Rio sweeps Bearcats in straight sets

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande recorded its highest hitting percentage of the season and rolled to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-17) win over Brescia University, Saturday afternoon, in River States Conference men's volleyball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     The RedStorm snapped a two-game losing slide and pushed their record to 12-9 overall and 4-6 in league play with the victory.
     Brescia, which had defeated Rio Grande at home earlier in the season, dropped to 8-7 overall and 5-4 in the RSC.
     Rio Grande finished with a .349 attack percentage after totaling 43 kills and 13 errors in 86 total swings. The mark surpassed the previous team-high of .321, which was set in a straight sets win over Midway on March 8.
     The RedStorm used extended scoring spurts in all three sets to fuel the win.
     Brescia led 12-11 in set one after a kill by Can Acis, but Rio followed with seven straight winners - four on service aces by senior Daniel Bedoya (Acacias, Colombia) - to take control of the opening stanza.
     In set two, a Rio attack error left the RedStorm leading just 12-11, but head coach Nick Rawls' squad responded by scoring nine of the next 12 winners to take control of the set and the match.
     The Bearcats jumped to a 5-2 advantage in set three, but Rio countered with a 13-3 run and never looked back en route to closing out the match.
     Bedoya and freshman Daniel Rivas (Valle Del Cauca, Colombia) had 11 kills each to pace Rio Grande. Bedoya also had a team-best five aces.
     Freshman Camilo Murillo (Cali, Colombia) had 38 assists and freshman Maaz Khan (Peshawar, Pakistan) tallied 15 digs in the winning effort, while senior Tyler Miller-Bross (Loveland, OH) recorded five block assists.
     Brescia finished with a .118 attack percentage (28 kills, 18 errors, 85 attacks).
     Acis had eight kills to lead the Bearcats, with Meric Akovali tallying 24 assists in a losing cause.
     Finn Berger and Stephen Schmidt had seven digs each for the visitors, while Owen Collitt had one solo block and three block assists.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Friday night when it hosts Cumberland (Tenn.) University for a 7 p.m. first serve.