Rio Grande Sports Information
MISHAWKA, Ind. - The University of Rio Grande men's volleyball team wrapped up a tough weekend on Saturday with losses to both Lawrence Tech (Mich.) University and Judson (Ill.) University on the final day of the Adidas Game-One Pilot Invitational, hosted by Bethel University, at Goodman Gymnasium.
The RedStorm dropped a 28-26, 25-17, 25-21 decision to Lawrence Tech, while falling to Judson by scores of 25-22, 18-25, 25-11, 25-19.
The two losses left Rio at 1-7 for the season and with a six-game losing slide.
Against LTU, Rio enjoyed a commanding 18-11 lead in the opening set following a kill by senior Caden Donaldson (Jackson, OH), but the Blue Devils 17 of the final 25 points in the period to grab an early match lead.
The RedStorm led at only 2-1 and 3-2 in set two and its only lead in the third stanza came at 3-2.
Gustavo Machado had a match-high 16 kills to lead the Blue Devils' winning effort, while Nathaniel Brownlee and Pedro Aguiar were credited with 18 and 11 assists, respectively. Brownlee also had a pair of service aces.
Mario Cid had 11 digs and Akram Askoul had seven block assists in the win for LTU (3-1).
Freshman Otavio Tonoli (Campinas, Brazil) led Rio Grande with nine kills, while sophomore Mitch Bartecki (Valparaiso, IN) had 25 assists, a solo block and a block assists.
Freshman Jakub Tuz (Katowice, Poland) led the RedStorm with four digs and two service aces.
Against Judson, Rio Grande also enjoyed a lead well into the opening set after a kill by junior Sam Kaylor (Lewis Center, OH) had head coach Nick Rawls' club in front, 17-16.
Judson closed on a 9-5 run to win the set and, after Rio rebounded to score eight of the final nine winners to break a 17-all tie and take set two, the Eagles led nearly from start to finish in each of the next two stanzas to earn the match win.
Elijah Gregg and Mason Snodgrass had 16 and 12 kills, respectively, for Judson, while Elijah Wrobel had 38 assists and Jackson Otto tallied 16 digs.
Grant Shipley had four block assists in the winning effort.
Donaldson had nine kills and 10 digs for Rio Grande, which finished with just a .061 attack percentage after a final total of 27 kills and 21 attack errors in 98 swings.
Bartecki had 18 assists and junior Tyler Miller-Bross (Loveland, OH) was credited with a solo block and eight block assists in the loss.
Rio Grande returns to action on Tuesday night at Indiana Tech. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
