RADFORD, Va. — Bellarmine volleyball closed out its final non-conference weekend at the Highlander Invitational, falling in its third game of the weekend 3-2 (16-25, 25-22, 25-17, 20-25, 9-15) to host Radford on Saturday afternoon in the Dedmon Center.
With the loss, the Knights enter ASUN play with a 6-5 overall record. It is the first time in the Division I era Bellarmine brings a winning record into conference play.
Senior
Maddie Hagan led the Knights' offense with 14 kills, swinging at a .294 (14-4-34) clip while adding four digs and a block. Fellow senior
Natalie Bland registered her third double-double of the weekend, turning in 13 kills and 14 digs while adding two assists and two blocks. Freshman
Mady Yaden rounded out the top hitters with 12 kills. Sophomore
Mary Herman led the defensive effort at the net, recording five blocks, all solos, in addition to nine kills (.429%, 9-0-21) and an ace. Junior
Payton Parsons tallied 19 digs in the contest while freshman
Maddie Carnes recorded her second double-double of the weekend with 41 assists and 13 digs, adding a kill, ace and a block.
Despite taking the loss, Bellarmine topped Radford in kills (57-53), assists (51-49) and blocks (10-6). The Knights recorded 10 aces to Radford's 12 but, BU committed 14 service errors while Radford only committed five.
The match opened with a back-and-forth affair in the first set. Radford found solid footing first, opening up a four-point lead heading into the media timeout. Out of the break, the Highlanders continued to control the set and went on to win 25-16. The second set began in similar fashion as the first. Down again coming out of the media timeout, Bellarmine rallied and tied the match at 20-20 before trading the next few points to 22-22. From there, Bellarmine found an edge and secured the win 25-22 to even the match at 1-1. Despite another back-and-forth start to the third set, this time Bellarmine took a lead heading into the break and never looked back, running away with a 25-17 win for a 2-1 lead in the match. In the fourth, Radford came out swinging, scoring the first point and never relinquishing the lead for a 25-20 victory, forcing a decisive fifth set. Radford carried its momentum into the final stanza and jumped out to another early lead. Bellarmine battled but was never able to get close enough to strike as the Highlanders took the set 15-9 for a 3-2 match win.
Up next, Bellarmine will open its ASUN Conference schedule with a home match against Lipscomb on Saturday, September 26.
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow BUKnights on X, Instagram and Facebook.
