Phoenix starts fast, drops Rio in four

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Cumberland University bolted to an easy opening set win and never looked back, posting a 3-1 (25-11, 25-19, 26-28, 25-18) win over the University of Rio Grande, Friday night, in men's volleyball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     The Phoenix improved to 15-8 overall and 7-4 against conference foes with the victory.
     Rio Grande slipped to 12-10 overall and 4-7 in the RSC. The loss also dealt a major blow to the hopes of the RedStorm hosting a quarterfinal round game in the upcoming RSC Tournament.
     Cumberland never trailed and led by as many as 14 points in the opening set, while also committing no attack errors in the period.
     The Phoenix didn't trail in the second stanza either, although Rio was as close as 18-16 late in the set following a kill by senior Tyler Miller-Bross (Loveland, OH).
     The RedStorm refused to go away without a whimper, though, erasing six match points and scoring eight of the final 10 winners in the third stanza to extend the match.
     Cumberland jumped to a 3-0 lead and never trailed in the fourth set, although Rio Grande did forge a tie at 11-all before the Phoenix reeled off three straight winners for a lead they would never relinquish.
     Cumberland hit an impressive .339 for the match with 49 kills and 10 errors in 115 total swings.
     Joao Infante and Jaco Whyte had 16 and 13 kills, respectively, to lead the Phoenix, while Sam Mannebach had 44 assists and Alexander Heuer tallied 20 digs in the win.
     CU was also strong at the net defensively, totaling a pair of solo blocks and 28 block assists.
     Whyte had one solo block and six block assists, Infante had one solo and five assists and Kaden Kuehler had seven block assists.
     Rio Grande finished with 49 kills and 34 errors in 140 attacks for a .107 swing percentage.
     Senior Daniel Bedoya (Acacias, Colombia) had 16 kills and Miller-Bross recorded 12 for the RedStorm, while freshman Maaz Khan (Peshawar, Pakistan) had 24 digs and freshman Camilo Murillo (Cali, Colombia) was credited with 39 assists and 11 digs.
     Bedoya and junior Josef Iten (Sacramento, CA) had three block assists each.
     Rio Grande will close out the home portion of its schedule against Campbellsville University on Saturday.
     A junior varsity match is slated for 1:30 p.m., with the varsity contest set for 4 p.m.