KOKOMO, Ind. – In a back-and-forth postseason battle Friday afternoon, the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College women's volleyball team fell in a five-set heartbreaker to Rio Grande (Ohio), 3–2, in the River States Conference Tournament semifinals at the Student Activities & Events Center.

The Pomeroys (30–6) matched the RedStorm (29–9) swing for swing, with both teams finishing with 59 kills apiece, but Rio Grande won the decisive fifth set to advance.
Rio Grande opened with a 25–18 win behind a .459 hitting percentage, but SMWC answered immediately by taking the second set 25–23 behind 14 kills and improved ball control. The third set featured some of the tightest play of the match, with the Pomeroys putting down 17 kills before narrowly falling 27–25.

SMWC responded with its strongest offensive effort in the fourth, hitting .370 while limiting Rio Grande to seven kills to take the set 25–11 and force a fifth. The RedStorm capitalized early in the tiebreaker and committed zero attack errors to hold off the Pomeroys, 15–6.

Masa Pesic led SMWC with 19 kills, while Karla Melendez posted 18 kills and 14 digs in a standout two-way performance. Lisanel Rodriguez added 11 kills as the Pomeroys' balanced attack kept pressure on Rio Grande throughout.

Alexa Stiff and Melendez combined for nine of SMWC's 13 aces, while Aden Britt tallied 41 assists and 12 digs. Leishmarie Virella paced the defense with 24 digs—helping SMWC out-dig Rio Grande 82–69.

Rio Grande was led by 18 kills from Kelli Stewart and 17 from Taylor Bartrum, while Elle McLoughlin finished with 40 assists.

Despite leading in digs and aces, the Pomeroys were edged in total points, 71–70.