RedStorm tops Pomeroys, clinches post-season berth

Rio Grande Sports Information
     ST. MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. - The University of Rio Grande spotted host St. Mary-of-the-Woods College an early lead before roaring back to post a 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-22) victory over the Pomeroys, Friday night, in River States Conference men's volleyball action at the Jeanne Knoerle Sports and Recreation Center.
     The RedStorm improved to 15-11 overall and 7-8 in league play with the win, completing a season sweep of their host in the process.
     The victory also punched Rio Grande's ticket to next Tuesday's quarterfinal round of the RSC Championship.
     Head coach Nick Rawls' squad can earn a home game as the No. 4 seed in the six-team tournament - against St. Mary-of-the-Woods - with a win in Saturday's final regular season conference matchup at Oakland City University.
     A loss at OCU on Saturday would make Rio the No. 6 seed, with a trip to third-seeded Cumberland (Tenn.) awaiting next week.
     SMWC (24-9, 7-8 RSC) trailed throughout the early portion of the opening set before kills by Tyler Duranceau and Yammiel Martinez - sandwiched around a Rio Grande attack error - broke a 12-all deadlock and gave the Pomeroys a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
     The RedStorm did forge an 18-18 tie after an attack error by the home team, but seven of the final 10 winners went to SMWC for the early match lead.
     Rio Grande never trailed in set two, using a 6-0 scoring spurt midway through the period to take control for good, and found itself down only once in the third stanza - at 1-0 - en route to grabbing the match lead.
     The RedStorm never trailed in set four either, using a 6-1 run to open up a 20-14 advantage.
     The Pomeroys did pull as close as 20-18 after a kill by Joseph Szadorski, but Rio Grande scored five of the final nine winners - capped by a kill from senior Daniel Bedoya (Acacias, Colombia) - to close out the match.
     Rio finished with a .193 attack percentage, tallying 47 kills and 24 errors in 119 total swings.
     Freshman Daniel Rivas (Valle Del Cauca, Colombia) led the RedStorm with 15 kills, while Bedoya added 14 of his own to go along with five service aces, 10 digs and two solo blocks.
     Junior Mitch Bartecki (Valparaiso, IN) had 39 assists in the winning effort, while freshman Maaz Khan (Peshawar, Pakistan) had 16 digs and senior Tyler Miller-Bross (Loveland, OH) finished with nine kills and two solo blocks of his own.
     St. Mary-of-the-Woods finished with 49 kills and 26 errors in 125 attacks for a .184 swing percentage.
     Martinez led the Pomeroys with 10 kills to go along with a solo block and three block assists, while Kristofers Klavins had 40 assists and Szadorski tallied 12 digs.
     Noah Boyett also had to solo blocks and a block assist in a losing cause.
     Rio's match with Oakland City University on Saturday is scheduled for a 3 p.m. EDT first serve.
     The RedStorm will also face Jamestown (N.D.) in a non-conference match at 8 p.m. EDT.