CCU

Volleyball Scores a 3-1 Win Over Radford

       

Volleyball Scores a 3-1 Win Over Radford

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RADFORD, Va. -- Powered by senior Nakia Thompson's  (Lexington, S.C./Lexington) .524 hitting percentage, Coastal Carolina defeated Radford 3-1 at the Dedmon Center Friday night (Oct. 5) for its first road win of the season. Game scores were 30-20, 25-30, 30-20., 30-26.

"Other than game two, we played a solid match, with the team totaling 11 blocks," Head Coach Kristen Bauer said. "Nakia stepped up her game in every aspect tonight, even in some ways that won't show up in the stats.  Freshmen Megan Bickford (Olathe, Kan./Olathe South) and Chelsy Kimes (Munster, Ind./Munster) also had strong hitting performances with identical .345 hitting percentages."

Coastal (11-8 overall, 3-0 Big South) opened the match with a .448 hitting percentage, converting on 16 kills off 29 total attacks. The Lady Chanticleers opened the match with four straight points and continued to roll from there. Coastal eventually took a 20-12 lead when Thompson and junior Kristin Wolf (Andover, Kan./Andover) blocked Alexis Miller's attack.  Radford narrowed Coastal's lead to four, but the Lady Chants used a six-point run to take a 28-19 advantage. During the run, Coastal had three block assists with two from sophomore Meagan Tracey (Scottsdale, Ariz./Horizon) and Bickford and one from sophomore Jill Nyhof (Alpharetta, Ga./Northview) and Bickford. 

After the Highlanders controlled and won game two, Coastal rebounded in game three. The Lady Chants had five service aces, a .345 hitting percentage and a pair of runs en route to winning game three 30-20.

Coastal and Radford battled for control of game four as 13 ties occurred. Thompson had a crucial kill that tied the game at 19-19.  Another kill by Thompson sparked a critical four-point run that resulted in a 22-19 Coastal advantage. Radford cut the Lady Chants' led down to two, but another four-point run allowed Coastal to build a much needed cushion and take a 25-20 lead. Coastal closed out the match with a kill from Nyhof.

Nyhof tallied a match-high 17 kills, while Thompson, Bickford and Kimes each had 13. Tracey put up 52 assists, while junior Brett Starbuck (Glen Allen, Va./J.R. Tucker) tallied 26 digs.  Bickford and Tracey tallied seven and five block assists, respectively.

Lindsey Poole led Radford with 16 kills.  Josie Hanners had an assist-dig double-double with 39 assists and 14 digs.

Coastal returns to action Saturday with a match at Liberty. Match time is scheduled for 2 p.m. from the Vines Center.