Led by Maddie Palmer’s season-high 25 kills, the Radford University’s volleyball team took down Presbyterian in four sets on Saturday night at Templeton Center in Clinton, S.C.
Radford (14-3, 4-2 Big South) picked up 17 kills in the first set, but hit a match-low .213 as they fell 26-24 to Presbyterian (4-15, 1-5 Big South). However, the Highlanders picked it up in the second set jumping out to a 5-0 lead. With the set 9-7 – in favor of Radford – the Highlanders scored seven unanswered going up 16-7. The nine-point lead remained and with a 20-11 lead, Radford scored five of the last six points thanks to a kill from Mallory McKnight, two kills by Palmer, a service ace by Stephanie Neast and a Blue Hose attack error, which led them to win the set, 25-12.
After a 7-2 early lead by the Highlanders in the third set, Presbyterian tied it at seven with five straight points. The back-and-forth action continued with nine more ties. The final tie came at 23 when Amaya Rousseau picked up an unassisted kill and an Allie Wright made an error that gave Radford a 2-1 set lead.
The Highlanders picked up 20 of their 71 kills in the final set and had a .621 hitting percentage. Radford took a two one lead courtesy of a McKnight kill and did not lose the lead the rest of the set. The Blue Hose hung around and scored three unanswered, but Palmer’s 25th kill and another Blue Hose attack error put Radford on top 25-19 that clinched the match.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• The 71 kills against Presbyterian is the most in a single-game by the Highlanders this season and the most since September 4, 2015, when they also recorded 71 against Princeton in five sets.
• As a team, the Highlanders hit .346, which is the fourth-best hitting percentage this season and best against a Big South opponent.
• Palmer almost notched a new career-high with 25 kills, but was one shy. She recorded 26 against Campbell in the Big South Tournament in 2016.
• Palmer added 15 digs, which gave her another double-double this season.
• Stephanie Neast continued her great performance with a 13 kill, 10 dig match that gave her a double-double. She also hit .303 and led the team with three service aces.
• Getting in on the double-double action was Haley Kleespies, who totaled a season-high 51 assists and picked up 15 digs.
• Amaya Rousseau and Palmer totaled four blocks as the team led Presbyterian in the category, 8.0 to 3.0.
• Alyssa Carruth notched a team-high 17 digs and tacked on six assists.
• Valerie Gonzalez and Mallory McKnight tallied nine kills each, while Rousseau added eight and Kleespies picked up five.
“It was good to get back in the win column, especially being on the road. We had contributions from everyone tonight in some form or fashion and it was nice see Maddie {Palmer} have a bounce back match in a big way,” said RU head coach Marci Jenkins
Radford returns to Dedmon Center this weekend as it hosts UNC Asheville on Friday night at 7 p.m., and Winthrop at 4 p.m.
— RU Athletics