Gardner-Webb Drops Decision To Highlanders
October 04, 2008 | Volleyball
RADFORD, Va. – The Gardner-Webb volleyball program dropped its second match in as many days, falling to the Radford Highlanders by a 3-0 score (16-25, 19-25, 19-25) Saturday afternoon in front of 118 people.
The Bulldogs fall to 4-13 on the season and 2-2 in Big South play.
Radford improves to 6-8 on the year and 1-3 in league play.
Leading the way for GWU was senior Heidi Steinebrunner, who notched
a team-best 11 kills while hitting .286. Reigning Big South Rookie
of the Week Laura Wilcox added nine kills with hitting an
outstanding .368. She also chipped in with three digs and a
match-high three block assists. Senior Bethany Martin added four
kills while assisting on one block, which marked her
200th career.
Junior Regina Feagin dished 26 assists on the day while posting a
team-best eight digs. She also laced the Highlanders' defense for
two aces. Senior Katie Matykowski had seven digs and an ace.
Errors plagued the Bulldogs as the team had 20 on the afternoon,
resulting in a .114 attack percentage. Radford had just four more
kills than GWU, but had nine fewer errors, resulting in a .324
hitting percentage.
In the first set, the match was played evenly through the first 20 points. Then, Radford went on a 4-0 run forcing head coach Chris Phillips to take a time-out. After the brief stoppage, Steinebrunner got things going for GWU with a kill. Feagin fired an ace, pulling the Bulldogs within two. Steinebrunner and Wilcox posted back-to-back kills to even the contest.
A kill by Radford, followed by four consecutive errors by the
Bulldogs forced Phillips to call another time-out with the score
19-14 in favor of Radford. The Bulldogs were unable to recover from
the deficit as Radford scored six of the final eight points to end
the set with a 25-16 win.
GWU took an early lead in set two, racing out to a 4-1 lead. The Bulldogs pushed their lead to four, 14-10, on a block by Wilcox and Brittany Wilson. However, a service error gave the ball back to Radford, igniting the home team, who evened the score at 16-16. The Highlanders tallied the next four points, making Phillips call her second time-out of the set.
Tamia Herholz's kill pulled the visitors within three, 20-17, but Lexi Miller answered with a kill of her own, sparking a 4-0 run by the home team. Radford went on to win the set 25-19.
Radford doubled up the Bulldogs in the early going of set three, 14-7. The home team got most of the points off of GWU miscues. However, GWU fought back, pulling within two on a kill by Steinebrunner.
However, GWU was unable to capitalize as another error gave momentum back to the home team. Up 17-15, a bad set by GWU gave Radford another point. The Highlanders would tack on two more points before GWU got back on the board. The Bulldogs were unable to get back in the contest, falling 25-19.
The Bulldogs return to action Tuesday evening when they step out of conference and travel to Davidson, N.C., to face the Wildcats.
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