Knights cruise past RedStorm men

Rio Grande Sports Information
     LAURINBURG, N.C. - The University of Rio Grande led very early in all three sets but couldn't maintain its advantage, falling in straight sets to St. Andrews University, Wednesday night, in non-conference men's volleyball action at Harris Court.
     The RedStorm, who are coached by former SAU head coach Nick Rawls, dropped to 6-15 with the loss.
     The Knights pushed their record to 15-7 as a result of the victory.
     Rio Grande led 1-0 in the opening set, 2-0 in set two and 4-1 in the third stanza, but the hosts rallied on each occasion and grabbed a lead they would never relinquish.
     St. Andrews hit a sizzling .579 in the opening set (12 kills, 1 error, 19 swings) and finished the match with a .338 attack percentage (35 kills, 11 errors, 71 attacks).
     Rio Grande, on the other hand, hit just .046 with 27 kills and 23 errors in 87 swings.
     Junior Sam Kaylor (Lewis Center, OH) led the RedStorm at the net with eight kills and a pair of block assists, while sophomore Mitch Bartecki (Valparaiso, IN) had 21 assists and six digs.
     Juniors Cam Griffith (Columbus, OH) and Tyler Miller-Bross (Loveland, OH) also had two block assists.
     Hazem Abdelghafar had 10 kills to pace the Knights, while Dakota Hotaling had 28 assists, one solo block and four block assists.
     Alex Vazquez-Sanchez was credited with 10 digs in the winning effort, while Hugo Gonzalez had two solo blocks and two block assists and Kenton Bedford had five block assists.
     Rio Grande returns to action next Tuesday when it hosts Bluefield (Va.) University for a 7 p.m. first serve at the Newt Oliver Arena.