RedStorm rebounds, outlasts Pomeroys in five

Rio Grande Sports Information
     ST. MARY OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. - Saturday afternoon's win over St. Mary-of-the-Woods College proved to be a nice bounce back effort for the University of Rio Grande following a tough loss to River States Conference leader Indiana University Kokomo on Friday night.
     But make no mistake about it, the RedStorm had to earn their triumph over the host Pomeroys.
     Head coach Billina Donaldson's club coughed up a trio of match point opportunities in the fifth and deciding set, while also surviving two match point chances for SMWC, outlasting the home team 18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 16-25, 20-18 in RSC play inside Hamilton Arena at the Knoerle Center.
     Rio Grande improved to 22-8 overall and 10-2 in league play with the win.
     The Pomeroys slipped to 28-5 overall and 7-5 in the RSC as a result of the loss.
     Rio Grande rebounded from its opening set loss to win back-to-back stanzas, but was blitzed in set four after SMWC took four separate 13-point cushions late in the period.
     Set five was tight from the outset to the its extended finish, with neither team ever leading by more than two points and the score being tied on 12 different occasions - including 18-18 after a kill by the Pomeroys' Lisanel Rodriguez.
     The RedStorm finally put things to rest, though, with a kill by senior Amanda Rarick (Canal Winchester, OH) and a block by junior Elle McLoughlin (Zanesville, OH) on an attack by SMWC's Karla Melendez to wrap it up.
     Rio Grande hit just .115 as a team with 54 kills and 33 errors over 182 swings.
     Rarick led a quartet of double-digit kill performances by the RedStorm with 15, while freshman Katelynn Coey (Glouster, OH) had 11 of her own and the duo of sophomore Kelli Stewart (Waverly, OH) and senior Jordan Brooks (Reynoldsburg, OH) finishing with 10 each.
     McLoughlin tallied 46 assists and 15 digs in the winning effort, while junior Kayla Sedgwick (Richwood, OH) had 25 digs and Brooks added two solo blocks and a block assist.
     Rio also got 13 digs from Rarick and 10 digs from senior Sofia Otero Marrero (Vega Baja, P.R.), while Stewart had two solo blocks and McLoughlin added a solo block and two block assists.
     St. Mary-of-the-Woods hit a collective .105 in the 2-1/2-hour marathon, totaling 58 kills and 38 errors in 190 attacks.
     Melendez had 16 kills to pace the Pomeroys, while Rodriguez had 13 and Alex Hernandez finished with 10. Alexis Keoho and Aden Britt had 26 and 21 assists, respectively, in a losing cause.
     Leishmarie Virella had 20 digs for SMWC, while Jocelyn Chavez tallied 19 and Britt finished with 13. Keoho and Virella also had two service aces each.
     Isabella Hansen also had five solo blocks and one block assist for the hosts.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Friday night with the first of five consecutive home outings to close the regular season.
     The RedStorm hosts rival Shawnee State, with first serve set for 7 p.m. at the Newt Oliver Arena.