RedStorm men take sting from Yellow Jackets

Rio Grande Sports Information
     DEFIANCE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande never trailed in the opening and rallied late in the second and third stanzas to post a 3-0 win over Defiance College, Friday night, in non-conference men's volleyball action at the Karl H. Weaner Center.
     The RedStorm pushed their season mark to 3-2 with the 25-22, 25-22, 25-23 victory.
     The host Yellow Jackets dropped to 1-1 with the loss.
     Rio Grande scored six of the first eight winners in set one and never looked back, although Defiance twice fought back to close the deficit to just two points.
     Sets two and three played out a bit differently.
     The Yellow Jackets enjoyed a 20-19 lead in the second period after a kill by Thaddeus Selta, but Rio scored six of the final eight points in the stanza - capped by a kill from sophomore Daniel Rivas (Valle Del Cauca, Colombia) - to take a commanding match lead.
     Defiance also led 21-18 in the third period after a service ace from Selta and still led 23-22 following a Kaden Burgeson kill, but the RedStorm reeled off the final three winners - including consecutive kills by freshman Samael Beltran (Colombia) - to win the period and wrap things up once and for all.
     Rio Grande had a .299 attack percentage for the match (38 kills, 15 errors, 77 attacks), including a staggering .619 mark (15 kills, two errors, 21 attacks) in the final period.
     Rivas had 13 kills to pace the RedStorm, while sophomore Camilo Murillo (Cali, Colombia) added 31 assists, nine digs and four service aces and Beltran had one solo block and three block assists.
     Philippe Meny had nine kills to lead Defiance, which had 29 kills and 17 errors over 77 swings for a .156 attack mark.
     Adam Sutton recorded 25 assists and five digs in a losing cause, while Matthew Schulte had a solo block and three block assists. Joshua Blair also had a trio of block assists.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Saturday with a triangular match with Virginia University - Lynchburg and Bluefield University at Bluefield.