Cougars drop RedStorm in straight sets

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Indiana University Kokomo has long been the class of the River States Conference in regard to women's volleyball.
     On Saturday afternoon, the visiting Cougars stymied the University of Rio Grande at the net and rolled to a 25-20, 25-16, 25-18 victory over the RedStorm at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     IUK, which entered play as the top team in the RSC's West Division and the 15th-ranked team in the latest NAIA coaches' Top 25 poll, ran its record to 24-3 overall and 14-0 in conference play.
     The Cougars also defeated the RedStorm for a 10th straight time and improved to 12-2 in the all-time series between the two schools.
     Rio Grande slipped to 14-10 overall and 7-7 against league foes with the loss.
     Just hours after being held to a season-low .023 attack percentage in a five-set loss to St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, the RedStorm fared even worse against the Cougars by finishing with just 19 kills against 27 errors in 99 attacks for a -.081 swing percentage.
     IUK tallied just a .180 attack percentage of its own (38 kills, 20 errors, 100 swings), but rarely trailed during the course of the match.
     The Cougars never trailed in the opening stanza and found themselves down only once in set two at 13-12. The deficit was quickly followed by five straight winners to take control of the period and grab a commanding match lead.
     Rio Grande's only leads in set three came at 1-0 and 11-10, but the RedStorm still found themselves within striking distance by trailing just 16-15 after an attack error by IUK's Cali Cummings.
     However, the Cougars scored each of the next three winners to grab a four-point cushion and led by no less than three points the rest of the way en route to closing out the match.
     Mia Niekamp led the visitors with a match-high 10 kills, while Kaley Lyons and Allison Richman finished with 19 and 14 assists, respectively.
     Alyvia Smith added 16 digs in IUK's balanced attack, while Cummings had a trio of block assists.
     Junior Jordan Brooks (Reynoldsburg, OH) led Rio with five kills, one solo block and a pair of block assists, while junior Sofia Otero Marrero (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) had nine assists and junior Ashton Webb (Gallipolis, OH) tallied 10 digs.
     Junior Avery Huntzinger (Canal Winchester, OH) added three service aces in a losing cause.
     The RedStorm are slated to return to action on Tuesday night at Point Park University.
     First serve is set for 7 p.m. in Pittsburgh, Pa.