Rio rallies to bounce Brescia, claim first-ever post-season win

Rio Grande Sports Information
     BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The University of Rio Grande rallied down the stretch, winning each of the final two sets to post a 3-2 triumph over Brescia University (17-25, 26-24, 21-25, 25-17, 15-11) in the quarterfinal round of the Mid-South Conference Men's Volleyball Tournament, Thursday afternoon, at Bowling Green High School's Studle Financial Arena.
     The victory marked the first-ever post-season win for the fourth-seeded RedStorm (13-18), which is in its third year of existence.
     The win gets head coach Nick Rawls' team a second-meeting in four days with top-seeded and No. 7-ranked Georgetown College (22-6) in Friday's semifinal round at 4:30 p.m EDT.
     Brescia, the No. 5 seed in the six-team tourney, closed its season at 6-20 with the loss.
     The Bearcats, who lost two of three regular season meetings against Rio, appeared on their way to evening the score by taking two of the first three stanzas but only managed leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in set four.
     There were a trio of ties - at 4-, 8- and 9-all - and Rio led just 17-15 after a kill by Brescia's Finn Berger, but the RedStorm scored eight of the final 10 winners to force the fifth and deciding period.
     Rio Grande never trailed in set five, scoring four of the first five points and never looking back.
     The Bearcats closed to within 5-4 after a kill by Meric Akovali, but the RedStorm rebounded with the next three winners to prompt a Brescia timeout and the lead never went below three points the rest of the way.
     Senior Caden Donaldson (Jackson, OH) had a match-best 21 kills in the winning effort, while freshman Otavio Tonoli (Campinas, Brazil) and junior Sam Kaylor (Lewis Center, OH) added 18 and 12 kills, respectively.
     Rio finished with a .325 hitting percentage, tallying 64 kills and 23 errors over 126 swings.
     Sophomore Mitch Bartecki (Valparaiso, IN) had 53 assists and 11 digs to lead the RedStorm, while Donaldson also had 10 digs and junior Tyler Miller-Bross (Loveland, OH) finished with nine kills, two solo blocks and four block assists.
     Brescia finished with a .256 attack percentage (51 kills, 20 errors, 121 swings).
     Tuna Konukcu tied Donaldson for game honors with 21 kills in addition to three service aces, while Akovali had 30 assists. Both players had a team-high eight digs.
     Mustafa Yildiz added two solo blocks and three block assists in a losing cause.