GREENSBORO, NC ? Senior Theresa Hart tied her career-high with 27 kills and freshman Catherine Hanners set a school record for digs to lead the UNC Greensboro women’s volleyball team to a 3-2 victory over local-rival High Point on Tuesday evening at Fleming Gym.

 

Hart, a first-year transfer from the University of San Francisco, notched her career-high in kills for the second time in the last three matches after posting a similar number on Saturday in a 3-2 win over UNC Asheville.

 

Hanners set a UNCG record with 34 digs over the five games, while sophomore Kaitlyn Nortz added a season-high 18 kills and senior Hilary Overby had 10 kills in the win. Freshman Lisa Fawell handed out a season-high 62 assists.

 

Audie Gonzalez led High Point (1-4) with 17 kills and 23 digs, while Jamie Kaufman and Sabrina Wahid contributed 16 and 11 kills respectively.

Kristina Taylor handed out 52 assists.

 

UNCG (7-2) won the first two games of the match before the intermission to take a commanding 2-0 lead. However, High Point regrouped and won the next two games, 30-27 and 30-23, to send the match into a fifth game.

 

In the matches deciding game, UNCG used a 6-0 run to stretch its lead to 11-4. The Panthers rallied with five straight points of their own to get within 12-10, but Hart took over from there by putting away the final three points to give the Spartans a victory in their home opener of the 2006 season.

 

Game one was tightly contested until UNCG moved in front 15-11 midway through the opening game. The Spartans would hold the lead throughout until closing out capturing the first game, 30-19.

 

The Panthers played well in the early parts of game two and led 15-11, but an 11-4 run by UNCG, which was capped by a kill by sophomore Liz Benzschawel, put them up 22-19. High Point never got any closer as the Spartans went up 2-0 with a comfortable 30-24 win in game two.

 

The momentum of the match completely changed after the intermission. UNCG started well and actually led 10-5 early, but a 13-3 spurt put High Point up 18-13 after a kill by Wahid. The Panthers held the lead the rest of the way and grabbed a 30-27 win in game three.

 

It was more of the same in game four for the visitors. The Panthers jumped out to an early lead, 13-8, and cruised to a 30-23 win to set up the deciding fifth game.

 

UNCG competes in the Gardner-Webb Tournament this Friday and Saturday in Boiling Springs, NC.