Gardner-Webb Fights Hard In 3-1 Loss To First-Place Radford Friday
November 16, 2013 | Volleyball
Gardner-Webb (15-16, 6-7 Big South) dropped its fourth match in a row and will host Liberty on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 to close out the regular season. The Big South Conference Tournament then begins on November 20 in Clinton, S.C.
Each set was tightly contested Friday night between the Runnin' Bulldogs and Highlanders, with neither team able to pull away by a workable margin for very long. Radford was able to create some cushion in the first set, going up 22-16 before Gardner-Webb rallied to trim the lead to 23-20 on an kill from Erin Anderson. GWU would get within 24-22 on a blocking error, but Emma Deininger closed out the set off an assist from Jenna Braden.
Radford bolted to a 5-0 lead in the second set, pushed the margin to 12-4 kept its margin safe in a 25-19 win. As it has done many times already this season in Paul Porter Arena, Gardner-Webb showed fight in the third set, gaining momentum with an early 4-1 burst and trading blows with Radford the rest of the way.
The Highlanders appeared to have created enough space on a Deininger kill to make the score 23-20 and another from Braden to go up 24-21, but Anderson recorded three consecutive kills on assists from Feldman to tie the score and GWU won the set after a pair of Radford attack errors.
The early stages of the fourth set were as tightly contested as any all evening, before Radford went on a 7-0 run to take a 17-10 lead. The lead sat at 20-15 for the Highlanders moments later, before a 5-0 run from the Runnin' Bulldogs knotted the score.
Radford served for the match at 24-23, but a kill by Emily Holte tied the score again. Each time Radford pulled ahead, Gardner-Webb was able to post an equalizer, before a kill by Jesse Miedema and a block assist from Miedema and Megan McKenzie sealed the win for the Highlanders - and evened the season series after Gardner-Webb's October 5 win in Virginia.
The Runnin' Bulldogs got a team-high 18 kills from Anderson on Senior Night and Anderson added two service aces, 20 digs and 2.0 blocks in a solid effort. Brianna Starr added 12 kills and 16 digs and Tyra Montour was efficient with a .500 attack percentage, 10 kills and 2.0 blocks.
Senior Amanda Murphy supplied 6.0 total blocks on the night and classmate Emily Holte had three - part of a 10.0 block night for Gardner-Webb. Anna Pashkova had 28 digs and Heather Feldman posted 41 assists and 10 digs for GWU.
Gardner-Webb hits just .156 for the night, however, as Radford (21-9, 10-3 Big South) posted 11.0 team blocks itself and got a strong night from Rachel Wiechecki.
Wiechecki supplied 21 kills and 24 digs, put down two service aces and a block in the win. Deininger had 5.0 of the teams 11 blocks, registered 14 kills and was a force at the net for the Highlanders.
Miedema provided 13 kills, just attack error and a .500 hitting percentage for Radford, and Cheyanne James posted 11 kills, 12 digs and a pair of blocks. Setter Jena Braden recorded five kills (.571 hitting percentage), 51 assists and 10 digs. Libero Kelby Jackson led the way with 18 digs and had two of the Highlanders' five service aces.
Radford hit .218 as a team on Friday night.
| BOX SCORE (PDF) |
