Rio Grande Sports Information
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The University of Rio Grande women's volleyball team closed out play in the OnSet Invitational by dropping a pair of matches to Michigan-based schools, Saturday afternoon, at the War Memorial Coliseum.
The RedStorm, who were among the teams receiving votes in the NAIA preseason Top 25, saw their season mark even at 4-4 after falling to both Spring Arbor University (25-13, 23-25, 25-19, 26-24) and 15th-ranked Aquinas College (25-22, 25-17, 25-12).
In the opener against Spring Arbor, which remained unbeaten in seven outings, Rio Grande struggled to muster a .094 attack percentage with 42 kills and 30 errors in 128 total swings.
Redshirt freshman Taylor Bartrum (Cherry Hill, KY) and junior Kelli Stewart (Waverly, OH) had 11 and 10 kills, respectively, to lead the RedStorm in the loss.
Senior Elle McLoughlin (Zanesville, OH) and freshman Jozy Lougheed (Londonderry, OH) had 20 and 10 assists, respectively, while junior Jenna Harrison (Gallipolis, OH) had 21 digs and freshman Gracie Perkins (Wheelersburg, OH) finished with a solo block and four block assists.
Spring Arbor, which finished with a .254 swing percentage (47 kills, 17 errors, 118 attacks), was led at the net by Kendall Bollenbacher and Isabelle Kirkendall, who totaled 16 and 10 kills, respectively. Bollenbacher also had 10 digs.
Camy Wedge had 20 assists for SAU, while Gabby Bryja tallied 19 of her own and Palmer Fortress also had 10 digs.
Julia Mitchell had eight of the winners' 28 block assists.
Rio Grande hit the ball significantly better in its match with Aquinas - 26 kills, 13 assists, 83 swings (.157) - but the Saints were even better, finishing at a sizzling .343 mark after recording 52 kills and 18 errors in 99 attacks.
Cece Pelak and Lauren Chioini had 13 kills each in the winning effort and Neveah Baker had 10 of her own.
Taylor Reha had 43 assists for Aquinas, while Bella Hommes had 13 digs and three service aces and Kate Schneider totaled six block assists.
Perkins led Rio's effort at the nets with seven kills, while McLoughlin had 21 assists and Harrison was credited with eight digs.
Perkins also had five block assists defensively.
The RedStorm will attempt to snap their three-game losing slide on Wednesday night when they travel to No. 14-ranked Mount Vernon Nazarene.
First serve is set for 7 p.m. EDT.
