RedStorm survives roller-coaster ride, nips Midway

Rio Grande Sports Information
     MIDWAY, Ky. - Just hours after a gut-wrenching finish in a five-set loss at Indiana University Southeast, the University of Rio Grande found itself riding a roller-coaster again in its match with Midway University.
     This time, though, the end result proved to be much more tolerable.
     The RedStorm survived a match full of scoring runs and posted a 3-1 (25-23, 26-24, 20-25, 28-26) victory over the Eagles in River States Conference women's volleyball action, Saturday afternoon, at Marshall Gymnasium.
     Rio Grande improved its record to 13-8 overall and 7-5 in league play with the win.
     Midway fell to 8-10 overall and 2-8 in the RSC as a result of the loss.
     The Eagles found themselves in a 12-12 tie in the opening set until Rio Grande reeled off six consecutive winners - four on Midway errors - to take control.
     Midway did manage to slice the deficit to one on two occasions late, but Rio got kills by freshman Anne Murphy (Fayetteville, OH) each time to first, hang on to the lead and secondly, close out the set.
     Set two saw the host Eagles enjoy a 16-13 lead before the RedStorm rallied to knot the score at 16-all.
     Midway pulled away again to take a 20-17 advantage, but Rio rebounded to mount a 20-20 deadlock after a kill by junior Jordan Brooks (Reynoldsburg, OH).
     The Eagles went back in front and, moments later, found themselves with a 24-23 lead and a set point scenario following a kill by Aubry Koester, but the RedStorm scored each of the final three winners - including two on kills by senior Amanda Rarick (Canal Winchester, OH) - to grab a commanding match lead.
     Rio Grande bolted to a 6-0 lead to begin set three and led 18-13 following a kill by freshman Averie Bruce (Baltimore, OH), but Midway roared to life with a 9-0 run of its own to take control late and force a fourth stanza.
     The Eagles kept their momentum by scoring the first four points of set four and enjoyed a commanding 24-19 cushion after a service ace by Valerie Ramos, but Rio Grande reeled off five straight winners - including two more kills by Rarick - to earn a match point opportunity of its own.
     The Eagles survived a pair of match point chances for the RedStorm, before consecutive kills by Rarick and freshman McKenna Diedrich (Pickerington, OH) snapped a 26-all deadlock and sealed the Rio victory.
     Freshman Kelli Stewart (Waverly, OH) had 15 kills to pace the RedStorm in the win, while Rarick and Bruce finished with 13 and 11 kills, respectively.
     Freshman Regan Wilcoxon (Gallipolis, OH) and junior Sofia Otero Marrero (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) had 17 and 15 assists, respectively, in the winning effort, while junior Ashton Webb (Gallipolis, OH) was credited with 21 digs. Otero Marrero also had 12 digs, while sophomore Kayla Sedgwick (Richwood, OH) had 10 digs of her own.
     Rarick, Brooks and Diedrich had three block assists each for Rio Grande, which tallied a .178 attack percentage (55 kills, 27 assists, 157 swings) in the win.
     Koester had a match-best 23 kills and Emily Slaughter had 16 of her own for Midway, which finished with 52 kills and 23 errors in 137 attacks for a .212 swing percentage.
     Marianna Liedle had 20 assists to lead the Eagles, while Ramos had 12 assists and a trio of aces and Kylie Kohrs had a match-high 21 digs.
     Koester also had 10 digs, while Tori Richman had five block assists in a losing cause.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Tuesday night when it hosts Asbury University in non-conference play at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     First serve is set for 6 p.m.