Rio Grande Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande women's volleyball team captured the championship of the 6th Annual Emileigh Jo Cooper Memorial Classic, posting wins over Milligan (Tenn.) University and Bluefield (Va.) University on Saturday at the Newt Oliver Arena.
The RedStorm avenged a straight sets loss to Milligan in its Mountain Madness Tournament last weekend with a 3-2 triumph (25-23, 18-25, 29-27, 20-25, 15-11) in Saturday's opener, while completing a perfect weekend with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-21 rout of Bluefield in a matchup of the two-day event's remaining unbeaten teams.
The win over Milligan came despite Rio being its own worst enemy. The RedStorm were responsible for a whopping 58 points scored by the Buffaloes with 48 attack errors, nine service errors and one ball-handling error.
However, Rio enjoyed its best hitting set of the match in the deciding fifth stanza with eight kills and four errors in 22 swings for a .182 attack percentage.
The RedStorm trailed 6-2 in set five before rallying to grab a 10-9 advantage. After MU knotted the score at 10-all on a kill by Shelby Miller, Rio scored five of the final six winners - capped by a kill from senior Amanda Rarick (Canal Winchester, OH) - to seal the win.
Rarick finished with a match-best 22 kills, while freshman Kelli Stewart (Waverly, OH) added 11 of her own.
Junior Avery Huntzinger (Canal Winchester, OH) had 32 assists in the winning effort, while junior Sofia Otero Marrero (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) had 25 assists and three services aces. Sophomore Kayla Sedgwick (Richwood, OH) also tallied a trio of aces.
Junior Ashton Webb (Gallipolis, OH) and freshman Jenna Harrison (Gallipolis, OH) had 27 and 17 digs, respectively, in the victory, while senior Shalea Byrd (Canal Winchester, OH) had two solo blocks and six block assists.
Junior Jordan Brooks (Reynoldsburg, OH) also contributed nine kills, a solo block and four block assists for Rio.
Miller had 15 kills and four block assists for Milligan, while Ella Maiden had 11 kills, two solo blocks and three block assists.
Kolbie Greene had 40 assists and 13 digs in the loss for the Buffaloes, while Zoie Larkins had 19 digs and the duo of Rachel Falin and Riley Brinn had 12 digs each.
Avery Maiden had two solo blocks and two block assists in a losing cause and Greyson Stevens had five block assists.
In the match against Bluefield, Rio rebounded to finish with .304 attack percentage with just 14 errors in 112 swings.
The RedStorm scored four of the final five winners to take set one, reeled off nine straight points to erase an 8-7 deficit and take control of set two and trailed only once - at 2-1 - in the final stanza.
Rarick had 16 kills to fuel the home team along the net, while Huntzinger and Otero Marrero tallied 24 and 15 assists, respectively.
Webb finished with 17 digs and Byrd was credited with one solo block and six block assists to lead Rio's defensive effort.
Liangelys Santana had 13 kills to lead the Rams, while Nayerly Jimenez had 25 assists and 10 digs. Georgia Lewis also had 10 digs in a losing cause.
Rio Grande will return to action next Saturday at Georgetown (Ky.) College. First serve is slated for 1 p.m.
