Rise Head West to San Diego for First Match against Mojo
MLV Grand Rapids Rise

Rise Head West to San Diego for First Match against Mojo

Published on January 21, 2026 under Major League Volleyball (MLV)
Grand Rapids Rise News Release


Grand Rapids Rise outside hitter Carli Snyder
Grand Rapids Rise outside hitter Carli Snyder
(Grand Rapids Rise, Credit: Nicolas Carrillo)

This Week's Match

RISE (1-2) at San Diego Mojo (1-3) // Fri., Jan. 23 // 10 p.m. EST // Viejas Arena

Watch: MLV YouTube Channel at 10 p.m.

Season Series: 0-0 Overall, 0-0 Away. First of four meetings overall, first of two at Viejas Arena

All-Time Regular Season Series: 4-4 Overall, 1-3 Away

Noteworthy: Two evenly matched franchises clash for a ninth time with the all-time series tied at 4-4. The Mojo have plenty of familiar faces with former Rise players Marin Grote, Shannon Scully, and Kayla Caffey taking on their former team. The Rise are coming off a five-set home opener win on Jan. 14 against the Columbus Fury. The Mojo and first-year head coach Alisha Childress picked up their first win in five sets on Sunday, Jan. 18, against the Atlanta Vibe.

Finding the Mojo: Both the Rise and Mojo are coming off their first wins of the season, with each franchise needing five sets at home. Grand Rapids topped Columbus, 3-2, on Jan. 14, while San Diego defeated Atlanta, 3-2, on Jan. 18. All eight MLV teams have now recorded a win this season, doing so in just 13 league matches.

For comparison, Columbus was the final team to earn a win in 2025, not doing so until Feb. 7 after 31 league matches had been played. In 2024, San Diego was the last team without a win, waiting until Feb. 23 after 18 league matches.

Going the Distance: Two out of the first three regular-season matches for the Rise have gone five sets, including a fifth consecutive five-set match against the Columbus Fury in the home opener on Jan. 14. Grand Rapids and the Atlanta Vibe are the only teams in MLV to both win and lose a five-set match early in the season. The Rise are 9-10 all time in five-set matches (6-4 at home, 2-6 away, 1-0 neutral/postseason).

The Rise have played the most five-set matches in league history: Grand Rapids (19), Orlando (18), San Diego (17), Atlanta (16), Omaha (15), Vegas (15), Columbus (13), Indy (11), and Dallas (0). Six of the league's 13 matches this season have gone five sets, including five of the last six.

Never Over Until It's Over: The Rise became the third team in league history to overcome a five-point deficit in the fifth set (6-1) and secure the victory, doing so in the home opener against the Fury. The only other teams to accomplish this feat were the Fury on March 3, 2024, at Orlando (down 8-3) and the Atlanta Vibe against the San Diego Mojo (11-6, 9-4, 8-3) on March 15, 2025. Grand Rapids also became just the second MLV team to rally from a 4-0 fifth-set deficit for the win, joining Orlando, which did so against Atlanta on March 1, 2025.

Blocks by PBR: Paige Briggs-Romine, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter, is tied for seventh in the league with nine blocks this season. She recorded 20 blocks in 27 matches last season with the Rise.

Attack Away: Rise outside hitter Carli Snyder is 49 attack attempts shy of surpassing Claire Chaussee for the most in franchise history. Chaussee recorded 1,208 attempts over 26 matches during the 2024 season.

Point Producers: The Rise have relied on a balanced scoring attack, with four players averaging more than 10 points per match through the first three contests: opposite Elizabet Inneh with 44 points (38 kills, four blocks, two aces), Briggs-Romine with 43 points (33 kills, nine blocks, one ace), Snyder with 41 points (33 kills, five blocks, three aces), and middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan with 31 points (21 kills, 10 blocks).

It's early in the season, but the Rise have never had four players average double-digit points over a full year. Snyder was the only player to do so in 2025, while fellow All-League standouts Chaussee and Emiliya Dimitrova were the only two in 2024, among players who played in at least half of the team's matches in each season.

Serving Success: Grand Rapids has gradually become more comfortable behind the service line, with its ace-to-error ratio improving each match: 1:9 at Orlando (1/9), 3:7 at Atlanta (1/11), and 5:9 vs. Columbus (1/14). Dating back to last season, the Rise have now recorded four straight matches with fewer than 10 service errors. Recording nine or fewer against San Diego would mark the most consecutive matches under 10 service errors in team history. Snyder leads the Rise with three aces this season and holds the franchise record with 36 career aces.

First Set, Close Set Blues: Through three matches, Grand Rapids has yet to win an opening set and is 0-4 in sets decided by the minimum two points. The Rise are 4-1 in sets decided by three to five points.

Familiar Faces in New Places: Six former Rise players are now playing for new MLV teams:

- Atlanta Vibe: Raven Colvin (2025);

- Columbus Fury: Ashley Evans (2024);

- Orlando Valkyries: Naya Shime (2025);

- San Diego Mojo: Marin Grote (2024-25), Kayla Caffey (2024), and Shannon Scully (2024).

Grote is second on the Mojo with six blocks and second in the league with six aces. Caffey has 26 points (22 kills, three aces, one block) in 11 sets played this season. Scully, who won the 2025 championship last season with the Valkyries, has featured in three sets this year and picked up six digs.

Rise-Mojo Connections: Notable shared history between the two teams:

- A trio of Mojo players previously played for the Rise: Martin Grote (2024-25), Shannon Scully (2024), and Kayla Caffey (2024). Grote holds the Rise franchise record for most sets played (154) and blocks (95);

- Rise setter Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres and Caffey won the 2022 NCAA National Championship with Texas;

- Rise opposite hitter Lauren Jardine-Clark and Mojo outside hitter Grace Loberg won the 2021 NCAA National Championship with Wisconsin. They also played together last year with the Vegas Thrill, alongside Rise players Allison Mayfield and Berkeley Oblad and Vegas first-year head coach Alisha Childress and setter Carly Graham.

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Images from this story

Grand Rapids Rise outside hitter Carli Snyder
Grand Rapids Rise outside hitter Carli Snyder
(Nicolas Carrillo)		   



Major League Volleyball Stories from January 21, 2026


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