BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.—An offensive outburst by the Radford women's volleyball team aided in the three-set sweep of Gardner-Webb on Friday night. The double-digit kill duo of Hailey Flowers and Esmadar Tavares were the driving force on the night, both with 12. 
 
SET ONE 
Setting the tone early was senior Stephanie Neast, who tabbed the opening points of the match with a booming kill. She teamed up with Kennedi Johnson on a block assist and followed that with another kill to put the Highlanders on a 3-0 scoring run to start the match. 
 
Momentum remained in favor of Radford, causing Gardner-Webb to call a pair of timeouts within several points of one another. The Runnin' Bulldogs rallied back into the game and tied the first set at 21 all, then added a pair to their efforts to take their first lead of the night at 23-21. 
 
The Highlanders were able to shift on the spot and forced a Gardner-Webb bad set, followed by a pair of attack errors. The set would come down to the wire as the Runnin' Bulldogs tabbed a kill to tie the set at 24. However, Tavares and Mackenzie Meehan were the pair to notch the final two points to take the opening set at 26-24. 
 
SET TWO 
After making some adjustments, Gardner-Webb started this set off with an array of small rallies to position themselves ahead of Radford. 
 
A kill from Flowers would prove to be all that the Highlanders needed to take back the flow they had in the previous set. Radford's defense put a string of five points on the board with Johnson, Flowers, and Neast picking up those blocks. 
 
The lead was now 17-14 in favor of the Highlanders which led to a Runnin' Bulldogs timeout. The brief intermission wouldn't faze Radford who went on an 8-3 run to close out the set at 25-17. The closer was brought by Taylor O'Neal, set up perfectly by Maddie Lentz.   
 
SET THREE
The Highlanders wasted no time in the final stanza, sensing the three-and-out was near. However, they fell behind early on only trailing by three points before the tide turned. Again, it would be Flowers to serve as the catalyst for the rally. 
 
Down the stretch the teams went point-for-point until Radford pulled away on a kill from Flowers to push their 17th point. Jordan Coomes, Neast, and of course Flowers were the trio of Highlanders to wrap the contest up. Flowers sealed the victory with a block solo, 25-21. 
 
STAT OF THE MATCH 
A season high night for the freshman Flowers and junior Tavares. Flowers ended the match with 12 kills and a solo block on the night. Tavares joined her with 12 kills, hit an impressive .429 percent, tabbed an assist, and a solo block. 
 
TEAM LEADERS 
Neast notched six kills to go along with the 24 from Flowers and Tavares. Coomes served up the only Radford service ace of the night. Johnson led the defensive front with four blocks, joined by Neast and Flowers with a pair each. Lentz (19) and Coomes (15) tallied double digit assists. Grace Green and Coomes concluded the contest with 13 and 10 digs. 
 
UP NEXT 
The four-game road trip will come to a close as the Highlanders travel to Rock Hill, S.C. to face the unbeaten Eagles tomorrow. The match is slated to begin at 2:00 p.m., as Radford will look to put a stop to Winthrop's perfect 8-0 home record. 
 
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