VOLLEYBALL SET FOR FIRST CONFERENCE ROAD TRIP

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SETTING THE STAGE

Coming off of its conference-opening sweep Tuesday night, the Radford volleyball team heads out on the road for the first time in Big South play as it travels to Presbyterian and Campbell this weekend.
The Highlanders will take on the Blue Hose in Clinton, S.C., Friday night at 7 p.m., before heading back up to Buies Creek, N.C., for Saturday's 2 p.m. match against the Fighting Camels.
Live Stats | Live Video (Presbyterian)
Live Stats (Campbell)

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Records: 10-3, 1-0 Big South
Radford's .310 hitting percentage against High Point was its best since the season-opening weekend.
Sydney Tekstra's nine kills Tuesday night came on 19 attacks with just one error for a .421 hitting percentage.
Amaya Rousseau's 30 kills in the last three matches include back-to-back double-digit performances and have come with a .439 hitting percentage.
After recording 11 total blocks over a four-match span, the Highlanders have picked it back up at the net defensively to record 29 total rejections in the last three outings. Mallory McKnight has pieces of 12 blocks in that span, while Rousseau and Stephanie Neast each have 11.
RU held the conference-favorite Panthers to below .100 hitting in two of the three sets.
Kaylor Nash and Kelby Jackson both have double-digit digs in nine of the 13 matches. The duo, along with Maddie Palmer, each continue to rank among the top 10 in the conference with their per set averages.
Behind Palmer's conference-leading 184 kills, McKnight now has 97, Rousseau 71, Tekstra 66 and Neast 65.
Haley Kleespies has averaged at least 10 assists per set in 10 of the 13 matches.
Radford is 9-0 with eight sweeps when it has won the opening set of matches this season.

SCOUTING PRESBYTERIAN

Records: 2-12, 0-1 Big South
After starting the season with two wins, Presbyterian has lost 12 in a row, capped by a 3-1 setback to Charleston Southern Tuesday in its home opener.
However, in their non-conference finale, the Blue Hose extended Alabama to five sets before falling 15-13.
PC is hitting .178 as a team, while its opponents have a .214 percentage.
Sophomore outside hitter Sierra Davis and redshirt senior Samantha Del Toro lead the offense. Davis ranks fourth in the conference with 3.08 kills per set (148 total) and had a career-high 18 against CSU. Del Toro (126 kills) is ninth with a .257 hitting percentage.
Senior Sara Rogers stands second in the league with 9.14 assists per set (448 total).
Senior Mikayla Register leads the Big South in aces per set (0.51), while ranking third in digs per set with 4.29 (210 total).
The Blue Hose have been out-blocked 78-59, with their 1.20 per set average second-lowest in the league.
The teams have met just once per season since the 2011 campaign, with Radford winning four of the five matches, including the last three.

SCOUTING CAMPBELL

Records: 5-9, 0-0 Big South
Campbell snapped a four-match losing streak with a home sweep of North Carolina A&T on Tuesday. Two of the losses came to Duke and N.C. State.
The Fighting Camels, who were picked fourth in the Big South preseason poll, will open up conference play at home against UNC Asheville Friday night.
Campbell hit .253 in Tuesday's win, led by senior Jenny Tait's 10 kills without an error.
However, despite Tait's conference-leading .347 hitting percentage, the Camels' are last in the league as a team at .159.
The offensive attack is balanced, though, led by senior outside hitter Loni Kreun with a team-best 133 kills and a .261 hitting percentage. She is backed up by freshman Allena Heath (102 kills), sophomore Jessica Stocking (101) and Tait (91).
Junior Summer Schuitema is the primary setter, averaging 6.09 assists per set.
Defensively, junior Kayla Schanback ranks fourth in the conference with 4.18 digs per set (209 total), while Tait is sixth in blocks per set, totaling 55.
Campbell's four-set victory in last year's Big South semifinals was its first over the Highlanders since it rejoined the conference in 2011, snapping an 11-match RU win streak. Radford won the 2015 regular-season meetings, 3-1 and 3-2.

UP NEXT

Following the road swing, Radford returns home to the Dedmon Center next Tuesday to host Liberty at 7 p.m.

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