Radford Battles Close Throughout, but Drops Match to Middle Tennessee

Thursday, September 18

Blacksburg, Va.

3:00 PM

Radford University

2-9,0-0Big South

Middle Tennessee

7-3,0-0CUSA

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Middle Tenn.	25	25	17	26	3
Radford	20	23	25	24	1

Photo by: Ethan Neal

Radford Battles Close Throughout, but Drops Match to Middle Tennessee

9/18/2025 5:40:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Radford volleyball program played in four incredibly competitive sets Thursday afternoon in their first match at the Virginia Tech Classic, falling to Middle Tennessee 3-1.

KEY STATS

Both Rylee Sloss (15 kills) and Aubrey Hatch (12 kills) continued their impressive weeks with their second straight matches in double figures kills.
Jackeline Nerro nearly missed another double-double, finishing the match with 18 assists and nine digs.
Radford out-blocked their opponent once again 10-6 with Taryn Roberts and Sloss leading the way combining for one solo and seven block assists.

PLAY BY PLAY
A sign of what was to come, the first set in Thursday's match with the Blue Raiders was tight throughout. Through the early stretch, neither team was able to build a large lead. Tied 6-6, Radford got an ace from Katrina Miller and kills from Sloss and Ryno to take the first major lead 9-6. Sloss would keep the Highlanders pacing ahead with another pair of kills, but an extended run into the media timeout saw Radford ahead just 15-14.

The Blue Raiders stayed hot out of the timeout and took their first commanding lead of the set at 18-15. Radford battled to keep it close thanks to some errors from Middle Tennessee but set one would slip away 25-20.

Set two saw the Highlanders get early points behind a kill from Taryn Roberts and ace from Jackeline Nerro as once again things remained knotted up. Up slightly at 8-7, Radford got a rally behind a block from Gabriela Smolenska and Rylee Sloss and kills from Sloss and Ryno that forced a timeout. The Highlanders kept rolling through the timeout, but some attack errors proved costly as the match quickly retied at 15-15.

Middle Tennessee's rally continued through the end of the second set. A late comeback attempt by the Highlanders behind two kills from Hatch would fall just short as the Blue Raiders took a 2-0 lead behind a 25-23 set two win.

The Highlanders looked to flip the script in set three and did just that, dominating throughout. Radford took a commanding 5-0 lead early with an ace from Miranda Howard and kills from Sloss and Roberts. Out of a timeout, Radford kept rolling as Roberts tallied a block, Ryno earned an ace, and Miller added a kill to go up 10-6.

Attack errors continued to pile up for the Blue Raiders while Radford kept a consistent attack behind Roberts and Sloss to lead even further at 18-9. A brief rally by Middle Tennessee pulled things closer at 20-13, forcing a Radford timeout. The team was able to regroup to finish off the set in impressive fashion 25-17.

Radford jumped out to another lead in the fourth set 4-1 behind three errors from Middle Tennessee. Two kills by Hatch and another by Miller paced Radford ahead 10-6, but a run by the Blue Raiders cut into that lead and threw it back into a tight affair. Tied at 22-all, Radford wasn't able to close out the set as Middle Tennessee stole the fourth set late 26-24 and won the match 3-1.

UP NEXT
Radford will look to bounce back and close out the week when they take on the loser of Virginia Tech vs. ETSU tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Blacksburg, Va.

STAY SOCIAL WITH RADFORD VOLLEYBALL
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