ELON, N.C. – Radford fell at Elon, 3-0 (18-25, 23-25, 21-25) on Tuesday evening from Alumni Gym.

Freshmen Emma Deininger (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) and Rachel Wiechecki (Wilmington, Del./Ursuline Academy) each recorded a team-best eight kills, while classmates Jena Braden (New Knoxville, Ohio/New Knoxville) and Rachel Brummitt (Plano, Texas/Plano West) recorded team bests in assists (13) and digs (14).

Radford fell behind early in each game with comeback efforts in games two and three falling just short. The Highlanders, after falling behind 20-12 in game two, used a 10-2 run, highlighted by two kills from Wiechecki and a pair of aces off the serve of senior Megan McWhorter (Newport News, Va./Peninsula Catholic) to get within 22-21.

After the Phoenix rattled off two straight, the Highlanders made one more push on a kill by Braden and an attack error to make it 24-23, but Elon's Caroline Lemke ended the comeback bid with a game-ending kill.

Game three saw Radford fall behind by as much as seven points only to see it crawl back into the contest and get within one (20-19) after four straight points. However, Elon countered with five of the last six points to close out the match.

Deininger (pictured) hit .333 and recorded four block assists, while Wiechecki added seven digs and a service ace.

Lemke paced Elon with 12 kills and a .321 attack percentage with Megan McMahon dishing out 33 assists.

The Highlanders return home for the third annual Radford Fall Tournament on Friday, Sept. 2 and Saturday, Sept. 3. Radford welcomes UMKC, USC Upstate and Chicago State to the Dedmon Center for two days of volleyball. The Highlanders open up at 6 p.m. on Friday against USC Upstate, followed by Saturday's contests versus Chicago State at 3 p.m. and UMKC at 7 p.m.