Senior Day Match Slips Away for Highlanders

Saturday, November 1

Radford, Va.

2:00 PM

Radford University

8-17,4-7Big South

USC Upstate

13-11,6-5Big South

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
USC Upstate	25	22	25	25	3
Radford	15	25	18	14	1

11/1/2025 4:21:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

RADFORD, Va. – The Radford volleyball program battled tough but came up short in their Senior Day match Saturday afternoon, falling in a 3-1 final to USC Upstate.

KEY STATS

Sierra Moore (13 kills) and Gabriela Smolenska (9 kills) each finished with season-highs, respectively.
Jackeline Nerro led the squad with 20 assists on her senior day, while Sara Johnson recorded a season best 12 digs.
In Radford's strongest set, the Highlanders committed just two errors for a .469 attacking clip. The team wouldn't hit over .100 in the remaining three sets.
USC Upstate served 14 aces in the match, the most by a Radford opponent this season.

PLAY BY PLAY
To start Saturday's match the Spartans jumped ahead early and didn't look back in a lopsided set one. Early kills from Kennedy Robinson and Aubrey Hatch gave Radford a few points but at the midway point the Highlanders were down 15-5. A 6-0 run forced a Spartans timeout thanks to kills from Kolb and Moore, but USC Upstate was able to hold on 25-15.

The Highlanders came out with a different energy in set two as an ace from Moore and two kills from Ryno had the team up 5-3. A 6-0 run by the Spartans threated to throw the match back in their favor, but Radford hung close until a late rally with more kills from Smolenska, Kolb and Moore had them up 20-19. Radford kept battling and came out on top in the set thanks to an ace and kill from Moore that sealed the deal at 25-22.

Attack woes returned in set three, however, as USC Upstate overcame a 9-5 Radford lead. After trading points, another long 7-1 run flipped the set to the Spartans at 19-15. Radford wasn't able to recover and fell in the third set 25-18.

Another long run opened the fourth set, putting Radford immediately in a deep 12-2 hole. Kills from Moore and Smolenska would try to get Radford back in it, but the damage was already done. USC Upstate took set four in a 25-14 finish and eventually the match 3-1.

UP NEXT
Radford will look to right the ship next week with their final three conference matches all coming on the road. Their next battle will come on Friday, November 7th at Charleston Southern with a 6 p.m. start on ESPN+.

STAY SOCIAL WITH RADFORD VOLLEYBALL
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#RiseAndDefend