DURHAM, N.C. – The Radford volleyball program jumped ahead 1-0 early, fell behind 2-1, but came back with a force to pull off the 3-2 victory Tuesday night at North Carolina Central.
Inside the box score
- Taryn Roberts and Addison Cunnagin helped fuel the win with 15 kills each. The duo also both hit over .400 in the match.
- With 16 digs tonight, Mia Jannazzo eclipses 200 on the season just 11 matches in. She is also the quickest freshman to 200 digs in all of Division I.
- Macie Potter led the team with 17 digs and a whopping six aces. Radford's 14 aces tonight were a season high and the most in a single match since serving up 14 against Old Dominion in 2024.
- Radford only committed 11 attack errors on 155 attempts. It's their lowest error total in a match with more than three sets since having 11 against Maryland Eastern Shore in 2021.
- In the eighth ever meeting between the Highlanders and Eagles, the two squads went to five sets for a third time. Radford has won all three of those occurrences.
People are also reading…
Radford jumped ahead 1-0 in Tuesday night's match behind a dominant first set. Cunnagin jumped out with five kills while Potter supplied three. Lea Gage also began her strong night assisting nine of Radford's 11 kills. To go ahead 15-9 by the midway point, there was plenty of offense to go around for the Highlanders as four different players tallied kills. Later on, it was blocks from Roberts and kills from Potter and Olivia Ryno that helped Radford seal set one 25-17.
In set two Cunnagin kept firing with four more kills while Riley Greene subbed in and struck for four kills on just six tries. North Carolina Central returned with a force, though, and hit well throughout the set to tie the match. The set was tied early on, but a 4-0 run gave the Eagles their first big advantage of the match at 10-6. That lead ballooned to 18-12 and forced a Radford timeout. The Highlanders stormed back out of that timeout to tie the set at 20-20, but a slew of attack errors down the stretch helped the Eagles win set two 25-23.
In set three the Highlanders' attack took a step back, hitting just .167. The Eagles similarly hit under .200 but built their lead early with aces and kills. Radford looked to build another late comeback in the set, but it fell similarly short as North Carolina Central took set three 25-22 and flipped the match back in their favor 2-1.
The Highlanders looked back to form in set four as the team combined to hit .394, led by five kills from Roberts and four from Cunnagin. The renewed effort saw an 8-1 early lead off an 8-0 run by Radford. That lead tightened quickly, though, as the Eagles pulled back to within 11-9. A flurry of kills by Roberts helped end that run, and it was Roberts and Potter combining for kills and aces at the end of the set to force set five at 25-20.
Just like in set four, the Highlanders wasted no time building a big lead in set five. A 5-1 run vaulted Radford ahead 6-2 behind an ace and kill from Aubrey Hatch plus a kill from Gage that forced a timeout. Radford continued moving with ease as Gage tallied three aces down the stretch that helped put things fully out of reach. A kill by Roberts and a mishit by North Carolina Central sealed the set 15-7 and the match 3-2 in Radford's favor.
Up next
Radford will close out its nonconference schedule at home this weekend when it hosts the Highlander Invitational for a second straight season. Action begins in the Dedmon Center with four matches on Friday, September 18th. Radford first faces off against Chattanooga at 1 p.m. before taking on Norfolk State at 7 p.m.
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
