RedStorm avenge loss, advance to RSC semifinals

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The night certainly didn't start well, but when all was said and done the University of Rio Grande avenged a regular season loss and advanced to the semifinal round of conference tournament play in the process.
     The RedStorm rallied after dropping the opening set and put aside an early deficit in the fifth and deciding stanza for a 22-25, 25-22, 25-19, 17-25, 15-11 win over Indiana University Columbus, Tuesday night, in the quarterfinal round of the River States Conference Women's Volleyball Championship at a raucous Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande, the tourney's No. 3 seed, improved to 25-11 as a result of the victory and advanced to Friday's semifinal round and a meeting with second-seeded St. Mary of-the-Woods, which ousted No. 7 seed Shawnee State University in one of Tuesday's other quarterfinal matchups.
     Sixth-seeded IU Columbus, which had beaten Rio in five sets in their October 3 regular season meeting in the Hoosier State, finished its season at 20-9.
     The Crimson Pride got off to a good start, using a 5-1 run to snap a 7-all deadlock and pull away for the opening set triumph.
     Rio Grande led 6-1 to open the second set, but found itself down 21-18 late in the stanza following the second of consecutive service aces by IUC's Bailey Stevens.
     But after a timeout, head coach Billina Cooper Donaldson's club scored seven of the final eight winners - including four kills by junior Kelli Stewart (Waverly, OH) - to even the match at one set each.
     The RedStorm jumped to a 9-3 lead to begin the third period, but watched the Crimson Pride respond with a 6-1 run - capped by a Ruthie Bingham kill - to close the gap to 10-9.
     The RedStorm maintained the lead, though, thanks to 7-2 run and went on to take the set.
     Set four was tied at 7-7 following a kill by Rio redshirt freshman Taylor Bartrum (Catlettsburg, KY), but IUC scored the next winners to take the lead for good.
     The Crimson Pride scored the final five points of the set to even the match score and force a deciding period.
     Set five was knotted at 6-6 after a kill by IUC's Cora Baker, but Rio recorded the next three winners thanks to kills by Stewart and junior Nigella Reck (Covington, OH) and an attack error by Baker and never trailed again.
     Rio finished with three of the final four points, with a kill by Bartrum finishing things off and closing out the match.
     The RedStorm finished with a .151 attack percentage (57 kills, 29 errors, 186 swings).
     Stewart finished with a season-high tying 20 kills and 17 digs to lead the winning effort, while junior Averie Bruce (Baltimore, OH) had 12 kills, two solo blocks and eight block assists.
     Senior Elle McLoughlin (Zanesville, OH) had 44 assists and eight block assists, while Bartrum had 16 digs, junior Jenna Harrison (Gallipolis, OH) had 15 digs and Reck narrowly missed a double-double with nine kills and 10 digs.
     IU Columbus finished with 59 kills and 34 errors over 175 swings for a .143 attack percentage.
     Baker had 13 kills and 20 digs to pace the Crimson Pride, with Bingham and Sadie Egan adding 12 kills each and Journee Brown finishing with 10 kills.
     Stevens tallied 29 assists, 11 digs and four service aces in a losing cause, while Egan had 23 assists and 10 digs.
     Alyvia Luce had a match-best 27 digs for IUC, while Brown also had a solo block and three block assists.
     Rio's semifinal matchup with St. Mary-of-the-Woods is scheduled for a 4 p.m. first serve at Indiana University Kokomo.
     Top-seeded IUK will face No. 4 seed Indiana University Southeast in the other semifinal match.
     Kokomo eliminated eighth-seeded WVU-Tech and IU Southeast outlasted No. 5 seed Indiana University East on Tuesday night.
     The semifinal winners will play for the tournament title on Saturday.