No. 14 Cougars sweep RedStorm in RSC title game

Rio Grande Sports Information
     KOKOMO, Ind. - Given the results of Friday's semifinal round action in the River States Conference Women's Volleyball Championship, the University of Rio Grande found itself taking to the court, essentially, with a handful of house money.
     Unfortunately, the house took its money back.
     Fourteenth-ranked and top-seeded Indiana University Kokomo started fast and never let up, cruising to a 25-14, 25-14, 25-17 victory over the No. 3 seed RedStorm in the RSC Championship final, Saturday morning, at the Student Activities and Events Center.
     IUK won for a 25th consecutive time this season and a 14th straight time in its all-time series against Rio Grande, pushing its season record to 30-5 in the process.
     The RedStorm, who are now 1-15 all-time versus the Cougars, dropped to 26-12 with the loss.
     Both teams will advance to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round, which begins on Saturday, Nov. 22, at campus sites across the country.
     Per conference bylaws, Rio Grande advanced - for the first time in school history - as the tournament runner-up since IUK won both the conference regular season and tourney crowns.
     Opening round sites and matchups will be announced via the NAIA's You Tube page on Monday, at 5 p.m. EDT.
     IU Kokomo had just eight errors to go along with 35 kills over 79 swings for a sizzling .342 attack percentage.
     The Cougars nearly led from start to finish, trailing just once - at 1-0 in set three.
     Rio Grande hit just .106 for the match with 32 kills and 21 errors in 104 attacks.
     Junior Kelli Stewart (Waverly, OH) led the RedStorm with 14 kills, while senior Elle McLoughlin (Zanesville, OH) had 18 assists and junior Jenna Harrison (Gallipolis, OH) had 10 digs.
     Stewart and senior Olivia Smith (Bainbridge, OH) had one block assist each in the loss.
     Mia Niekamp had 13 kills to lead the Cougars, while Allison Richman tallied 18 assists and Mia Grigsby finished with 13 digs and four service aces.
     Richman also had a solo block and five block assists in the win, while Ryleigh Hamilton had a solo block and four block assists.