Phoenix rises over RedStorm men

Rio Grande Sports Information
     LEBANON, Tenn. - Cumberland University controlled things at the net over each of the final two sets and posted a 3-1 win over the University of Rio Grande, Friday night, in River States Conference men's volleyball play at the Dallas Floyd Arena.
     The Phoenix picked the victory by scores of 25-23, 25-27, 25-20, 25-18 to push its record to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in the RSC.
     Rio Grande slipped to 8-6 overall and 0-3 in league play with the loss.
     The RedStorm evened the match score with a set two triumph, but followed up a .500 swing percentage in set two with just one more kill (20) than attack errors (19) over the final two stanzas.
     Cumberland posted a .269 attack percentage (21 kills, seven errors, 52 attacks) over the same period.
     Rio Grande scored the first two points in set three, but led only once after that at 10-9.
     The Phoenix bolted to a 5-0 lead and never trailed in set four.
     Cumberland finished with a .243 attack percentage in the match (46 kills, 20 errors, 107 swings).
     Jacob Whyte led the winning effort with 15 kills, while Joao Infante had 12 kills and Sam Mannebach tallied 41 assists.
     Alexander Hauer had six digs, while Chance Gallardo had four service aces and Francesco Corradini finished with two solo blocks and eight block assists in the winning effort.
     Senior Daniel Bedoya (Acacias, Colombia) and freshman Daniel Rivas (Valle Del Cauca, Colombia) had 18 and 13 kills, respectively, in the loss for Rio Grande, while junior Mitch Bartecki (Valparaiso, IN) was credited with 38 assists and both of the RedStorm's service aces.
     Freshman Maaz Khan (Peshawar, Pakistan) contributed a match-best 12 digs, while senior Cam Griffith (Columbus, OH) and junior Josef Iten (Sacramento, CA) had five block assists each.
     The RedStorm finished with a .147 attack percentage (47 kills, 31 errors, 109 attacks) for the match.
     Rio Grande wraps up its weekend road swing at Campbellsville University on Saturday afternoon.
     First serve is set for 4 p.m.