Rio Grande Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande recorded its top two hitting performances of the season and cruised to a pair of straight sets wins over Indiana University Columbus and Ohio Christian University, Saturday afternoon, in a women's volleyball triangular at the Newt Oliver Arena.
The RedStorm posted a 25-21, 25-17, 25-19 triumph in a River States Conference matchup with the Crimson Pride before closing the day with a 25-21, 25-11, 25-21 non-conference victory against the Trailblazers.
Rio Grande finished the day at 19-7 overall and 7-1 against RSC foes.
The RedStorm hammered out a sizzling .383 attack percentage (57 kills, 16 errors, 107 swings) in the win over IUC and then followed that effort with a .330 mark (51 kills, 14 errors, 112 attacks) against Ohio Christian.
Rio trailed just once in each of the first two sets against IU Columbus, but had to rally from an early 6-1 deficit in the third set.
The RedStorm used a 7-0 run to erase an 11-9 lead by the Crimson Pride and grab a lead it would never relinquish en route to the match win.
Senior Amanda Rarick (Canal Winchester, OH) and freshman Katelynn Coey (Glouster, OH) had 17 and 14 kills, respectively, to pace Rio's winning effort, while junior Elle McLoughlin (Zanesville, OH) totaled 43 assists and junior Kayla Sedgwick (Richwood, OH) had 16 digs.
Senior Jordan Brooks (Reynoldsburg, OH) had three block assists in the win.
Olivia Embry had eight kills to lead IU Columbus, which hit just .188 as a team with 29 kills and 11 errors in 96 swings.
Sadie Egan and Addisson Lemon had 13 assists each in the loss for the Crimson Pride, while Cora Baker and Alyva Luze had 10 digs each.
Kenze Bostic also had a solo block, a block assist and three service aces for IUC (6-8).
In the match against Ohio Christian, Rio Grande trailed early in set one and set three, but otherwise controlled things throughout.
Rarick led the RedStorm with 14 kills, while sophomore Kelli Stewart (Waverly, OH) had 12 kills of her own and Coey tallied 11.
McLoughlin was credited with 41 assists, while Sedgwick had 17 digs and two service aces and sophomore McKenna Diederich (Pickerington, OH) had a solo block and a pair of block assists.
Ohio Christian (13-15), which finished with 29 kills and 18 errors over 111 attacks for a .099 swing percentage, was led along the net by Emilia Hoppe with eight kills.
Emma Hannah had 16 assists for the Trailblazers, who posted a 3-0 win over IU Columbus in the day's other match, while Sophie Coleman tallied 11 digs and the duo of Madison Blickenstaff and Kennedy Bowling had three block assists each.
Rio Grande is slated to return to action on Friday night at West Virginia University-Tech.
First serve is set for 7 p.m.
