ROCK HILL, SC – Three Eagles tallied double-digit kills Saturday afternoon but the Winthrop volleyball team fell in straight sets to the Radford Highlanders at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Emma Weakland led Eagle hitters with 11 kills while Sammie-Jo Ah-Hong and Brianna Gray each finished with 10 kills.  Siani Yamaguchi notched a double-double with 27 assists and 11 digs while Carlie Skelton had a game-high 19 digs.  Kelsey Schroll had another strong outing at the net with five total blocks.

Winthrop jumped out to the early advantage in the opening set, leading 12-9.  Radford battled back on a 5-0 run to go up 14-12.  The Highlanders extended their lead to three at 20-17, forcing Winthrop into a timeout.  Out of the break the Eagles pulled two points back to get within 20-19 but couldn't get any closer, falling 25-21.

Radford grabbed the early lead in the second set and through the first 30 points, never allowed the Eagles to string more than two points together.  The Highlanders led by as much as six at 20-14 before Winthrop went on a 5-0 run to cut the score to 20-19.  Radford was able to stop the Eagle comeback attempt to take the second set 25-21.

Winthrop came out strong in a tight third set, grabbing a 5-2 lead.  Radford slowly chipped away at the Eagle advantage and used a 5-0 run to turn an 8-7 deficit into a 12-8 lead.  After that, the Highlanders squashed any attempted Winthrop rally, going on to take the third set 25-23.

The loss drops Winthrop to 9-16 overall and 0-9 in the conference which matches the program's longest conference losing streak, set in 1993 when the squad finished 0-9 in the Big South.  Radford improved to 9-1 in the Big South and 18-4 overall.

The Eagles will close out their three-match homestand on Tuesday when they welcome Charleston Southern to the Winthrop Coliseum for a 7 p.m. contest.