Potter’s Career Night Lifts Highlanders 3-2 Comeback Win over UNC Asheville

Saturday, October 24

Radford, Va.

4:00 PM

Radford University

12-11,6-3Big South

UNC Asheville

15-10,3-6Big South

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
UNC Asheville	15	25	25	18	17	2
Radford	25	21	20	25	19	3

Photo by: Matthew Maldonado

10/24/2026 7:24:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

RADFORD, Va. – After falling behind 2-1, the Radford volleyball program stormed back in front of a raucous crowd Saturday night to defeat UNC Asheville 3-2 thanks in part to a stellar 22-kill match from Macie Potter.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Potter blew out her previous single match high for kills with 22, six better than her previous high, while hitting a blistering .415. She would also tally 13 digs for the double-double while serving up an ace and two total blocks.
Addison Cunnagin also finished with 11 kills, totaling 25 over the two conference matches this weekend.
The Highlanders combined for 12 blocks, a season high, while only conceding four to the Bulldogs. Maja Bochenek and Taryn Roberts fueled that defensive effort being involved in 12 total blocks between the pair.
Radford's .338 hitting mark was also a season high. That was bolstered by a .464 clip in the first set and a .520 clip in the fourth set.
Roberts, Potter and Cunnagin all now have 200+ kills on the season. The last time a Radford squad had three players with over 200 kills was in 2024, and the team still has five regular season matches on the schedule.
The victory moves the Highlanders home record to 6-2 so far this season. The two victories against UNC Asheville this year also snapped a streak of dropping four of the last five matches to the Bulldogs coming in to 2026.

THE BREAKDOWN
Setting the tone for what wound up being a very exciting match was a very exciting first set for the Highlanders. The team hit .464 in the set committing just one attack error. Roberts and Cunnagin fueled the offense with nine combined kills while the team tallied four blocks early.

Cunnagin fueled the offense early to a 9-5 lead while the Highlanders took advantage of multiple Bulldogs misfires to pace ahead throughout. Radford went on a 6-3 run into the media break to lead 15-9. More miscues kept Radford ahead while Roberts and Potter kept the kills coming to seal the set in Radford's favor decisively 25-15.

Set two would play tight, but Radford's offense took a step back and that opened the door for UNC Asheville to even the match. The Highladners saw their hitting percentage fall down to .182 as seven attack errors helped boost their opponent's score line. Four aces by the Bulldogs also proved a deciding factor.

Radford began the set on a big run early to go ahead 7-2. That run continued through a Bulldogs timeout to as far as 9-2 as Radford took advantage of some lingering UNC Asheville miscues. That margin quickly tightened up, however, as UNC Asheville cleaned things up and flipped the script on Radford with a 13-2 run that gave them a lead at the media break and would ride that run to take 25-21 set two.

Set three saw the Highlanders clean up their own misfires, but UNC Asheville's offense clicked with ease hitting their match high of .438. Notably, Potter would start to catch fire. After only connecting for five kills in the first two sets, she rattled off six in set three.

The Highlanders and Bulldogs traded points early in the set as neither team grabbed a decisive edge. Potter's kills helped wear down the Bulldogs defense, especially late, as Radford tried to rally back from an 18-13 deficit. The Highlanders came as close as being down 22-19 which forced a timeout, but out of that break it was UNC Asheville who sealed the set 25-20 in their favor for a 2-1 lead.

Never a team to go away quietly, Radford rallied. The offense exploded in set four for an incredible .520 hitting percentage with 14 kills to just one error. Potter led that charge with another six kills on just eight attempts. Radford's defense also caused issues for UNC Asheville who committed seven attack errors.

As both teams traded points throughout the set, the deciding moment came when Radford took a 19-16 lead late after a kill from Roberts and two Bulldogs attack errors. Out of a timeout, Miller and Potter added kills to keep the rally going and force another timeout. The Highlanders kept rolling as Potter and Roberts hit a pair of kills that gave Radford the 25-18 set win and force the deciding set.

In set five, the Highlanders continued to dig deep to try and outlast the Bulldogs. Radford fell behind early but never by more than three points to stay in it. Cunnagin and Miller helped Radford dig out of the deficit and Potter punished the Bulldogs with some big kills late. Radford had match point at 14-11, but saw that lead slip away to a 14-14 tie. The team never faltered and it was Bochenek and Cunnagin who provided big kills late to seal the set 19-17 for Radford and earn a huge 3-2 Big South victory.

UP NEXT
The Highlanders will look to keep this momentum going when they host another pair of matches next week. Action begins on Friday, October 30th at 6:00 p.m. as the team will host Charleston Southern for their annual Morgan's Message game.

STAY SOCIAL WITH RADFORD VOLLEYBALL
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