1982, 1983, 1986, and 1988. The NAIA volleyball championship has a round-robin format, and the Panthers went 2–12 in their four appearances in the 1980s. In Division II, the Panthers won back-to-back conference championships in the

Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ...

in 1995–1996. However, this did not result in any NCAA tournament appearances, as the league was a fledgling member of Division II. The High Point Panthers moved up to Division I and joined the

in 1999, and the volleyball team encountered struggles in its first few seasons, losing 27+ games each year from 1999 to 2003. However, head coach Chad Esposito was able to build the program up to 24 wins in 2007 and 26 wins in 2008, winning the team's only shared regular-season championship to date in 2008. The Panthers fell 3–2 to

Coastal Carolina Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

in the Big South tournament semifinals that year. The Panthers were coached by Jason Oliver from 2009 to 2015, and his tenure was highlighted by a conference tournament championship in 2010, where they swept top-seeded

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

in the final. The Panthers drew No. 12

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

in the

first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

, and lost 25–12, 25–20, 25–20. Current head coach Tom Mendoza was hired in 2016, bringing a history of success with him. Mendoza had previously coached at Creighton, leading the Blue Jays to a 142–57 record in six seasons from 2010 to 2015, five NCAA Tournament bids, and a Sweet 16 appearance in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. In his first season at High Point, Mendoza guided the Panthers to a 23–10 record and the program's second Big South conference tournament title, a 3–1 triumph against top-seeded Radford. The Panthers faced No. 7

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

in the NCAA tournament, falling 25–13, 25–12, 25–23. 2017 was the team's most successful in the Division I era in terms of RPI, as the team reached as high as 44 by the end of the season. After a 5–6 start to the season, including four losses to top-50 RPI teams, the Panthers won 19 straight matches, becoming the first team in Big South history to go 16–0 in conference, while only conceding 4 sets in conference play. The Panthers handed their rivals Radford two of the Highlanders' four losses in the regular season, but in the conference tournament championship, held at Radford, the Highlanders avenged the regular season losses and the previous championship in a 3–1 victory. However, the Panthers were surprisingly picked as an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament due to their final RPI of 39. They traveled to Salt Lake City to take on

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

. The Panthers won the first set 25-21 before dropping the next three to finish the season 24–8.

Individual awards

Big South Rookie of the Year * Tracyann Pryce - 1999 * Lindsey Pickens - 2003 * Savannah Angel - 2013 * Molly Livingston - 2015 * Abby Bottomley - 2017 Big South Coach of the Year * Chad Esposito - 2008 * Tom Mendoza - 2017 Big South Tournament MVP * Audie Gonzalez - 2010 * Haley Barnes - 2016 Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year * Molly Barlow - 2012 * Gabi Mirand - 2015 * Haley Barnes - 2017

Individual career records (Division I era)

Individual single-season records (Division I era)

Seasons

Postseason Results

The Panthers have appeared in 3 NCAA tournaments and 4 NAIA tournaments. Their all-time record is 2–15.

NAIA tournament results

NCAA tournament results

References

{{Reflist College women's volleyball teams in the United States Volleyball, Women's Volleyball clubs established in 1973 1973 establishments in North Carolina Women's sports in North Carolina