Sports stats



PVF Grand Rapids Rise

Rise Move on to Orlando Before Rematch in San Diego

February 29, 2024 - Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF)
Grand Rapids Rise News Release


Grand Rapids Rise battle the San Diego Mojo
Grand Rapids Rise battle the San Diego Mojo
(Grand Rapids Rise, Credit: Craig Kerstetter/San Diego Mojo)

This Week's Matches

RISE at Orlando Valkyries // Fri., March 1 // 7 p.m. // Addition Financial Arena

Watch: YouTube at 7 p.m.

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

Noteworthy: Grand Rapids faces Orlando for the first time. The Rise are 1-1 on the road this season, while the Valkyries are 2-2 at home. Orlando has alternated between wins and losses in every match so far this season. If that trend holds true, the Valkyries are in line for a win after dropping their last contest on Feb. 25 to the Omaha Supernovas.

RISE at San Diego Mojo // Mon., March 4 // 10 p.m. EST // Viejas Arena

Watch: YouTube at 10 p.m.

Season Series: 0-1 Overall, 0-1 Away. Second of four meetings overall, second of two at Viejas Arena

Noteworthy: The Rise look to avenge their Feb. 23 loss at San Diego. The Mojo won 3-1 by set scores of 36-24, 25-27, 25-23, 25-23. It was the first win in franchise history for San Diego.

Unable to Crash Mojo's Home Opener: The San Diego Mojo were the last Pro Volleyball Federation team in this inaugural season to play in front of its home crowd. The fan support aided the Mojo to a 3-1 win over the Rise after San Diego had lost three consecutive road matches without winning a set. Here is how the League teams faired in their home openers:

*Omaha vs. Atlanta (Jan. 24): Lost, 3-2 *Grand Rapids vs. Columbus (Jan. 25): Won, 3-0 *Orlando vs. Atlanta (Jan. 26): Lost, 3-2 *Atlanta vs. San Diego (Feb. 1): Won, 3-0 *Vegas vs. Omaha (Feb. 15): Lost,3-1 *Columbus vs. Omaha (Feb. 21): Won, 3-1 *San Diego vs. Grand Rapids (Feb. 23): Won, 3-1

Sets That Refuse to End: The longest set in Pro Volleyball Federation history has been extended to 70 points, as the Mojo outlasted the Rise 36-34 to win a tightly contested opening frame on Feb. 23. The set featured seven Rise set points and five Mojo set points. It was the first time this season the Rise have suffered a first-set defeat.

Grand Rapids has now been involved in the three longest sets in League history. Unfortunately, the Rise have lost all three: 36-34 first set at San Diego, and 33-31 second set and 30-28 third set against Omaha on Feb. 12. The Rise are 2-7 in sets decided by the minimum of two points and are 10-6 in sets when the winner doesn't need to go beyond 25 points (or 15 points in the fifth set).

The 36-34 set against San Diego lasted 39 minutes, which was two minutes shy of tying overtaking the 41-minute second set against Omaha for the longest Rise set time-wise this season.

Jensen Makes Debut: Holland, Michigan, native and former Michigan State standout Alyssa Jensen (nee Garvelink) made her first professional appearance and start on Feb. 23 against the San Diego Mojo. The Rise 6-foot-4 middle blocker recorded one block and one dig early in the first set before getting subbed out for the rest of the match.

Setter Switches: United States National Team member Ashley Evans played every point as the Rise's starting setter through the first two matches and has started all five matches as well. Over the last three matches, rookie setter Mac Podraza has subbed in to give the Grand Rapids offense a boost. Podraza had a team-high 30 assists to Evan's 20 assists in the 3-1 loss Friday to San Diego. The Rise have outscored their opponents, 95-88, with Podraza running the offense, while Evans leads the team with 192 assists.

Bolding Called Up: Rise 6-foot-5 middle blocker Sydney Bolding has been called up to the team's active roster after starting the season on the practice squad. Bolding fills in for Kayla Caffey, who was placed on short-term injured reserve on Monday, Feb. 26. Bolding was selected in the second round, 11th overall, of the 2023 Pro Volleyball Federation inaugural draft. She played three seasons at Kansas State (2021-23) and two seasons at Jacksonville (2019-21), amassing 812 kills and 489 blocks across five seasons of collegiate play.




Images from this story

Grand Rapids Rise battle the San Diego Mojo
Grand Rapids Rise battle the San Diego Mojo
(Craig Kerstetter/San Diego Mojo)		   



Pro Volleyball Federation Stories from February 29, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central