Highlanders Fall in Four at Virginia Commonweath

Radford, Va. - Despite a match and career high 23 kills, and a .370 hitting percentage from Tiffany Guthrie (Littleton, Colo./Highland Ranch), Radford University fell to Virginia Commonwealth in volleyball action. The Rams won by the scores of 30-26, 30-24, 28-30, 31-29.

The Highlanders bolted out to a 23-13 lead in game one, but VCU used a 17-3 run to steal the game. The Rams momentum continued as they won game two.

Radford won game three, but VCU rebounded and won game four and the match. Laura Connell led the Rams with her 12th double-double with 17 kills and 10 digs.

Divona Cox (Virginia Beach, Va./Cox) had 10 kills for the Highs. Sarah Gates (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) dished out a match best 52 assists to go along with 10 digs. Allison Ainsley (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) led RU with 24 digs, while Rachel Newton (Anderson, S.C./T.L. Hanna), Kate McHugh (Northford, Conn./North Branford) and Elizabeth Aldredge (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) had 15, 14 and 11 respectively. Aldredge also had three solo blocks and Christine German (Virginia Beach, Va./Kempsville) hit. .412 with nine kills.

Karyn Engle had 16 kills, while Jessica Bartlett added 10 for the Rams. Griselle Lopez Periera tallied 29 digs of the Rams' 80 digs. Also in double-digit digs for VCU were Rachel Ross and Lindi Sheppard with 14 and 10 respectively.

The Highlanders had to Birmingham Southern for a Big South matchup on Oct. 19 at 2 p.m.

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