BOX SCORE

RADFORD, Va. – Radford finished off an impressive showing in its inaugural home tournament, led by junior Laura Waddell's (Lynchburg, Va./E.C. Glass) 12 kills, with a 3-1 (25-14, 27-25, 17-25, 25-22) win over Bradley on Saturday night at the Dedmon Center.

In their three contests in the Radford University Tournament, the Highlanders won nine of the 10 games over a span of three matches to improve their record to 5-2.

Waddell, an all-tournament selection, paced the Highlanders in the win, including five kills in the important second game.

In its game one and game four wins, Radford found the floor on better than 30 percent of their attempts, including .317 in the clincher.

Freshman Desiree Aramburu (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley), the tournament MVP, tallied 38 assists and fired home four kills for the Highlanders. Aramburu tied the fourth game at 22-22, part of a 4-1 spurt to end the match.

Bradley's Megan Schmidt led all players with 15 kills, connecting on 38.7 percent of her tries. All-tournament selection Skylar Lesan had 40 assists for the Braves (6-3).

Katelyn Meeks (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) led four Highlanders with double-figure kills picking up a match-high 20. Senior Lauren Clary (Roanoke, Va./Cave Spring) added 13, while Kiley Kent (Indianapolis, Ind./ Warren Central) and Leigh Myers (Baton Rouge, La. / The Dunham School) had 11 and 10, respectively.

After an 8-8 tie in the first game, Radford cruised to a 25-14 win, thanks to a 17-6 run and a .348 hitting percentage. In game one, Bradley was limited to an attack clip of .065.

Down as many as six in the second game, 12-18, the Highlanders rallied back to take a 20-19 lead on Waddell's kill to cap an 8-1 run, including six in a row to take the lead. During a back-and-forth sequence to close out the set Radford scored the final three points, including a tandem block from Aramburu and sophomore Carly Fleming (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park), to take a 27-25 win.

Radford dropped its first frame of the entire tournament in the third game, 17-25. The Braves broke a 14-14 tie when Genevieve Dejean found the floor to give Bradley the lead for good.

In the fourth game, the Highlanders reeled off a 7-1 start but Bradley answered with a 13-8 swing of its own to cut the deficit to 15-14. Schmidt put the Braves ahead for the first time, 20-19, on three straight kills.

Radford rallied back and after Aramburu tied the game at 22-22, the Highlanders got three straight points to clinch the match.

Radford returns to the court Tuesday when it hosts in-state foe James Madison in a 7 p.m. match at the Dedmon Center.

2009 Radford University All-Tournament Team
MVP: Desiree Aramburu (Radford)
Laura Waddell (Radford)
Alise Tupuritis (Bradley)
Skylar Lesan (Bradley)
Carrie Minogue (Western Carolina)
Jade Sanford (South Carolina State)

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Host Highlanders Blank South Carolina State on Day Two of RU Tournament

BOX SCORE

Along with connecting on all six of her swings, Desiree Aramburu (Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) recorded her second career double-double (27 A, 10D) and Laura Waddell (Lynchburg, Va. / E.C. Glass) added a match-high 11 kills to lead Radford to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-17) win over South Carolina State on day two of the Radford University Tournament.

The victory was the third straight for the Highlanders as they improve to 4-2 on the season, while South Carolina State dropped its seventh consecutive to begin the 2009 campaign.

Carly Fleming (Manassas, Va. / Osbourn Park) was also impressive for Radford as the sophomore matched her career-high for kills with eight for the second time in as many contests. 

Radford closed game one on an 11-5 run to claim the frame 25-18 and grab an early 1-0 lead in the match. Despite connecting on just .114 of their swings in the opener, the Highlanders recorded four total blocks (eight block assists), while holding South Carolina State to a -.194 hitting percentage.

In game two, Radford jumped out to a 9-3 lead and never looked back taking a 2-0 lead into the break.
 
The Highlanders continued their impressive play after intermission scoring the first nine points of the final stanza. Radford pushed the margin to as many as 12 before closing game three with three unanswered to secure the match.

Peri Ligons and Melissa Robinson led the way for the Bulldogs with 12 digs each.

The Highlanders held their opponent to a negative hitting percentage for the second straight outing, while compiling 10 total blocks, with three coming from Fleming.