BOX SCORE

The Radford women's volleyball team fell in five sets against UNC Asheville, 25-19, 25-11, 22-25, 16-25, 12-15, in the Highlanders' regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon at the Dedmon Center. 
 
Radford (20-5, 12-4 Big South Conference) will be the No. 2 seed in next weekend's conference tournament to be contested at UNC Asheville. The Highlanders, who earned a first-round bye, will play the winner of Friday's quarterfinal contest between No. 3 Winthrop/No.6 Charleston Southern on Saturday.
 
Junior outside hitter Stephanie Neast recorded a season-high 22 kills on 41 attempts and hit a sensational .390 overall in Saturday's match. Classmate Mallory McKnight was also in double-figures with 13 kills as the middle blocker hit for a .364 clip.  Senior setter Haley Kleespies recorded a match-high 53 assists and added 10 digs. Freshman libero Grace Green collected a match-high 15 digs.
 
FIRST SET
Neast, McKnight and freshman outside hitter Kylie Tuxford each recorded three kills. UNCA (15-11, 10-6 Big South) was within 19-18 but the hosts scored four straight points to pull away. Tuxford put the frame away with a kill off a feed by Kleespies.
 
SECOND SET
In the most lopsided set of the match, the Highlanders forced the Bulldogs into a -.033 hitting rate and cruised to a 14-point victory. Neast was on fire as she hit .556 en route to six kills and senior outside hitter Valerie Gonzalez added three more. Radford exploded for a 9-1 lead and never looked back.
 
THIRD SET
The momentum of the match began to change as the visitors got on the board. UNCA, who has won nine straight, led the entire set and held a 17-10 advantage before Radford made a run. The Highlanders were within a single point on two occasions, the latest coming at 23-22 after a serving error by the Bulldogs. However, Radford recorded two attack errors to give the visitors the three-point victory.
 
FOURTH SET
UNCA hit .370 and held Radford to a .129 clip in the frame. Yet again, the Bulldogs took a 17-10 lead midway through the set. The Highlanders managed to close within 18-14 after a two consecutive service aces by sophomore Jordan Coomes, however, that was as close as the hosts would get. UNCA outscored the Highlanders by a 7-2 count to even the match. Neast added five more kills to lead Radford in the frame.
 
FIFTH SET
Neast (4 kills) and McKnight (3 kills) combined for seven points but it wasn't enough to pull out the victory. Neast gave the Highlanders their first lead of the set at 10-9 after a kill and freshman middle Samantha Reitz's kill provided Radford with their final advantage at 11-10. The score was deadlocked at 12-all after another winner by Reitz but the Bulldogs scored the final three points to close out the match.
 
SENIOR DAY FESTIVITIES
Radford honored their three seniors, Amaya Rousseau, Valerie Gonzalez and Haley Kleespies prior to the match.
 
Rousseau was named to the Big South All-Conference Second Team as a sophomore in 2016 after leading the team with 98 total blocks and placing fourth on the squad with 200 kills. Last year, who will ever forget her game-winning block assist that sent the Highlanders to the NCAA Tournament! The Raleigh, North Carolina native has compiled 247 career blocks, which is 5^th on the all-time school list. Maintaining a terrific 3.22 GPA, she will graduate this summer with a degree in Business Marketing.
 
Gonzalez was nominated this week for the prestigious Big South Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year as she currently owns a spectacular 3.86 GPA. The Naples, Florida native will graduate this spring with a BBA in Marketing and Management. She was named an honorable mention All-Big South Conference Team member last season after recording 2.72 kills per game. She was also named to the Big South All-Tournament Team. She recorded her 800^th career kill against High Point just a week ago. 

Kleespies has shattered the Highlander's all-time record with 4,245 career assists and is currently second on the school list with 154 service aces. The West Grove, Pennsylvania native earned Big South All-Freshman Team honors in 2016 and was a Big South All-Conference First Team member as a sophomore after averaging 11.40 assists per game, the second-best average in program history. Last season, she was named to the Big South All-Tournament Team. Owner of an outstanding 3.84 GPA, she will graduate this spring with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Elementary Education. 
 
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