The public is invited to the official NCAA Volleyball Selection Show Watch Party at the Sports Performance Center inside the Dedmon Center on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged to join the 2017 Big South Volleyball Champions to view the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show, which airs live on ESPNU at 9 p.m.
The 2017 season has been unlike any other and on Sunday that held true as the Highlanders claimed the 2017 Big South Tournament championship with a 3-1 (25-23, 25-18, 24-26, 25-17) victory over No. 1 High Point inside the Dedmon Center earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The second-seeded Highlanders (25-4, 13-3 Big South) took the first set, but only after back-and-forth from both teams. Midway through the set Radford had a 13-12 lead when Molly Livingston tied it at 13 with a kill. The run started there and was not over as the Panthers (24-7, 16-0 Big South) took a 20-13 lead in the set. An attack error by Jenna Smith ignited a 7-0 Radford run, which knotted the top-seeded teams at 20. The 7-0 spark turned into a 9-0 run with back-to-back kills from Maddie Palmer. With the Highlanders ahead 22-20, High Point never regained the lead and Palmer’s 10th kill of the set clinched the 25-23 first set victory.
The second set was all Highlanders as they won 25-18 taking a two set lead. High Point took a lead early in the set, but Radford came back to take a 10-6 lead. The Highlanders improved to a 20-11 lead thanks to a 10-5 run. High Point scrapped back keeping it close, 20-14. Radford scored five of the next nine points (25-18) putting them only two sets away from a title. In the set, the Highlanders tallied 17 kills with a .421 hitting percentage.
In the third set, there were 21 ties and seven lead changes and neither team pulled away until late in the set when High Point took its first two-point lead, 23-21. The Highlanders fought back and tied the set at 23, but could not control a lead as the Panthers claimed the set, 26-24.
The fourth set began like the first and third as neither team could pull away until Radford scored four unanswered taking a 17-13 lead that forced High Point to call a timeout. The lead increased to seven, 23-16, as the Dedmon Center was rocking and the Highlanders envisioning lifting the trophy for the first time since 2013.
High Point scored one more point (23-17) and none other than Palmer put the Highlanders one point away from going to the NCAA Tournament with her career tying 26th kill of the match. Amaya Rousseau and Stephanie Neast made the dream a reality with a block off an attack from Haley Barnes, securing the Big South Championship and propelled Radford to an automatic qualifying spot in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
The Highlanders will return to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in five seasons and fourth time in school history.
This match featured 44 tied scores, including 21 in a back-and-forth third set, and 16 lead changes. Maddie Palmer came up big when it mattered most, posting a season-high 30 points in the championship match to surpass her previous high of 25 against Presbyterian on Oct. 7. Palmer tied a career-high with 26 kills in the match.
Radford had themselves a block party on the court, earning 10.0 team blocks compared to High Point’s one. Five of the Highlander’s blocks came in the fourth set alone. Mallory McKnight and Stephanie Neast each had five block assists each. Senior Kaylor Nash had a team-high and game-high 19 digs.
Haley Kleespies’ passing was on point against High Point, leading all players with 48 assists. High Point had 51 assists as a team. Radford put together a .327 hit percentage while holding the Panthers to a .218 hitting percentage.
Freshmen Alyssa Carruth and Jordan Coomes came up huge and tallied a combined 20 digs, with each freshman contributing 10 of her own.
Kleespies, Valerie Gonzalez and Palmer were named to the 2017 Big South All-Tournament Team. Palmer was named the tournament MVP.
“We had a game plan and our kids did it to perfection tonight. I’m so proud of all of them. We made some adjustments that we had been working on for about four weeks in practice and they paid off. It was something that the coaching staff decided to change in order to generate some more offense. It came down to our kids executing the change. They trusted us and what we had to say and executing it to perfection. It was an awesome all-around team effort. Chris (Hertel) was great with the blocking and Caleb (Adams) was making sure our kids were doing the right thing service wise. Defensively, I thought our diggers were in the best spots possible. This is a huge win for our program,” said Radford head coach Marci Jenkins
The Highlanders have officially punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, but will have to wait one more week before they find out where they’re headed. The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for Sunday, November 26th at 9 p.m. on ESPNU, following the conclusion of other conference tournaments still to be contested.
The NCAA First and second round matches will be held from Thursday, Nov. 30 to Saturday, Dec. 2 at 16 various campus sites.
–RU Athletics
