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PVF Grand Rapids Rise

Late Push Halted as Rise Drop Five-Setter in San Diego

March 5, 2024 - Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF)
Grand Rapids Rise News Release


Grand Rapids Rise vs. the San Diego Mojo
Grand Rapids Rise vs. the San Diego Mojo
(Grand Rapids Rise, Credit: Craig Kerstetter)

SAN DIEGO - After dominating the opening set and come from behind to take the fourth set, the Grand Rapids Rise ran out of gas Monday night against the San Diego Mojo. The Rise went the distance inside Viejas Arena but suffered a five-set defeat to the Mojo by set scores of 16-25, 25-19, 25-17, 22-25, 15-9.

San Diego picked up its second win in franchise history and its second win over the Rise this season. Whereas Grand Rapids goes winless over its three-match road stretch and drops below the .500 mark for the first time at 3-4 overall after starting the season 3-1.

The Rise got off to a quick start by scoring the first three points of the match thanks to two San Diego miscues and a kill by opposite hitter Emiliya Dimitrova. The Mojo responded with a 3-0 run of their own to keep pace. Later in the first set, the Rise led by three points again at 13-10 and 18-15. Kills from Claire Chaussee, Symone Abbott and Nia Grant helped the Rise ignite a 9-1 run to close out the first frame, 25-16. Grand Rapids scored the final six points of the set for its longest run of consecutive points in franchise history.

The Rise hit .289 with 17 kills on 16 assists in the first set. Dimitrova and Chaussee each had five kills.

The second set started the exact opposite of the first with the Mojo scoring the first three points and forcing the Rise to battle back. Unable to gain any ground, Grand Rapids brought in setter Mac Podraza and middle blocker Alyssa Jensen. Late in the frame, Jensen picked up her first professional kill. But it wasn't enough to change things around, as San Diego led from start-to-finish for a 25-19 second set victory to even the match at one set apiece.

The Mojo put up five blocks in the second set and limited the Rise to only 10 kills with five of them coming from Chaussee. San Diego locked in on Dimitrova, who was blocked four times in the first two sets and seven times total in the match. Dimitrova entered the contest with the third-most kills per set (4.50) in the League.

Both Dimitrova and Chaussee finished with a double-double. Dimitrova still managed 21 kills and 14 digs despite all the attention she received at the net. Chaussee set a new personal season high with 23 kills to go with 10 digs and two aces. Setter Ashley Evans also joined the double-double club with 41 assists and 11 digs.

Podraza found Jensen for another kill to open the third set. But the Mojo used runs of 5-0 and 3-0 to take an early 9-3 lead and force the Rise into a timeout. San Diego didn't let up and rolled to a 25-17 set win.

Rise head coach Cathy George went to her bench looking for a spark near the end of the middle frame and brought in opposite hitter Morgahn Fingall to make her professional debut. Fingall, a native of Fairfax, Virginia, was selected by the Rise in the first round, 4th overall, in the 2023 Pro Volleyball Federation college draft after she played five seasons at Tennessee. Fingall made her appearance count by also notching her first pro kill in the third set.

Trailing 9-5 in the fourth set, the Rise showed some life with a 6-2 run to even the score at 11-11. In crunch time, down 21-20, Grand Rapids walled up at the net. Blocks by Dimitrova and Abbott kept the score tied at 21-21 and 22-22. Abbott then added a kill to give the Rise their first lead of the set since being up 2-1. With back-to-back blocks by Marin Grote and Abbott, the Rise completed their rally to force a fifth set, 25-22.

San Diego quickly flipped the momentum back in the tiebreaker fifth set by racing out to a 3-0 advantage, which quickly expanded to 8-3 and eventually reached match point at 14-8. The Mojo need two tries at match point before Grace Loberg swiftly ended the match with a kill, 15-9.

Notes

The 25-16 first set win for the Rise was their largest margin of victory in a set this season.

San Diego had three more service aces than Grand Rapids (6-3). The Rise are now 0-3 overall when their opponent collects more aces.

The Mojo blocked the Rise a season-high 13 times, which limited the Grand Rapids offense to a .233 attack percentage. Hannah Tapp led the way with five blocks, and she also had eight kills on 11 attack attempts (.636) for the Mojo.

Twelve of the 14 players on the Rise active roster played in Monday's match.

The Rise are 0-2 on Mondays.

GR 25 19 17 25 9 - 2

SD 16 25 25 22 15 - 3

Team Leaders

GR: Kills - Claire Chaussee 23, Emiliya Dimitrova 21, Symone Abbott 8; Assists - Ashley Evans 41, Mac Podraza 15, Sarah Sponcil 3; Aces - Chaussee 2, Marin Grote 1; Blocks - Grote 3, Abbott 3; Digs - Sponcil 17, Dimitrova 14, Abbott 13.

SD: Kills - Temi Thomas-Ailara 16, Lindsey Vander Weide 13, Grace Loberg 9; Assists - Nootsara Tomkom 49, Shara Marie Venegas Medina 3; Aces - Vander Weide 3, Ronika Stone 2; Blocks - Hannah Tapp 5, Vander Weide 4, Stone 3; Digs - Tomkom 19, Venegas Medina 16, Vander Weide 15.

A - 1,097

Record / Next Match

Grand Rapids: 3-4 / Sat., March 9 vs. Columbus Fury, Noon

San Diego: 2-5 / Mon., March 11 vs. Orlando Valkyries, 10 p.m. EST




Images from this story

Grand Rapids Rise vs. the San Diego Mojo
Grand Rapids Rise vs. the San Diego Mojo
(Craig Kerstetter)		   



Pro Volleyball Federation Stories from March 5, 2024


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