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ELON, N.C. – The Elon University volleyball team built an early lead in the first set and never trailed in its home opener on Tuesday night, August 30, as the Phoenix swept the visiting Radford Highlanders, 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-21), inside Alumni Gym. Elon remains unbeaten at 5-0 this season, while Radford drops to 0-3 on the year.

“The story of tonight’s match was the crowd,” said Elon head coach Mary Tendler. “It was great to see so many students out cheering for us and help us secure the victory. It was nice to get a win in our first home match, but we definitely still have a lot of things we need to work on as we look ahead to the South Carolina tournament." 

Senior Caroline Lemke paced the Phoenix attack with 12 kills and three blocks, while senior Traci Stewart registered nine kills and three blocks in the win. Senior Megan McMahon tallied a match-best 33 assists in the victory, while junior Ali Deatsch finished with 20 digs.

The Phoenix managed to reach 10 first in the match’s opening set after junior Celia Rose Eddy smashed down a point in front of Radford’s Christine Beckham to give Elon a 10-6 advantage. Lemke gave the Phoenix a six-point edge, 15-9, later in the set to force Radford head coach Marcie Jenkins to call a timeout. Elon went on to win the first set, 25-18, and take a 1-0 match lead after outscoring the Highlanders, 10-9, over the remainder of the set. 

Elon jumped out to an early lead in the second set after reeling off eight consecutive points off the serve of senior Nickie Halbert to make it an 8-0 game. The Highlanders climbed back into the match later in the set after an Elon miscue made it a five-point game, 13-8. Rookie Chanelle Smith helped the Phoenix take an 18-10 lead late in the set after a kill in front of the net on the right side proved to be too much for Radford’s Rachel Fertitta to handle. Radford battled back to make it a four-point game, 20-16, later in the set and force an Elon timeout. The Highlanders managed to make it a one-point game late, but a kill by Lemke was too much the Highlanders, giving Elon the 25-23 victory.

The Phoenix put the Highlanders in a hole early in the third set, going on a 7-0 run to start the game, capped off by back-to-back errors from Radford. But the Highlanders managed to claw back in the game and pull within two points after an Elon attack error made it a 10-8 game. The Highlanders made it a one-point game, 20-19, late and forced an Elon timeout after a Rachel Wiechecki ace just tipped off the fingers of Smith near the back line. But that was as close as the Highlanders would come, as a blocking error by Radford gave the Phoenix a 25-21 set win and a 3-0 sweep.

Elon returns to action this weekend in the Gamecock Invitational on the campus of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., Sept. 2-3. The Phoenix opens the tournament on Friday morning with a match against UNC Asheville at 9:30 a.m. before an evening matchup versus Gardner-Webb at 5 p.m.

-- ELON --