BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb volleyball (7-7, 1-1) returned to the floor facing its second Big South opponent of the season on Friday, September 29 against Radford University (1-10, 0-2) with an emphatic straight-set sweep. 
 
Junior middle blocker Autumn Flowers continued her impressive first year with GWU, leading the match with 10 kills while hitting a career-high .563 hitting percentage at the net. Freshman outside hitter Jenna Otts recorded eight kills respectfully. 
 
Sophomore setter Paige Bernstein dished out a game-high 26 assists also dumping over four kills with nine digs. Sophomore libero Sophia Kotsovolos tied a game-high 16 digs on the defensive side for Gardner-Webb.
 
"I thought it was a great team win where everyone did their job and trusted each other on the court to execute the game plan," said assistant coach Kali Boatwright. 
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs had a solid offensive performance tonight, hitting .207 against the Highlanders. The 'Dawgs exploded right out of the gate with a 5-1 lead before Radford shrunk the score down to 8-7. Gardner-Webb finished set one with 13 kills on 25 attacks with a .36 hitting percentage to advance 25-20. The second set included a monster defensive performance from the 'Dawgs holding the Highlanders to a -.207 hitting percentage and forcing Radford into 11 errors. Back-to-back service aces for Bernstein gave GWU an early 5-1 advantage before the 'Dawgs came out growling for a 12-5 run putting them ahead 17-5 in set two. The 'Dawgs cruised away with a 25-17 victory entering set three with lots of momentum. 
 
Radford opened the third set with four straight points, putting the Runnin' Bulldogs in a hole early. GWU dropped the margin to one point at 8-7, but the Highlanders grabbed four consecutive points to bump their lead back up to 12-7. After holding a five-point lead, Gardner-Webb began to eat into the Radford margin late dropping the score to 18-17. Radford kept in front until set-point at 24-20, where the 'Dawgs showed massive resilience, securing four straight points to tie the score at 24-24. Back-and-forth shots evened the score at 27-27 until two errors by Radford handed Gardner-Webb the straight-set sweep.
 
"This team showed great resiliency in the third set to come from behind and win this match," said Boatwright.
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs will face off against High Point University back on the Eddie Holbrook Court tomorrow, Sep. 30 at 4:00 p.m. for their Student-Athlete Mental Health Awareness game.