RedStorm falls to Wittenberg, Golden Eagles

Rio Grande Sports Information
     CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The University of Rio Grande got a busy weekend on the road underway on Thursday, dropping a pair of straight sets decisions to NCAA Division III Wittenberg University and to NCAA Division II power University of Charleston.
     The loss to Wittenberg came by scores of 25-20, 25-21, 25-16, while the RedStorm fell 25-19, 25-17, 25-13 to the host Golden Eagles.
     Rio Grande finished the night at 2-7, with its losing streak growing to five straight outings.
     Wittenberg, which also was swept by UC, finished the night at 8-5.
     Charleston, which sits just outside the NVA/AVCA Top 15 - a combined ranking for NCAA Division I and II schools - improved to 11-0, with all 11 victories coming in straight sets.
     Rio was tied at 10-10 in set one with Wittenberg, but the Tigers reeled off five straight winners to take control and later added a 4-0 spurt to grab a 23-16 lead and the early match advantage.
     The RedStorm sliced a 20-14 deficit in set two down to 20-18, but WU finished off the stanza with five of the final eight points.
     Aside from a 2-2 deadlock in the opening moments of set three, Wittenberg led throughout to finish off the victory.
     Tom Supan had nine kills to lead WU, which tallied 37 kills and just nine errors in 79 swings as a team for a .354 attack percentage.
     Sam Richardson had 23 kills and three service aces for the Tigers, while Dominic Smith had seven digs and Michael Yurk totaled one solo block and two block assists to lead the way defensively.
     Rio Grande managed a .135 attack percentage with 27 kills and 17 errors over the course of 74 swings.
     Junior Caden Donaldson (Jackson, OH) led the RedStorm with 10 kills, while freshman Mitch Bartecki (New Lenox, IL) had 24 assists and sophomore Sam Kaylor (Lewis Center, OH) had two of the team's three service aces.
     Sophomore Bobby Meifert (Bolingbrook, IL) added a team-best nine digs in a losing cause.
     In the nightcap against Charleston, Rio enjoyed only two leads the entire night - 1-0 in set two and 2-1 in set three.
     The Golden Eagles finished with 31 kills and just seven errors - including none in the third set - and tallied a .358 attack percentage.
     Jake Vorburger led UC with nine kills, while Paul Stommel had 21 assists and three service aces.
     Joonatan Salpakari added five digs for the Eagles, while Felipe Mednes also had three aces and Ismael Sneed totaled five block assists.
     Kaylor led Rio Grande with nine kills, while Bartecki tallied 22 assists and six digs. Meifert also had six digs in the loss.
     The RedStorm finished with a .114 attack percentage and had just two aces in comparison to 15 service aces.
     Rio Grande will look to end its losing slide on Friday night with its Mid-South Conference opener at Midway University. First serve is set for 7 p.m.