Rio Grande Sports Information
MILLIGAN, Tenn. - The University of Rio Grande women's volleyball team got a busy weekend off to a good start by posting a pair of wins on Friday as a part of Milligan Mountain Madness at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.
The RedStorm defeated Tennessee Wesleyan University 25-12, 25-18, 20-25, 25-18 in its opening match, while also taking down Union Commonwealth (Ky.) 25-18, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22.
The wins left head coach Billina Donaldson's squad at 3-1 for the season.
In the win over Tennessee Wesleyan, Rio Grande tallied 10 service aces as a team and finished with a .185 attack percentage (45 kills, 23 errors, 119 attacks).
Senior Amanda Rarick (Canal Winchester, OH) and junior Olivia Smith (Bainbridge, OH) finished with 13 and 12 kills, respectively, while junior Elle McLoughlin (Zanesville, OH) had 39 assists and three service aces. Smith also had a pair of aces.
Sophomore Jenna Harrison (Gallipolis, OH) had a team-high 15 digs, while Smith had 14, sophomore Kayla Sedgwick (Richwood, OH) tallied 12 digs and McLoughlin had 10.
Senior Jordan Brooks (Reynoldsburg, OH) had four block assists in the win.
Tennessee Wesleyan had just a .076 swing percentage (28 kills, 19 errors and 118 attacks) and committed 15 service errors in the loss.
Olivia Miller had seven kills to lead the Bulldogs, while Olivia Bolin had 12 assists and Meghan Thompson was credited with 11 digs.
Jia Weathersby also had three solo blocks for Wesleyan.
In the final match of the day against Union Commonwealth, Rio Grande rallied from behind in three of the four sets, scoring the final seven points in set two and erasing a 16-7 deficit in the fourth stanza.
Sophomore Kelli Stewart (Waverly, OH) had 17 kills to fuel the winning effort, while Rarick and Smith totaled 14 and 13, respectively. Smith also had a team-high 14 digs.
McLoughlin was credited with 46 assists, while Harrison had 13 digs and sophomore Averie Bruce (Baltimore, OH) had three solo blocks and three block assists.
Raquel Kessler had nine kills in the loss for Union, while Maddie McGaughey and Sloan Coursey tallied 15 and 14 assists, respectively. Coursey and Lara Gomes De Castro also had three service aces each.
Nicole Almestica had 18 digs for UCU.
Rio Grande will close out play in the two-day event on Saturday when it faces host Milligan University at 10 a.m. and Blue Mountain Christian (Miss.) University at noon.
