BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – The Radford volleyball program had a pair of late leads in set three and four slip away Friday night as they fell 3-1 to Gardner-Webb.
Inside the box score
- Addison Cunnagin (15 kills) and Macie Potter (13 kills) led Radford's offense to out-hit Gardner-Webb for most of the match.
- Gardner-Webb was able to capture 22 points off the serve to counter, though, with 13 aces and the Highlanders committing nine errors.
- After just seven total blocks through the first three sets, Radford and Gardner-Webb combined for nine in set four. Gardner-Webb took full advantage of that swing, using a run of blocks late to triple its match total from three to nine.
- Potter tallied yet another double-double with 15 digs while Mia Jannazzo led the team overall with 21 digs and just one receiving error.
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After going behind 6-1 in set one, Radford needed a timeout to regroup and right the ship. Cunnagin helped that effort with a trio of kills to tighten things back up at 10-9. The Highlanders fell back behind by a four-point margin by the media timeout, but out of it they used some aces and Gardner-Webb miscues to tie it back up at 19-19. Potter, Cunnagin and Taryn Roberts added some late kills, but Radford was suddenly down to set point four times and stormed back thanks to kills from Hatch and Bochenek to take set one 28-26.
The Runnin' Bulldogs stormed back with force in set two to even the match at 1-1. Set two was the Highlanders' best hitting set of the night at .344, but miscues and a similarly strong Gardner-Webb attack allowed the hosts to even the match by taking set two 25-18.
Radford was strong in set three and held a lead late before things slipped away. Both teams were even early until Gardner-Webb's lead at the 11-9 mark. From there, Radford went on an 8-1 run to build its biggest lead of the night. A pair of aces from Gage and kills from Potter and Cunnagin fueled that run.
Gardner-Webb pulled back within three after some serving issues, but a kill from Potter and a block by Roberts and Hatch kept Radford ahead at 22-19. The Runnin' Bulldogs had another big run after three errors by the Highlanders saw Gardner-Webb jump back ahead 23-22. The set ultimately slipped away in a 25-23 finish as Radford entered set four down 2-1.
Similar to the third set, Radford got a big run but struggled late to see the match slip away. Radford jumped ahead early thanks to aces by Potter and Maja Bochenek at 6-3 and continued to pace ahead as Roberts, Cunnagin and Bochenek provided kills. Up 11-10, Radford put together a 4-1 run into the media break for another decisive lead.
Three kills by Cunnagin built that lead further and a kill by Hatch had Radford ahead as far as 21-16. Potter added another kill as Radford led 23-18. The hosts stormed back, scoring six straight to once again flip the set on its head. Bochenek and Potter had big kills late trying to salvage the set and force a tiebreaker, but Gardner-Webb pulled through to take set four 29-27 and the match 3-1.
Up next
Radford looks to bounce back with a battle atop the conference standings tomorrow night at Winthrop. All the action is streaming on ESPN+ with a 5:00 p.m. first serve.
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