Volleyball Pushes Five Sets, Comes Up Just Short at Liberty

Monday, September 15

Lynchburg, VA

6:00 PM

Radford University

2-8,0-0Big South

Liberty

9-1,0-0CUSA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Radford	16	25	25	21	13	2
Liberty	25	18	21	25	15	3

Photo by: Ethan Neal

Volleyball Pushes Five Sets, Comes Up Just Short at Liberty

9/15/2025 8:49:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Radford volleyball program battled hard on the road at a solid Liberty squad Monday night, taking a lead going into the fourth set before ultimately coming up just short on the end of a five-set decision that went the Flames' way 3-2.

KEY STATS

The five-set affair was Radford's first of the season. In effect, the Highlanders set match-highs for the season in kills (66), assists (58) and digs (70).
Olvia Ryno (16), Rylee Sloss (13), and Aubrey Hatch (12) all finished with double digit kills, the first time this season Radford has had three different players record 10+ kills.
Lea Gage (25 assists, 13 digs) and Jackeline Nerro (24 assists, 11 digs) both recorded their first double-doubles of the season.
Radford committed just six service errors to Liberty's 17.

PLAY BY PLAY
Facing a tough Liberty squad that came into tonight's match winners of nine of their last ten matches, the Highlanders faced a challenge and stood tall to the task. While the Flames would jump ahead to a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-16 win in set one, the Highlanders struck back immediately.

In set two, Radford got off to a hot start as the offense lit up. Kills from Sloss, Ryno, Taryn Roberts and Hatch quickly put the Highlanders up 6-2. Radford would do a majority of their scoring through kills in set two as Hatch and Roberts combined for a pair that kept Radford ahead 10-5. Sloss stood tall for the offense scoring Radford next three points as Liberty tightened the set at 13-11.

A kill from Ryno halted the Flames attempted to tie up set two. Another kill by Hatch gave Radford the 15-12 edge at the media timeout. Out of the timeout, both teams traded points as Liberty pulled things as close as 19-18. That was as far as the Flames would get, though, as Radford used a huge 6-0 run to end and take set two. Ryno added two kills while Sloss served up an ace to fuel the run that evened the match at one set apiece.

The Highlanders kept rolling in set three with a strong defensive effort that saw the Flames commit three errors and put Radford ahead 6-2. After a 3-0 run tightened the set at 11-9, Radford got a 3-0 run of their own to reestablish a 14-9 advantage.

Radford continued to plow ahead as the service errors from the Flames began to pile up. A 4-0 run late by the Flames would pull it back to a one-point set at 22-21, but Radford finished strong scoring the last three points with a Roberts kill and two blocks from Roberts, Ryno and Hatch to win set three 25-21.

Now up 2-1, a competitive fourth set saw the favor of the match tip back and forth to each team's direction. Neither team gained an advantage more than a pair of points until Liberty pulled ahead 11-8. An offensive resurgence saw the Flames push a five-point lead late at 19-14. Not giving in, Radford battled back tightening their defense and getting kills from Gage, Ryno and Hatch to trail just 22-20. The comeback effort fell just short, though, as Liberty held on to force a fifth set 25-21.

Entering their first deciding set of the season in enemy territory, Radford kept battling. A service error and kill from Roberts put Radford up 2-1, but Liberty scored five of the next six points to take a commanding lead. Two kills by Sierra Moore pulled Radford to within 7-6. A 4-0 Flames run in response proved pivotal and gave the hosts a major advantage down the stretch up 11-6. Out of a timeout Radford scored three of the next four points behind kills from Moore, Ryno and Sloss. The comeback effort wouldn't be enough, however, as Liberty held on in the eventual 15-13 fifth set finish and 3-2 final score.

UP NEXT
The Highlanders will compete in their final nonconference tournament of the season right here in the New River Valley. Competing at Virginia Tech, Radford will face Middle Tennessee at 3 p.m. on Thursday, September 18th.

STAY SOCIAL WITH RADFORD VOLLEYBALL
For all the latest on Radford Volleyball, be sure to follow the team on X (@RadfordVB), Instagram (@radfordvb), and "like" the team's official Facebook Page (Radford Volleyball).

#RiseAndDefend