Cumberland sweeps RedStorm men

Rio Grande Sports Information
     LEBANON, Tenn. - Cumberland University parlayed momentum swings midway through each of the three sets to post a 25-19, 25-21, 25-21 Senior Night sweep of the University of Rio Grande, Friday night, in River States Conference men's volleyball action at the Dallas Floyd Recreation Center.
     The Phoenix pushed their record to 14-10 overall and 9-5 in league play with the win.
     Rio Grande, which suffered a second straight loss, dipped to 13-11 overall and 5-7 against RSC foes.
     The RedStorm jumped to a 5-1 lead in the opening set and still led 13-10 after a kill by sophomore Camilo Murillo (Cali, Colombia), but the hosts proceeded to reel off five straight winners and never trailed again, scoring the final four points to close out the set.
     Rio Grande also found itself tied at 10-10 in set after a Cumberland attack error, but a stretch of four consecutive winners by the Phoenix provided a lead they wouldn't relinquish en route to a commanding match lead.
     The RedStorm never led in the third stanza, although they did manage to slice an early 6-2 deficit down to one on four different occasions, the last of which was 14-13 after a kill by sophomore Daniel Rivas (Valle Del Cauca, Colombia).
     Again, though, the Phoenix scored the next three points to push their cushion to 17-13 and Rio got no closer than three points - twice - the rest of the way.
     Cumberland finished with a .312 attack percentage, tallying 34 kills and 10 errors over 77 swings.
     Joao Infante finished with a match-best 15 kills to lead the winning effort, while Austin Kuehler had 30 assists and Alexander Heuer totaled nine digs.
     Francisco Corradini had one solo block and six block assists for the Phoenix, while Kuehler added six block assists of his own.
     Junior Otavio Tonoli (Campinas, Brazil) had 12 kills for Rio Grande, while senior Mitch Bartecki (Valparaiso, IN) and Murillo finished with 24 and 11 assists, respectively.
     Sophomore Thomas Lhoste (Courbevoie, France) had a match-best 10 digs in the loss and senior Josef Iten (Sacramento, CA) had one solo block and two block assists.
     Rio Grande wraps up its weekend road swing on Saturday at No. 5-ranked Campbellsville (Ky.) University.
     First serve is set for 4 p.m.