RADFORD WINS EIGHTH BIG SOUTH REGULAR SEASON TITLE, DOWNS ASHEVILLE

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ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Radford captured its eighth Big South regular season championship behind a 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 26-28, 25-17) victory over UNC Asheville in Big South volleyball action Saturday afternoon at the Justice Center.

The Highlanders, who improve to 22-9 overall and 11-3 in conference action, earn the No. 1 seed for next week's Big South Tournament in Clinton, S.C. The Bulldogs drop to 17-13 on the season and 7-7 in league play.

"I am so proud of this group for what they have accomplished," head coach Marci Jenkins said. "I want to also thank my coaching staff for their hard work. The Big South is as strong as it has ever been top to bottom. It's nice to win the regular season, but we are already refocusing for the task at hand next week."

Rachel Wiechecki led a trio of Highlanders with double-doubles as she uncorked 27 kills, which are a career high and a Radford single-match record for the rally scoring era. In addition, the junior outside hitter tallied a career-high 32 digs for her 18^th double-double of the season.

Jena Braden supplied a career-high 59 assists to go along with her 11 digs in recording her 13^th double-double of the season. Cheyanne James unleashed 14 kills and dug the ball 17 times for her 12^th double-double of the season. Jesse Miedema hammered 12 kills to reach double figures, offensively, for the fourth time in the past six matches. She also contributed six blocks.

Joining Miedema in the block party were Emma Deininger (six) and Savannah Cantrell (five). Savanna Burton and Kelby Jackson anchored the back row with 15 and 14 digs, respectively. As a team, RU finished with 97 digs, which match its season high.

Senior libero Rachel Wells set a school record with 54 digs for Asheville. She entered the weekend ranked second nationally in digs per set. Anna Moore also had a standout performance in her final time at home, registering a career-high 21 kills and a match-high seven blocks. Christine Lakatos charted 10 kills and 11 digs, while Katie Davis assisted on 41 attacks.

Trailing 13-9 in the first set, Radford responded with a 6-0 run to reclaim the lead at 15-13. Still ahead at 20-19, the Highlanders recorded three straight points to build a four-point edge. Wiechecki cranked the set-clinching kill moments later to seal a 25-22 win for RU.

In the second stanza, the Highlanders raced out to an early 8-4 advantage. Lakatos countered for the Bulldogs by hammering three kills to help the hosts tie the set at 9. Wiechecki uncorked a kill to break a 13-all tie that initiated a 3-0 spurt for Radford. After the Highlanders stretched their lead to 20-16, Asheville stormed back to cut its deficit to 21-20. RU held its own, though, as Cantrell and Wiechecki combined for the final kills in a 25-22 decision.

Down 19-10 in the third session, Asheville completed an improbably comeback to prevail, 28-26. After falling behind by the aforementioned score, the Bulldogs clawed their way back. Radford reached match point following a Deininger swing that put the Highlanders on top, 24-17. From there, Asheville fought off eight match points to force a fourth frame.

Radford established a large favor (17-10) to reclaim the momentum it lost in the previous set. This time, the Highlanders did not allow the hosts to mount a charge as they went on to defeat Asheville, 25-17.

With the regular season behind them, the Highlanders turn their attention to Clinton, S.C. for the Big South Tournament where they will play eighth-seeded Gardner-Webb in Thursday's quarterfinal match at noon. Complete seeding and tournament information are below.

Thursday, Nov. 21 – Quarterfinals
Match 1: No. 1 seed Radford vs. No. 8 seed Gardner-Webb, 12:00 PM
Match 2: No. 4 seed Liberty vs. No. 5 seed UNC Asheville, 2:30 PM
Match 3: No. 3 seed High Point vs. No. 6 seed Winthrop, 5:00 PM
Match 4: No. 2 seed Coastal Carolina at No. 7 seed Presbyterian College, 7:30 PM

Friday, Nov. 22 - Semifinals
Match 5: Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner, 4:30 PM
Match 6: Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner, 7:00 PM

Sunday, Nov. 24 - Championship
Match 7: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner, 2:00 PM – ESPN3

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