Red Wolves pull away from Rio men

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RICHMOND, Ind. - Indiana University East surged in front midway through each of the final two sets to post a 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 25-16, 25-22) win over the University of Rio Grande, Saturday afternoon, in River States Conference men's volleyball action on Lingle Court at the Student Activities Center.
     Rio Grande dropped to 8-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play with a second consecutive loss.
     The host Red Wolves improved to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the RSC with the victory.
     After Rio Grande tallied a .429 attack percentage in the second set (13 kills, 1 error, 28 attacks) to tie the match, IU East turned the table in set three with 11 kills and just one error over 25 swings (.400) to regain the momentum.
     A kill by Rio sophomore Daniel Rivas (Valle Del Cauca, Colombia) tied the set at 11-all, but the Red Wolves scored six of the next eight winners and never looked back en route to regaining the match advantage.
     The RedStorm scored the first four points of the fourth set, but IU East proceeded to reel off seven of the next eight points and never trailed again.
     Another Rivas kill pulled Rio to within 7-6 and the RedStorm twice rallied to close the gap to two down the stretch, but failed to get over the hump.
     IU East finished with a .204 attack percentage for the match, tallying 43 kills and 21 errors over 108 swings.
     Rio Grande actually had a higher swing mark at .267 (50 kills, 19 errors, 116 attacks), but hurt its own cause with 21 service errors.
     Arthur Barreto and Wyatt King finished with 13 and 12 kills, respectively, to lead the Red Wolves, while Brayden Richardson had a match-best 31 assists and Vinicius Lopez served up four aces.
     Francis Rivera Agosto added 15 digs in the winning effort, while Gideon Nelson had two solo blocks.
     Rivas totaled 20 kills and junior Otavio Tonoli (Campinas, Brazil) added 13 of his own for Rio Grande, while sophomore Camilo Murillo (Cali, Colombia) had 32 assists, nine digs and two service aces.
     Senior Josef Iten (Sacramento, CA) was credited with a solo block and three block assists for the RedStorm, while Tonoli had four block assists.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Tuesday night at Georgetown (Ky.) College.
     First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Gym.