Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Radford University Athletics

Home Of The RadFord Highlanders RadFord Highlanders
Maddie Palmer
Red Rocket Productions & Photography
1
Radford RAD 20-5 (11-2)
3
Winner High Point HPU 18-8 (9-4)
Radford RAD
20-5 (11-2)
1
Final
3
High Point HPU
18-8 (9-4)
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Radford RAD 25 21 25 24 (1)
High Point HPU 21 25 27 26 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball |

PALMER HITS MILESTONE, BUT RADFORD DROPS TIGHT FOUR-SETTER



HIGH POINT, N.C. – Despite another big performance from Maddie Palmer, the Radford volleyball team suffered its second Big South loss Tuesday night as High Point pulled out the final three sets of an extremely tight battle, rallying for a 21-25, 25-21, 27-25, 26-24 decision on its homecourt.
 
The Highlanders (20-5, 11-2) still hold a two-game lead in the conference over both High Point (18-8, 9-4) and Liberty, which also lost Tuesday, with three matches to play.
 
Maddie Palmer tied her season high of 24 kills for the second straight match, and in the process, became the third Highlander in the rally-scoring era to reach the 1,000-kill mark for her career, joining Rachel Wiechecki and Divona Cox. Palmer now has a total of 1,015 in less than three full seasons.
 
After a sluggish offensive start, Radford got going with a 7-0 run to build a 15-12 lead as Palmer and Amaya Rousseau provided two kills and Mallory McKnight one. A Stephanie Neast kill gave the Highlanders a 22-18 advantage before High Point scored three straight to close the gap to one, but McKnight followed with two kills around an Panthers' attack error to give Radford the 1-0 lead. The Highlanders limited High Point to just .070 hitting in the game and totaled 20 digs, including nine from Kelby Jackson.
 
The teams exchanged mini-runs for much of the second set, with the Panthers putting together the decisive 6-1 spurt on four kills and two aces for a 21-16 lead. Trailing 24-19, Radford fought off two set points, but High Point got a kill out of a timeout to put it away.
 
The Panthers then used a late rally to pull out the third set, winning seven of the last nine points on five kills and an ace. After Radford saved a set point to even it at 25-25, back-to-back kills by Abby Broadstreet and Molly Livingston gave High Point the 2-1 advantage.
 
The fourth set was just as tight, with the teams taking turns trying to seize the momentum down the stretch. After High Point built an 18-15 lead, Radford stormed out of a timeout with three straight points, including an ace by Kaylor Nash and a Palmer kill, forcing a Panthers' timeout. HPU surged back in front 23-21, but after another Highlander timeout, Palmer and Valerie Gonzalez responded with kills to tie it back up. The teams then traded kills before a pair of Highlander attack errors provided the decisive points for the home team.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Radford fell to 17-2 when winning the first set, with both of the setbacks in conference play.
  • Palmer also became the third different Radford player in the rally-scoring era to surpass 400 kills in a season, now with 408. She also shared team-high honors with 17 digs, giving her straight double-doubles and 16 on the year.
  • Rousseau was the only other player to reach double-figure kills, totaling 11 while hitting .444 and adding three blocks.
  • Three different Highlanders had double-digit digs and five had at least seven as Radford had a 66-52 edge as a team. Jackson tied Palmer with 17, while Haley Kleespies had 10, Emma Wroblicky contributed nine and Nash added seven.
  • Kleespies also had 45 assists for her seventh double-double of the year and second straight.
  • Each team had 55 kills in the match and Radford also had the edge in hitting percentage (.225-.179).
  • However, High Point used an 11-4 advantage in service aces and had 16 block assists, compared to eight for Radford.
  • Molly Livingston had 13 kills and three aces to lead the Panthers, while Haley Barnes added 11 kills and two aces.
  • Each team peaked in the hitting department in the third set with Radford at .293 and High Point at .324. Neither team hit over .200 in the first two sets.
  • There were 39 ties and 22 lead changes in the match, including 26 ties in the third and fourth sets alone.
 
QUOTABLE
  • "We lost the serve pass game tonight and High Point did a good job causing that. I thought a lot of other parts of our game went ok, but we couldn't string enough points together to come out on top. " ~ Radford head coach, Marci Jenkins
 
UP NEXT
  • Radford begins a three-match home stretch to close the season this weekend, facing Campbell Friday night and Presbyterian on Saturday for Senior Day.
 
For the latest on Radford Athletics, please subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Highlander Happenings.
 
Print Friendly Version