Rio roars back, dumps Pomeroys

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Perhaps it was watching the exuberant celebration by the St. Mary-of-the-Woods bench and coaching staff over seemingly every point scored by the Pomeroys.
     Maybe it was a chip on the shoulder produced by two yellow cards assessed to the University of Rio Grande over the course of the opening two sets.
     Regardless the reason, the RedStorm roared to life and rallied for a 24-26, 13-25, 25-18, 25-21, 15-7 win in River States Conference men's volleyball action, Friday night, at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande improved to 11-7 overall and 3-4 in league play with the victory.
     SMWC dropped to 16-6 overall and 1-5 in the RSC with the loss.
     The Pomeroys erased a 19-15 deficit in the opening set for an early match lead and then bolted to an 11-5 advantage on their way to a set two rout.
     Rio Grande started the road back in set three, using a 6-0 run to snap an early 4-4 deadlock and fuel a win which extended the match into a fourth stanza.
     A 7-0 spurt by the RedStorm turned a 6-5 deficit into a six-point lead and, while the guests managed to pull within one point on five occasions, the advantage held up to send the match to a fifth and deciding set.
     The Pomeroys took a 3-2 edge in set five after a kill by Yammiel Martinez, but another Rio run - this one covering eight consecutive winners - put the win on ice.
     The RedStorm, which had two more attack errors (24) than it did kills (22) over the first two sets, fared much better down the stretch - particularly in sets four and five - with 18 kills and seven errors in 52 swings for a .212 attack percentage.
     Rio hit just .074 for the match.
     Senior Daniel Bedoya (Acacias, Colombia) and senior Tyler Miller-Bross (Loveland, OH) had 19 and 11 kills, respectively, to lead the RedStorm, while freshman Camilo Murillo (Cali, Colombia) tallied 42 assists and 10 digs in the winning effort. Bedoya also had six service aces and six block assists, while Miller-Bross added a solo block and eight block assists.
     Freshman Maaz Khan (Peshawar, Pakistan) added 20 digs for the RedStorm.
     The Pomeroys hit just .080 for the match, with 37 kills and 27 errors in 125 swings.
     Martinez led SMWC with 12 kills, while Kristofers Klavins had 34 assists and Tyler Duranceau had three service aces.
     Trevin Matsuba and Jospeh Szadorski had 14 and 11 digs, respectively, in the loss, while Noah Boyett had a solo block and six block assists. Martinez and Szadorksi added one solo block and three block assists each.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Oakland City University in another RSC match. The day begins with a junior varsity match at 1:30 p.m., with the varsity contest slated for 4 p.m.