Red Wolves - IU East

RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The Red Wolves went on a shopping spree Aug. 27.

A cartload of aces against the University of Rio Grande. A basketful of blocks against University of the Cumberlands.

The Indiana University East volleyball team checked out of the first day of the University of Rio Grande Aces in August Classic with a pair of convincing victories.

The Red Wolves (6-0) defeated tournament host Rio Grande 25-11, 25-15, 25-20 in their opener.

IU East swept the University of the Cumberlands 25-13, 25-8, 25-20 in their second match.

The Red Wolves had enjoyed a visit to an outlet mall in Jeffersonville, Ohio, en route to Rio Grande. A few hours later, they made their opponents pay on the volleyball court.

"I'm pleased with how we played, jumping off of the bus and playing well against two good teams," IU East coach Charlie Brown said.

Junior right side hitter Paige Lay (Bloomington/Normal, Ill./Parkland College) led IU East with 20 kills on the day.

Freshman middle hitter Caitlin Burroughs (Richmond, Ind./Northeastern High School) led IU East with six aces and and 5.5 blocks in the two matches.

"Today was a getting-used-to-everything day," Burroughs said. "We had to get used to the teams and how we need to play.

"And I had fun shopping."

Burroughs recorded all six of her aces against Rio Grande (0-2). The Red Wolves tallied 11 aces against the Red Storm.

"I just went off of what Charlie told me to do and hoped for the best," Burroughs said.

IU East held both Rio Grande and Cumberlands to a sub-.100 hitting percentage.

Both Rio Grande and Cumberlands held leads in the fifth game against IU East last season. Neither came close to taking a game this time.

"Our stats looked good, but we've got to do better at closing out third sets," Brown said.

"(Aug. 28) will tell us how we really measure up, if we've actually taken as step forward (from the 2009 season)."

The Red Wolves conclude pool play with a match against Martin Methodist College at 9 a.m. Aug. 28. Semifinal matches are at 11 a.m. and the championship match is at 1 p.m.

Click here to view the IU East-Rio Grande box score

Click here to view the IU East-Cumberlands box score