Radford Athletics Communications

Box Score

Radford RAD 9-3

Virginia Tech VT 5-5

Radford RAD

9-3

Final

Sep. 16, 2016

Virginia Tech VT

5-5

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Radford RAD	20	23	25	21	(1)
Virginia Tech VT	25	25	16	25	(3)

Game Recap: Volleyball | 9/16/2016 6:00:00 PM

MCKNIGHT COLLECTS SEASON-HIGH 16 KILLS IN LOSS TO VA TECH

Next Match:

High Point

9/20/2016 | 7:00 PM

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Sep. 20 (Tue) / 7:00 PM

High Point

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BLACKSBURG, Va. – A season-high 16 kills from Mallory McKnight was not enough as Radford dropped a 3-1 (20-25, 23-25, 25-16, 21-25) matchup to Virginia Tech in a meeting between New River Valley foes, Friday afternoon inside Cassell Coliseum.

Radford was bit by the error bug in the opening set as the Highlanders saw their 10-8 lead quickly disappear. The Highlanders committed five errors in a row to give the Hokies a 14-10 lead. RU battled back as a Maddie Palmer kill, Virginia Tech error and Haley Kleespies service ace pulled the Highlanders within 18-17. Virginia Tech closed out the opening set with a 7-3 advantage with a 25-20 win.

The second half was all Virginia Tech early as the Hokies jumped out to a 5-1 advantage. Radford kept its composure and slowly chipped away at the deficit. They used a Mallory McKnight kill and Valerie Ernat ace to pull within 12-11. After watching their lead slip to one, Virginia Tech extended it to 18-12.

The Highlanders had one more comeback left in the second set as back-to-back kills by Amaya Rousseau and McKnight made the score 23-22. A bad set by Kleespies gave the Hokies a 24-22 lead, but McKnight followed with her fifth kill of the set. Amanda McKinzie gave Virginia Tech a 25-23 win with her seventh kill.

Trailing 2-0, Radford came out of the break rejuvenated. The two squads traded points early, before Rousseau gave the Highlanders an 8-7 lead, never looking back. Following kills by Palmer and McKnight, Virginia Tech pulled within 14-13 on a McKnight service error. Five Hokie errors aided Radford down the stretch as back-to-back kills from Sydney Tekstra and Palmer gave RU a 25-16 third set win.

Looking for their second two-set down comeback win against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent this season, Radford collected the opening two points of the set as McKnight teamed up with Stephanie Neast and Tekstra for blocks. Virginia Tech used Highlander miscues to build their lead. Trailing 18-9, Radford made another late charge, using two kills apiece from Palmer and Gonzalez to cut the deficit to 22-20. The Highlanders were unable to get over the hump, dropping the set 25-21.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Mallory McKnight collected 16 kills on 36 attempts for a season high. Her previous high was 11 on two different occasions last weekend.
Maddie Palmer picked up her eighth double-double of the season with 15 kills and 19 digs.
With four kills in the first set, Palmer moved into fourth in career kills with 779 in the rally scoring era.
Haley Kleespies finished with 40 assists, crossing the 40-assist plateau for the fourth time in 2016.
Radford tallied 74 digs in the contest with Kelby Jackson leading the way with 20. Kaylor Nash contributed 11 assists.
The two squads struggled on the attack with the Hokies finishing with a .147 percentage and the Highlanders finished with a .117 mark.
The third set win saw the Highlanders hit for a .483 percentage.
Radford finished with 10 blocks for the fourth time this season.
Amaya Rousseau led the way with six assisted blocks.

QUOTABLE

"We played well in spurts, but couldn't sustain it against a very physical and well coached Virginia Tech team. With conference fast approaching this was a weekend we needed to play an opponent like Virginia Tech." ~ head coach Marci Jenkins

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