CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Radford volleyball program played in multiple tight sets that could have swung either way Saturday afternoon at Charleston Southern, but saw its three-match winning streak on the road snapped in a 3-1 loss.
Inside the box score
- The Highlanders had a rough hitting night overall, but Taryn Roberts was still able to tally 10 kills while Maja Bochenek finished with five on a .214 attack percentage.
- Radford conceded just a .132 attacking clip to the Buccaneers and only ran into two blocks.
- Aubrey Hatch ended with a match-high three total blocks, including three that were solo.
- The service error bug came back to bite again as Radford conceded 18 service errors to Charleston Southern's seven.
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The breakdown
Roberts began her team-high of kills in the match by opening the scoring for Radford in set one. Kills by Addison Cunnagin and Macie Potter also paced Radford ahead to an 8-5 advantage early. Radford's lead would balloon to as much as 15-7 thanks in part to a pair of aces by Lea Gage and some misfires from the Buccaneers.
Charleston Southern would come rolling back, though, to contest the set as it grew later. A kill and ace by Hatch as well as an ace from Mia Jannazzo helped Radford continue to pace ahead, but the set would tie back up at 24-24. After a serving error by the Buccaneers, Radford took advantage as Jannazzo served up another ace to give Radford a 1-0 lead, winning set one 27-25.
Set two would be similarly close as kills from Hatch, Katrina Miller and Ela Shepherd gave Radford an early 5-3 edge. After falling behind, Alyssa Cadavid and Cunnagin would earn kills while Bochenek served up an ace for a 15-13 lead at the media break. Roberts and Cunnagin would give Radford its biggest lead of 18-14, but another furious Charleston Southern run flipped the set on its head. A 7-2 run saw Radford fall behind, and the team would not recover as Charleston Southern took set two 25-21.
While Radford would hit with more accuracy in set three, Charleston Southern built an early lead that proved hard to overcome. Kills by Olivia Ryno and Shepherd kept Radford afloat, but the team quickly fell behind 10-5. Roberts and Hatch would fuel the offense in a comeback run that tightened things up at 14-13. Ryno, Cunnagin and Roberts would combine for three kills that pushed Radford ahead at 18-17. A 4-1 run gave the hosts their lead back, however, and they continued that run to finish the set on top 25-23 and grab a 2-1 lead.
In set four, a big deficit sank the Highlanders and would finish the match in Charleston Southern's favor. Radford would trail by as much as 10 points in the set as the momentum completely swung to the Buccaneers. Radford did not go down without a fight and would score a flurry of points late as Bochenek and Cunnagin finished strong. Charleston Southern took set four, and the match, though, at 25-19 and 3-1.
Radford's next four matches come at home starting next Friday, October 23, against USC Upstate. Action will begin at 6 p.m. on Carilion Clinic Court streaming on ESPN+.
