CHARLESTON – Saturday afternoon, Charleston Southern suited up for their fifth match-up of Big South Conference play against the Radford Highlanders in the Dedmon Center. CSU would fall to the hosting Highlanders in four sets – (26-24, 21-25, 18-25, 23-25). 

The front half of set one was as competitive as it gets. CSU's Emily Struckmeyer scored the Bucs' 14th point of the period, giving Charleston Southern a 14-13 lead. However, a 6-0 response by Radford swung the momentum back to the home team, putting the Highlanders ahead 19-14. Just one point away from taking the set at 24-20, Radford fell victim to a 6-0 CSU run, highlighted by two kills from the Bucs' leading scorer, Skylar Yates. The impressive comeback gave Charleston Southern its first set victory since October 3rd.

Set two remained close, with both teams tied at 16 points apiece. From that point on, the Bucs were unable to score consecutive points, and Radford sealed the set 25-21 with a block by Alana Kolb and Katrina Miller.

Midway through set three, CSU went on a 5-0 run, earning points from Emma Bednarek, Oliwia Durka, and Sophia Kluska. However, that stretch was overshadowed by an 11-1 response from Radford, who closed out the set 25-18 in dominant fashion.

Despite the setback, CSU bounced back to start the fourth set strong, jumping out to a 6-2 lead. After trailing for much of the middle portion, the Bucs finally tied things up at 22 thanks to a kill by Emma Bednarek. Just three points away from forcing a decisive fifth set, CSU surrendered two kills and a service ace, allowing Radford to clinch the match and secure their third conference win of the still-young 2025 Big South Conference volleyball season.

Notables:

• Tristin Sutton finished with 35 assists, just 6 shy of her career-high.

• Sutton was also the lone Buccaneer to record a double-double in the match – leading the Bucs in both assists and digs (17).

• Naya Martinez got the starting libero nod in three of the matches four sets, recording 10 digs Saturday afternoon.

• Martinez's 10 digs ties her career-high and is only the third time she's reached double-digits in the digs column.

• Skylar Yates recorded a team-high 3 service aces as she continues to lead the Big South Conference in the category (31 total).

Up Next:

CSU will return to the Buc Dome for their home conference opener against the Winthrop Eagles. The match is scheduled for 6:00 PM on Friday, October 17th and is set to be broadcast on ESPN+.

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