Tigers rally to upend RedStorm in five sets

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Friday night brought the University of Rio Grande's men's volleyball team its first-ever home victory.
     However, Saturday night failed to deliver the RedStorm's first-ever winning streak.
     Campbellsville University scored six of the final eight winners in the fifth and deciding set to post a 3-2 (24-26, 25-15, 16-25, 25-20, 15-10) come-from-behind victory in Mid-South Conference play at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     The Tigers improved to 4-10 overall and 1-3 in conference play with the win.
     Rio Grande slipped to 4-11 overall and 1-4 in the MSC as a result of the loss.
     The RedStorm, who posted the first home victory in program history against Carolina University on Friday night, appeared as if consecutive wins for the first time in program history might be in the offing after winning two of the first three sets and taking a 17-16 lead in set four after a kill by junior Caden Donaldson (Jackson, OH).
     But Campbellsville responded by scoring nine of the final 12 points in the set, including each of the final four points, to force the final deciding stanza.
     The Tigers jumped to a quick 4-1 lead in set five, but Rio rebounded with a 5-1 spurt of its own - capped by another Donaldson kill - to grab a 6-5 advantage,
     The RedStorm lost their new-found momentum, though, when freshman setter Mitch Bartecki (New Lenox, IL) went down with an apparent leg injury on the Tigers' subsequent set-tying point.
     Rio Grande re-tied things at 7-7 moments later, but never led again as Campbellsville scored five of the next six points to take control and eventually close out the match.
     The Tigers finished with 61 kills and 18 errors in 132 attacks for a .326 swing percentage.
     Jakob Zum Kolk led a trio whom recorded double-digit kill totals for the guests with 15, while Jariel Diaz and Leonel Fernandez tallied 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
     Diego Betancourt had 53 assists for Campbellsville, while Fernand Morales added 22 digs and three service aces to the winning effort.
     The Tigers also amassed two solo blocks and 29 block assists as team, with JoVeaun Banks' eight assists leading the way.
     Donaldson set a new single-match record for Rio Grande with 27 kills. He finished with just six errors in 49 swings for a .429 attack percentage.
     Sophomore Sam Kaylor (Lewis Center, OH) added 18 kills of his own for the RedStorm, while Bartecki tallied a program-record 53 assists before being forced to leave the lineup.
     Sophomore Seth Mohr (Canton, OH) totaled 11 digs, while sophomore Sam Winhoven (Pickerington, OH) had a solo block and four block assists for Rio, which finished with a .275 attack percentage (63 kills, 25 errors, 138 swings).
     The RedStorm are scheduled to return to action on Thursday when they host Midway University in another MSC matchup.
     First serve is set for 7:05 p.m.