Rio rally falls short at Mount Vernon

Rio Grande Sports Information
     MOUNT VERNON, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande women's volleyball team showed plenty of fight on Wednesday night but, in the end, a big early deficit proved too much to overcome.
     The RedStorm rebounded from an early 2-0 match deficit to nearly force a fifth and deciding stanza, but ultimately dropped a 25-10, 25-17, 24-26, 27-25 decision to Mount Vernon Nazarene University in non-conference play at Ariel Arena.
     Rio Grande dropped to 4-5 with a fourth consecutive loss.
     The host Cougars, who were ranked 15th in the NAIA preseason coaches' Top 25 poll, evened their record at 3-3 with the win.
     MVNU bolted to a 10-2 lead in the first set and was never threatened, while a 7-0 run to close out set two gave the home team a commanding match advantage.
     Rio Grande roared to life in set three and never trailed, although it did take consecutive kills by junior Kelli Stewart (Waverly, OH) and junior Nigella Reck (Covington, OH) to fend off the Cougars, who rallied from a 12-4 deficit to knot the score at 24-all late.
     Rio led by as many as seven points in set four and still held an 18-13 cushion following an MVNU attack error, but the Cougars reeled off eight of the next 11 winners to tie the set at 21-21 following an attack error by Stewart.
     A see-saw finish ensued with four ties over the final 10 points.
     The RedStorm survived one match point in the waning moments and forced one of their own when a kill by Reck made it 25-24, but MVNU closed things out once and for all with three straight winners - all on kills by Libby Evanshire.
     Lilla Nicholas had 15 kills, while Evanshire and Faith Maloney had 12 apiece and Evelyn Brown tallied 11 for the Cougars, who finished with a .264 attack percentage (52 kills, 19 errors, 125 swings).
     Reagan Nuss added 36 assists and 17 digs for MVNU, while Jaelyn Tang had 18 digs of her own.
     Nicholas also had three service aces, while Brown had a solo block and four block assists in the winning effort.
     Rio Grande, which had only one more kill than it did attack errors through the first two stanzas, finished with 43 kills and 22 errors in 129 swings for a .163 attack percentage.
     Stewart and junior Averie Bruce (Baltimore, OH) led the RedStorm with eight kills each, while freshman Mary Osten (Portage, IN) had 12 digs and senior Elle McLoughlin (Zanesville, OH) had 33 assists.
     Bruce also had five block assists and senior Olivia Smith (Bainbridge, OH) had a trio of service aces in a losing cause.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Friday in the opening round of the Emileigh Jo Cooper Memorial Classic at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     The RedStorm will face Kentucky Christian University at 2:30 p.m. and Shawnee State University at 7:30 p.m.