RADFORD, Va.—Radford bounced back in their second consecutive home Big South matchup, this time against Hampton on Saturday to pick up their first conference win. The Highlanders' revitalized energy and effort, showed seamlessly on the court as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over the Pirates.
SET ONE
Jordan Coomes set up
Stephanie Neast beautifully to open the match with the first points on the evening. Radford added on several more points with their defense causing some issues for Hampton.
The Highlanders never let up, keeping a very comfortable distance between them and the Pirates. Once Radford reached 20 points, they pushed heavily for the remaining five. A kill from
Esmadar Tavares, ace from
Maddie Lentz, a kill from
Samantha Reitz, block assist from
Mackenzie Meehan and Tavares, in addition to a pair of Hampton miscues saw Radford take the opener 25-12.
SET TWO
The Highlanders notched the first points in this set as well, via a booming block assist from
Hailey Flowers and
Kennedi Johnson. The Pirates responded with a pair of points, but Radford doubled it in their statement back to increase their lead to 5-2.
Hampton mounted a late comeback and cut the Radford lead to just two points at 23-21. However, Neast would not be taking any chances for her team and sent a booming ball back over the net. The Pirates tacked on two points, getting within one point of the Highlander. Tavares sealed the set with another striking kill to wall off Hampton, 25-23.
SET THREE
Knowing the situation, the Pirates increased the presence on the court and presented the Highlanders with a challenge to close out the match. The tick-for-tack set kept the opening moments within a point until Hampton stretched out the lead to 7-5. Radford echoed the opposition's energy and added two points to tie the game up at seven all.
The back-and-forth saga continued, with neither team being able to quite escape the clutches of the other. In the final moment of the match, Flowers increased the Highlander lead to 23 with an on time kill. The Pirates wouldn't go quietly into the evening, adding a pair to the scoreboard. The big time stand from Radford came via a Coomes kill and a huge defensive stand, causing a Hampton attack error to end the game at 25-22.
STAT OF THE MATCH
Four Highlanders tabbed season highs in an array of categories during the contest. Tavares notched eight kills to go along with a hitting percentage of .316. Coomes registered a trifecta of kills. Flowers concluded the contest with four kills and nine digs. Johnson joined Coomes with several kills and ended the match with six blocks.
TEAM LEADERS
Neast led the way with 10 kills with Tavares and Reitz adding eight and six respectively. Lentz paced the court with a pair of aces on the evening. Members of the block party were Johnson (6), Neast (3), and Reitz (3). Lentz (15) and Coomes (12) were the double-digit leaders in assists.
Grace Green registered 17 digs with Flowers (9) and Lentz (6) also contributing.
TWEET OF THE MATCH
UP NEXT
Radford will commence a three-game road trip, starting with a stop in Charleston, S.C. to take on Charleston Southern on Friday, Oct. 11th at 6:00 p.m.
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