BRADEN CLIMBS TO FOURTH AS VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS THE CITADEL

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CHARLESTON, S.C. – Jena Braden dished out a match-high 30 assists to move into fourth place all-time in program history for that category while guiding the Radford volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-10, 25-19, 25-15) victory over The Citadel Saturday night inside McAlister Field House.

"We started and finished strong," head coach Marci Jenkins said. "Jordan and Rachel lit it up. It was a good performance to end tournament play here. Also, congrats to Jena on moving up in the record books."

Braden, a New Knoxville, Ohio native, moved past Kiley Kent with her 1,389 total. The beneficiary of Braden's dimes was Big South Freshman of the Week Jordan Watson, who hit a season-high .652 en route to hammering 15 kills. Rachel Wiechecki finished one dig shy of a double-double, charting 12 kills, nine digs and four aces.

All-tournament honoree Cheyanne James also was phenomenal at the service line, racking up a career-high-tying four aces. Kristina Cascio and Kelby Jackson each amassed eight digs, while Big South Defensive Player of the Week Emma Deininger chipped in a match-high five blocks for the Highlanders (8-3).

Bailey Kernodle chalked up seven kills to steer the Bulldogs' (1-9) attack. She represented The Citadel on the all-tournament team. Rachel Keefer dropped in 23 assists and six digs, while Ise d'Angelo also contributed six digs.

Radford held its opponent under .100 on the attack for the second-straight match as the Bulldogs hit .081. The Highlanders attacked at a .356 rate, in addition to holding a 42-23 edge in kills, a 40-31 favor in digs and a 14-9 margin in blocks.

RU hit a sizzling .565 in the opening frame to grab a 1-0 edge in the match. Three-straight aces by Wiechecki sparked a 6-0 run to open the match for Radford. Still ahead by six (8-2), the Highlanders rode a 7-0 surge to widen their margin to 13 (15-2). Radford led by as many as 16 (19-3) before winning the set, 25-10. Watson led the way with six kills on seven attempts for an eye-popping .857 attack clip.

The Bulldogs were assertive in the second stanza, dashing out to a 5-1 advantage. Wiechecki propelled the Highlanders back into the game as she battered a kill to help RU reclaim the lead at 13-12. Tied at 14, Watson and Deininger combined to win the next three points for the Highlanders to establish a 17-14 edge. With the score 22-19 in favor of Radford, Wiechecki and Watson produced the next three winners for the Highlanders to prevail, 25-19, and take a 2-0 edge at intermission.

Like the second set, The Citadel jumped out to a 5-1 lead. Radford answered with a 7-0 rally of its own to grasp an 8-5 edge. The Bulldogs were unable to get any closer than two the rest of the way as RU secured its fourth sweep of the season.

Radford remains on the road for its next match when the squad travels to Elon for a Sept. 18 contest at 6 p.m. against the Phoenix. Live stats and live video will be available for the match inside Alumni Gym.

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