Highlanders Ignite Late, Upend USC Upstate 3-1 - Radford University Athletics

Friday, October 23

Radford, Va.

6:00 PM

Radford University

USC Upstate

Photo by: Matthew Maldonado

10/23/2026 8:50:00 PM | Volleyball

RADFORD, Va. – The Radford volleyball program caught fire late and used efforts from multiple players to get the job done and sweep the season series over USC Upstate with a 3-1 victory Friday night.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Addison Cunnagin provided a team high 14 kills on the night while also finishing with 12 digs for a double-double.
Macie Potter did most of her damage over the final two sets with 11 kills and a .529 hitting clip.
Maja Bochenek helped in many ways finishing with eight kills, two aces, and was involved on three blocks.
Alyssa Cadavid and Lea Gage combined on nearly 50 assists on the night, helping the Highlanders out hit the Spartans .276 to .182.
The season sweep over USC Upstate is Radford's first of the season in their first try. It's also their quickest trip to five Big South wins since the 2018 season.

THE BREAKDOWN
The Highlanders began Friday night's match well with a 6-1 run, thanks in part to a well-timed challenge, their first of three successful overturns on the night. Katrina Miller and Aubrey Hatch tallied kills and forced a USC Upstate timeout. Out of that timeout, the Spartans quickly tied things back up on a long run and the two squads would trade points the rest of the way.

Addison Cunnagin provided much-needed offense with three kills going into the media break. Radford built a 4-1 run to briefly lead again and kept rolling as Ela Shepherd also joined in with a kill to force another Spartans timeout ahead 22-21. A long rally would end in another Shepherd kill to get set point and Maja Bochenek sealed set one in Radford's favor with a kill at 25-22.

The Spartans returned with a fire in the set hitting .412 which would pave the way for the lopsided final. Set two wouldn't begin as kind to the Highlanders as they were forced to work out of an early 9-5 hole. That deficit held as Radford fell behind by seven at 19 to 12 and eventually dropped the set 25-16.

Radford returned the lopsided set final in kind in set three to retake a 2-1 lead. The Highlanders' offense as a whole was on fire as the team had 10 kills before recording their first attack error. Macie Potter was a big part of that charge with two aces, six kills and two blocks. The charge began early as Radford vaulted ahead 15-6 by the media break. Potter kept firing out of that break to keep Radford on fire while Shepherd, Roberts and Cunnagin helped seal the set 25-14 in Radford's favor.

Set four began even between the two squads but it was Cunnagin and Potter who would help put the match away for Radford. The Highlanders hit well early and committed just three errors overall in the set, but the Spartans saw many more opportunities to score and took advantage to keep things even.

A pair of aces by Jannazzo helped Radford gain an edge at 9-6 but the team would fall behind 15-13 by the media timeout as USC Upstate earned a 9-4 run. Out of that break Radford had a 4-0 run of their own that Taryn Roberts put an exclamation point on for a 17-15 lead. Back and forth the two teams went until Radford got another kill from Shepherd for a 22-20 advantage that forced a timeout. Radford came out of it unphased and finished the match on a 3-0 run capped by a block from Shepherd and Roberts to take the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.

UP NEXT
Radford returns to action tomorrow afternoon to close out the weekend against UNC Asheville. The match will also be the Highlanders annual Women in Sports night and will see a first serve at 4:00 p.m. on ESPN+.

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