Highlanders Down High Point in Four

RADFORD, Va. - Radford's women's volleyball team fell to Charlotte, 3-1, in non-conference action from the Dedmon Center. The 49ers won by the scores of 30-22, 30-21, 16-30 and 30-20. With the loss RU falls to 2-20, while Charlotte improves to 7-18.

Tiffany Guthrie (Littleton, Colo./Highland Ranch) led the way for the Highlanders with 17 kills. Divona Cox (Virginia Beach, Va./Cox) chipped in with 10 and had five blocks. Setter Sarah Gates (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) had a match high 33 assists, while Elizabeth Aldredge (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) and Kate McHugh (Northford, Conn./North Branford) led the Highs with nine and eight digs respectively.

Jessica Kelly and Lisa Newell led the offensive attack for Charlotte with 13 and 11 kills respectively. Danielle Miller, Abbey Szlanfucht and Chandra Waller posted double-digit dig efforts with 14, 13 and 10 respectively. Setter Molly McDonald had 32 assists and added nine digs.

Game one was back-and-forth with neither team able to pull ahead significantly. With the 49ers up 19-17, they would pull ahead 24-19 with a 5-2 spurt. After RU cut the gap to 24-21, Charlotte closed out the game with a 6-1 spurt and winning 30-22. The Highlanders were hurt by errors as they made eight and hit only .070, while Charlotte hit .278.

In game two, Charlotte ran out to a 10-3 lead and did not look back as they won game two, 30-21. The Highlanders could not get any closer than six for the rest of the game. The 49ers hit .296 in the game, compared to the Highlanders .176.

Behind a match high .429 hitting percentage, Radford tried to mount a comeback with a 30-16 victory in game three. With the game tied at 10, RU used a 7-2 spurt to open a five-point lead and scored 13 of the next 17 points to cruise to the win.

The hitting frenzy did not last long for the Highlanders as they committed 11 errors and hit-.073, dropping game four 30-20. The 49ers grabbed an early 4-0 lead. After a RU timeout, the Highlanders were able to battle back and knot the match at 12. But an 8-1 run by the 49ers put the match out of reach as they went on to win the match.

Radford’s next match will be on Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. when they travel to UNC Asheville.

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