RedStorm clips Eagles' wings, post straight sets win

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Alice Lloyd College scored six of the first nine points in the opening set of last night's meeting with the University of Rio Grande at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     But from that point on, the Eagles struggled to get off the ground.
     The RedStorm roared back from the early deficit and then steamrolled their guests over the final two stanzas for a 25-13, 25-15, 25-14 Senior Night triumph in River States Conference women's volleyball action.
     Rio Grande improved to 18-10 overall and 11-7 in the RSC, while also moving past West Virginia University Tech for fifth place in the conference standings.
     The top eight teams based on the league's point system will advance to the RSC Tournament, which begins next Tuesday at campus sites.
     The RedStorm hosts WVU-Tech in their regular season finale on Saturday at noon and can officially nail down the No. 5 seed with a victory.
     A win over the Golden Bears and the right combination of factors could produce a No. 4 seed and a home game in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.
     Rio Grande followed up Friday night's early 6-3 deficit with six consecutive winners and never trailed again.
     Alice Lloyd was still within 14-10 after a Rio service error, but the RedStorm closed the set on an 11-2 run to grab the early match lead.
     Rio never trailed in set two, bolting to a 9-2 lead out of the gate and leading by no less than five points at any stage of the period.
     Outside of an early 1-1 tie, Rio Grande also led throughout set three. The RedStorm jumped to a 10-4 cushion and maintained an advantage of no less than four points for the remainder of the contest.
     Rio finished with 55 kills and 17 errors over 109 attacks for a swing percentage of .349.
     Alice Lloyd, which had more errors than it did kills through the first two sets, finished with 17 kills and 15 errors in 93 swings for a .022 attack percentage.
     Senior Amanda Rarick (Canal Winchester, OH) led the RedStorm with 14 kills, while junior Jordan Brooks (Reynoldsburg, OH) and freshman Kelli Stewart (Waverly, OH) tallied 11 kills each.
     Juniors Avery Huntzinger (Canal Winchester, OH) and Sofia Otero Marrero (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) had 25 and 15 assists, respectively, while junior Ashton Webb (Gallipolis, OH) finished with 14 digs.
     Otero Marrero also had a trio of service aces in the victory.
     Brooklyn Cheek led Alice Lloyd with five kills, while Kristen Isaac had nine assists and Taylor Hamilton finished with nine digs.
     Natalie Waddell and Lakyn Porter had two block assists each for the Eagles.