GWU Volleyball Suffers a Tough 3-1 Loss on the Road at Radford
November 10, 2012 | Volleyball
Radford, Va. - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team posted a first set win, yet failed to finish the match out strong, suffering a 3-1 road loss at Radford on Friday in a pivotal Big South Conference match in Radford, Va.
Gardner-Webb falls to 9-21 overall and 4-9 in Big South play, while Radford improves to 15-15 overall and 5-8 in conference play with the win.
With the loss, GWU's back is against the wall, as the Runnin' Bulldogs must win in tomorrow's regular season finale at Liberty in order to have a chance to make the 2012 Big South Volleyball Championship Tournament next week.
"We were outplayed and outhustled tonight. We did not respond well to the urgency of the moment while Radford did," commented head coach Leo Sayles. "They deserved to win this game. I give credit to their libero, who refused to give up any ball."
Juniors Emily Holte and Tyler Cockrell, who each posted 12 kills apiece, led GWU, while fellow junior Amanda Murphy totaled 10 kills on a .444 attack percentage for the match. Setter Heather Feldman dished out 40 set assists to go along with 11 digs, while freshman libero Anna Pashkova and Erin Anderson recorded 18 and 15 digs, respectively.
Radford's Rachel Wiechecki posted a match-high 20 kills, along with 10 digs, while Savanna Burton and Cheyanne James recorded 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Setter Jena Braden totaled 46 assists, while Yacine Meyer tallied 28 digs in the four-set win.
GWU got off to a great start on Friday night, as kills by Holte, Chelsea Hearne and Anderson put the visitors on top 3-0 to start the first set. After a GWU service error put the Highlanders on the scoreboard, GWU posted three straight points to take a 6-1 lead over the Highlanders.
Gardner-Webb stayed out in front over the next several rallies, pushing its lead to seven at 18-11 on a 4-0 run, capped off by a Holte service.
Despite Radford cutting the lead to three on several occasions, the Runnin' Bulldogs put together back-to-back points to earn the 25-20 set one win.
Unlike in the first set, GWU struggled in the second frame by falling behind to the Highlanders 5-0 out of the gates, before battling back to tie the score at 9-9 on an Anderson kill.
After a Radford error pushed GWU in front for the first time at 10-9, the two teams' went back-and-forth until a kill by Cockrell and a service ace by Holte put the visitors on top at 16-14.
However, the Highlanders answered with a 5-0 run to start a 7-1 run to take a 21-17 lead over the Runnin' Bulldogs.
GWU tried to get back into the set, cutting the lead to two on three different occasions, yet failed to retake the lead in the 25-21 second set loss.
With the match tied up at 1-1, Radford erased an early 1-0 GWU lead with back-to-back kills by Wiechecki and refused to release it for the remainder of the set, answering every Runnin' Bulldog point.
Gardner-Webb cut the Radford lead to one at 10-9 on a Cockrell service ace and then ran off four straight points to tie the score up at 14-14.
Yet the Highlanders responded with a 4-0 run of its own to retake the lead at 18-14 on a GWU attack error.
GWU couldn't rebound from the Radford run, falling to the Highlanders 25-18 in the third set, to fall behind in the match 2-1.
The Runnin' Bulldogs struggled in the fourth set, falling behind 7-2 on a James kill to start the frame en route to rolling out to a 13-4 lead over the Runnin' Bulldogs.
Gardner-Webb was never in the set, as Radford rolled to the 25-14 set win to earn the 3-1 set victory.
Gardner-Webb will return to action tomorrow afternoon to take on the Liberty Lady Flames at 12 p.m., while Radford will host UNC Asheville tomorrow afternoon.
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| Box Score: Radford 3, GWU 1 |
