Rio Grande's All-RSC honorees and award winners included, from left to right, (top row) Amanda Rarick, Elle McLoughlin, Kelli Stewart and Jordan Smith; (bottom row) McKenna Diederich, Kayla Sedgwick, Jenna Harrison, head coach Billina Donaldson and assistant coach Caden Donaldson.

Posted: Nov 13, 2024

RedStorm standouts, coaches receive post-season honors from RSC

Rio Grande/RSC Sports Information
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande's best season in more than 30 years was clearly reflected in Wednesday's release of the 2024 All-River States Conference Women's Volleyball Teams and major award winners.
The RedStorm, whose 27 victories are the most since a 37-win campaign in 1992, placed two players on both the first and second teams and a trio of players on the third team.
The seven honorees were the most of any school, followed by regular season champion Indiana University Kokomo with six and Indiana University East with five.
Rio Grande also captured four of the league's seven major individual awards.
The teams - and the individual awards - were determined through balloting of the league's head coaches. The first and second teams consist of 14 players, while the third team consists of 12 players, regardless of position.
Rio Grande was represented on the first team by senior Amanda Rarick (Canal Winchester, OH) and junior Elle McLoughlin (Zanesville, OH), who were also named the RSC Attacker of the Year and Setter of the Year, respectively.
Rarick was the lone RSC player to hit 500 kills this season, and accounted for more points than any other player in the league. She is one of just four players nationally with 500 kills and her 527.5 points accounted for ranked seventh nationally.
McLoughlin ran Rio Grande's offense to perfection in 2024, passing out more than 10 assists per set, with no other player in the league averaging more than nine.
McLoughlin's numbers as Rio Grande's lone setter are nationally significant as well, with the junior's 1,360 assists currently ranking first in the nation and her 52 service aces also ranking in the top 25.
The RedStorm's second team selections were sophomore Kelli Stewart (Waverly, OH) and senior Jordan Brooks (Reynoldsburg, OH), while junior Kayla Sedgwick (Richwood, OH) and the sophomore duo of Jenna Harrison (Gallipolis, OH) and McKenna Diederich (Pickerington, OH) earned third team recognition.
Stewart ranked second on the team in kills (367), while Brooks led the team in blocks with 91 (22 solo, 69 assists), was third among regulars in attack percentage (.228)and fourth in kills (183).
Sedgwick was second in both digs (416) and service aces (40), Harrison led the team with 42 digs and Diederich topped Rio with a .330 attack percentage, while finishing fourth with 51 total blocks.
Also honored from Rio Grande was Billina Donaldson, who was named Coach of the Year, and Caden Donaldson, who was the RSC Assistant Coach of the Year.
Billina Donaldson, who was a junior standout on the school's 37-win team in 1992, guided Rio to a 14-2 RSC record and the program's first East Division championship.
Caden Donaldson, the son of the head coach, was honored for his efforts with the RedStorm. His nomination materials stated "the improvement of (Rio Grande) is evident over the last two years, since adding him to the coaching staff."
Along with Rarick and McLoughlin, the All-RSC First Team included Mya Grigsby, Lexi Broyles and Kaley Lyons of IU Kokomo; Jessica Swimm, Reece Shirley and Teah Barrett Matthews from IU East; Shawnee State's Haidyn Wamsley and Kylee Gifford; Haley Jaster of IU Southeast; Aubry Koester from Midway; Dunja Madjarevic of Oakland City; and Alex Hernandez from St. Mary-of-the-Woods.
Grigsby was an immediate impact player for IU Kokomo and was honored as both the RSC Player and Freshman of the Year. She was everywhere on the floor for the Cougars, ranking in the top five in the conference in aces and kills, while also recording more than three digs per set.
Nationally, Grigsby ranks in the top 20 in the nation in both kills and aces.
Madjarevic proved to be the conference's top libero and was so honored as the league's Defender of the Year. The fifth-year senior from Serbia led the River States Conference with 583 digs and 5.83 digs per set, a total that ticked up to 5.89 per set in RSC play.
Madjarevic currently ranks in the top 20 in the nation in digs per set, as well as the top 20 in total digs.
Along with Stewart and Brooks, the All-RSC Second Team consisted of Cali Cummings and Allison Richman of IU Kokomo; Karla Melendez, Jocelyn Chavez and Isabel Hansen from St. Mary-of-the-Woods; Ella Brooks from IU Southeast; IU East's Ella Bickel and Aislyn Hogan; Callie Mason from Brescia; WVU-Tech's Brooke Presley and Madison Boswell; and Cora Baker of IU Columbus.
In addition to Rio's trio of selections, the third team included Ella Davidson of IU Southeast, Ellie Garland from IU Kokomo, Alice Lloyd's Gracie Gibson and T.K. Ellis, Cheaney Archer and Campbell McBride, Makaela Lovely of Shawnee State, Midway's Blair Riney and Marianna Oyola Rivera from WVU Tech.