Quick start propels Rio past Bearcats

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande started fast and didn't let up, cruising to a 25-12, 25-18, 25-21 win over Brescia University in River States Conference women's volleyball action, Friday night, at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     The RedStorm snapped a brief two-game losing slide with the victory, improving to 11-5 overall and 5-2 against conference foes.
     Brescia dropped to 1-14 overall and 0-7 in league play with the loss.
     Rio Grande never trailed in the opening set, jumping to a 17-6 lead and rolling to an early match lead.
     Rio head coach Billina Donaldson substituted liberally over the course of the final two stanzas, allowing things to be a bit more competitive down the stretch.
     The Bearcats trailed 6-1 to begin set two, but rallied to take their first lead of the night, 16-15, after a kill by Cetera Warren.
     The RedStorm responded, though, by scoring 10 of the final 12 winners to win the set.
     Brescia also took a 2-1 lead at the start of the third period before Rio reeled off seven consecutive points, but the Bearcats rallied again to take a 13-12 advantage after a kill by Cheaney Archer.
     The RedStorm scored each of the next two points to regain the lead and, while Brescia managed to knot the score at 14, 16 and 18, the Bearcats never led again.
     Rio Grande finished things off by tallying five of the final seven winners, including a kill by Olivia Smith to cap the night.
     The RedStorm finished with a .273 attack percentage for the match (39 kills, 15 errors, 88 swings) - a figure that was tempered significantly after a .182 percentage in the final set.
     Brescia finished with as many errors (22) as it had kills (22) and finished with a .000 attack percentage in 92 total swings.
     Freshman Kelli Stewart (Waverly, OH) had a match-best 13 kills to lead Rio Grande, while junior Avery Huntzinger (Canal Winchester, OH) had 23 assists and junior Ashton Webb (Gallipolis, OH) had 12 digs. Webb - and freshman Alexia Luengo Henriques (Alicante, Spain) - also had two service aces each.
     Smith, junior Jordan Brooks (Reynoldsburg, OH) and sophomore Jillian Gardner (Marysville, OH) all had three block assists in the winning effort.
     Warren had 10 kills and Archer had 14 assists in a losing cause for the Bearcats. Olivia Shaver finished with a team-high eight digs.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Oakland City University for another River States Conference contest.
     First serve is slated for 1 p.m.