CSU Win Streak Reaches Five in a 3-0 Sweep Over Radford

RADFORD, Va. – Charleston Southern took their first Big South road win in convincing fashion, with a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-17, 29-27) over the Radford Highlanders, Saturday at the Dedmon Center.  The Bucs were firing on all cylinders, hitting .340 as a team while recording 12 total blocks, as they pushed their win streak to five.  CSU improved to 16-14 with a 6-8 mark in the conference while Radford dropped to 12-19 and 2-13 in league play.  

After missing a match with the flu, Amanda Hill came back with 13 kills, seven digs and a service ace.  Nichole Diller sent down 11 kills while Crissy Skokan contributed eight blocks.  Cori Holeman and Amberle Trinder also chipped in with five blocks apiece.  For the Highlanders it was Megan McWhorter with a match high 15 kills

The opening set was a tight one, with CSU looking to take an early lead on the road.  After a 3-3 tie to start, the Bucs went up 6-4 on a kill from Hill.  CSU pushed it out to a four point advantage, their biggest of the set, when Emily Libertowski sent down an ace that made the score 11-7.  CSU led by four again at 12-8, but Radford responded with a 6-1 run, to take their first lead since the 2-1 mark.  Five ties and two lead changes would follow from there, out to an 18-18 tie.  Three unanswered points for the Bucs proved to the difference, as they went up 21-18.  The Highlanders had it down to one on separate occasions, but a Trinder kill sealed the 25-22 win.

CSU carried some momentum into the second set, jumping on a 6-2 lead, capped off by a Trinder and Skokan block.  Radford managed a couple points, thanks to a pair of kills from Desiree Aramburu, but the Bucs extended their lead to 11-5.  The Highlanders showed some life, cutting into the deficit with a 4-1 run, making it a 13-10 score.  CSU immediately followed with a 4-1 run of their own however, to take a commanding late lead.  The Bucs took their biggest advantage of the set, when Diller used back-to-back kills in a 6-0 run, for a 23-14 lead.  CSU closed out the second set with a 25-17 score, going up two sets to none.

Radford was not done yet on senior day, making it as close as possible in the third set, but coming up short after 21 ties and 16 lead changes.  CSU started with a 4-2 lead on a Skokan kill, tying for the biggest lead of the set.  The Bucs held another two point advantage after a Hill ace made it 9-7, but the Highlanders responded with a 5-1 run, to take a two point lead of their own.  It was tied at 12 all, as both teams traded points all the way to the 24-24 mark.  Radford edged a one point lead at 25-24, but couldn’t capitalize, as a Sam Sasan ace put CSU back on top 26-25.  In the end, the Bucs took advantage of some Highlander miscues, using back-to-back errors to steal a 29-27 win.  

CSU will close out the regular season next weekend, when they host High Point and Liberty on November 13 and 14, respectively.  Radford has one match left before the post-season, on the road against Presbyterian College on Saturday, November 14.