RedStorm crunches Carlow on Senior Night

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - For the University of Rio Grande women's volleyball team, Senior Night went as it was supposed to - with a victory.
     Amanda Rarick led a balanced attack at the net and the RedStorm dispatched Carlow University in straight sets, 25-20, 25-16, 25-13 in River States Conference play, Friday night, at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande pushed its record to 15-10 overall and 9-5 in league play with the victory.
     Carlow, making perhaps its final trip to Rio, dropped to 9-12 overall and 1-12 in the RSC with the loss.
     The Celtics are departing the league - and the NAIA - for a move to NCAA Division III at the close of the 2022-23 season.
     Rarick, a junior from Canal Winchester, Ohio,had a match-high 10 kills in the winning effort. She also was credited with four block assists.
     Senior Jess Youse (Pettisville, OH) added eight kills, two solo blocks and five block assists, while junior Shalea Byrd (Canal Winchester, OH) and sophomore Jordan Brooks (Reynoldsburg, OH) had seven kills each.
     Rio Grande finished with a .234 attack percentage as a team, with 37 kills and 15 errors in 94 swings.
     Carlow had just one more kill (29) than it did attack errors (28) and finished with a .008 swing percentage.
     Rio scored nine of the final 13 points to take set one, while an 8-1 scoring spurt produced a 22-9 lead in set two and helped the RedStorm take a commanding match lead.
     Carlow cut an early 9-3 deficit in the third stanza down to two points twice and trailed 16-13 after a kill by Rebecca Hess, but Rio closed things out by scoring the final nine winners of the night.
     Sophomore Avery Huntzinger (Canal Winchester, OH) had all of the RedStorm's 35 assists, while junior Darcie Walters (Sparta, OH) had 14 digs.
     Hess led the Celtics with 10 kills, while Meghan Alexander had 14 assists and Katie Tarasovich tallied 13 digs.
     Kelsey O'Leary had three block assists in a losing cause.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Saturday when it hosts RSC East Division leader Point Park University for a noon first serve.