Rio men swept by Mighty Oaks in season finale

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Serving in the role of the opposition, it was Oakland City University which had the opportunity to spoil Saturday afternoon's Senior Day for the University of Rio Grande men's volleyball team.
     As things turned out, though, it was Brescia University who stole the thunder from the Mighty Oaks.
     The Bearcats wrapped up a win over Indiana University East just minutes before the start of the Rio Grande-Oakland City contest, clinching the final spot in the upcoming River States Conference Tournament and extinguishing the RedStorm's hope for a post-season berth.
     With the outcome of the match rendered meaningless, the Mighty Oaks went on to defeat the RedStorm 25-23, 25-23, 25-20 at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Oakland City improved to 19-9 overall and 10-6 in league play with the victory.
     Rio Grande closed its season at 14-13 overall and 6-10 in the RSC.
     The RedStorm jumped to a 10-4 lead in the opening set and still led as late as 22-20 after an OCU attack error, but the Mighty Oaks scored five of the final six winners in the stanza - including each of the final two points - to grab the early match lead.
     Rio's only lead in set two came at 2-1 and Oakland City led from start to finish in the final period.
     The Mighty Oaks finished with a .221 attack percentage (33 kills, 14 errors, 86 swings), but were even more impressive on the defensive side of the net, racking up four solo blocks and 26 block assists.
     Rio Grande was limited to a .090 swing percentage with 37 kills and 28 errors in 100 total attacks.
     The RedStorm were also limited to just one solo block and six block assists on defense.
     Sophomore Daniel Rivas (Valle Del Cauca, Colombia) had a team-best 14 kills and 11 digs in a losing cause, while senior Mitch Bartecki (Valparaiso, IN) had 32 assists and senior Josef Iten (Sacramento, CA) had a solo block and a block assists.
     Senior Cam Griffith (Columbus, OH), who along with Bartecki and Iten were honored in pre-game ceremonies, had two block assists.
     Paul Mueller had 11 kills to pace Oakland City, while Danilo Negrao had 27 assists and Deontae Brewer tallied nine digs.
     Thiago Bassani had a solo block and six block assists for the Mighty Oaks, while Robin Rhue had one solo block and five block assists.