Rio Grande Sports Information
MILLIGAN, Tenn. - The University of Rio Grande's 2023 women's volleyball season got off to a tough start on Friday after the RedStorm dropped a pair of matches in the Milligan Mountain Madness Tournament at Steve Lacey Fieldhouse.
Head coach Billina Donaldson's club dropped a 3-0 decision (25-22, 25-20, 29-27) to Southeastern (Fla.) University in the opener, while falling to Blue Mountain Christian (Miss.) 25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 25-19 in their follow-up affair.
In the opener against Southeastern, Rio enjoyed a lead late in each set, but failed to hang on in any of the three periods.
The RedStorm led 16-15 in the opening set before the Fire reeled off seven straight winners to fuel an early lead in the match.
Rio also enjoyed a 15-14 advantage in set two before Southeastern closed the period with 11 of the final 16 points, while the RedStorm failed to cash in on three set point chances in set three as the Fire finished on a 7-3 spurt.
Junior Jordan Brooks (Reynoldsburg, OH) led Rio along the net with 10 kills, while senior Shalea Byrd (Canal Winchester, OH) had a solo block and two block assists.
Junior Avery Huntzinger (Canal Winchester, OH) and junior Sofia Otero Marrero (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) had 21 and 13 assists, respectively, in the loss, while freshman Jenna Harrison (Gallipolis, OH) had a team-high 13 digs. Otero Marrero also had 10 digs of her own
Cambry Pope and Emma Harding led Southeastern with 12 and 10 kills, respectively, while Ava Connors and Alexandra Postlethwaite had 17 and 14 assists, respectively.
Olivia Williams topped the Fire (1-0) with 11 digs, while Pope and Tatyana Lyons both finished with one solo block and three block assists.
In the finale of the day against Blue Mountain, closing out a late lead - at least in the opening stanza - again proved to be tough for the RedStorm.
Rio led 19-15 in set one, only to be outscored 10-1 down the stretch. Set two saw the RedStorm lead 11-9 before a 4-0 run put the Toppers in front to stay.
Rio rallied from an early 5-0 deficit and a late 19-15 shortfall in set three by firing off nine consecutive winners to take the period and extend the match, but Blue Mountain snapped a 10-10 tie in the fourth set with a 6-0 run and went on to close out the match.
Senior Amanda Rarick (Canal Winchester, OH) and sophomore Olivia Smith (Bainbridge, OH) had 11 kills each for the RedStorm, while freshman Kelli Stewart (Waverly, OH) added 10 kills of her own in a losing cause.
Otero Marrero had 17 assists and 14 digs for Rio, while and Huntzinger finished with 12 assists and two service aces. Junior Ashton Webb (Gallipolis, OH) also had 14 digs and Byrd tallied two solo blocks and four block assists.
Blue Mountain (2-0) got 13 kills and 15 digs from Gigi Sasso, while Kaytie Rutland and Rae Ann Hall had 10 kills each. Rutland also had four block assists.
Reanna Brown and Michaela Frederick had 23 and 18 assists, respectively, for the Toppers, while Jaiyah Jackson also had 15 digs and Kora Wilson finished with 10 digs of her own.
A'Dasia Porter also had four block assists for Blue Mountain.
Rio Grande wraps up play in the two-day event on Saturday when it faces Georgetown (Ky.) College at 10 a.m. and the host Buffaloes at noon.
