PVF Grand Rapids Rise

Rise See Thrill for the First Time on St. Patrick's Day

Published on March 13, 2024 under Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF)
Grand Rapids Rise News Release


Grand Rapids Rise in action
Grand Rapids Rise in action
(Grand Rapids Rise, Credit: Nicolas Carrillo)

This Week's Match

RISE (4-4) vs. Vegas Thrill (4-7) // Sun., March 17 // 4 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 4 p.m.

Watch: YouTube and WXSP-TV at 4 p.m.

Season Series: 0-0 Overall, 0-0 Home. First of four meetings overall, first of two at Van Andel Arena

Noteworthy: Grand Rapids faces the Vegas Thrill for the time in franchise history. The Rise snapped a three-match losing streak last time out with a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Fury on March 9. The Thrill also beat the Fury in their last match, 3-1, in Columbus on March 11. This is the only Pro Volleyball Federation match being played on St. Patrick's Day.

One Extreme to the Next: The first two sets on March 9 between the Rise and Columbus Fury were complete opposites. Grand Rapids started strong and won the opening set by a 10-point margin, 25-15, for its largest set win this season. Columbus rebounded quickly and took the second set by 12 points, 25-13. That marked the largest deficit in a set loss this season for the Rise. Grand Rapids tipped the seesaw affair its way with a 25-17 third-set win, and then closed out the match with a come-from-behind effort to claim the fourth set by the minimum, 25-23. The Rise are now 2-0 against the Fury this season with both wins coming at home. Columbus had a four-match winning streak snapped, while Grand Rapids ended a three-match losing skid.

Block Party: The Rise made their net-front presence known against the Fury. Grand Rapids set a new season high with 15 blocks in the four-set victory. Four players finished with three or more blocks: Marin Grote (4), Ashley Evans (4), Emiliya Dimitrova (3), and Alyssa Jensen (3). Fittingly, the match ended with a Dimitrova block. The Fury were held to a .108 hitting percentage, including a first set where the Rise held them to -.063 and blocked them six times. Grote leads the team with 32 blocks in eight matches and is second in the League by averaging 1.00 block per set played this season.

Bolding Called Up, Nets Kill in Debut: Rise 6-foot-5 middle blocker Sydney Bolding was called up on Feb. 28 to the team's active roster after starting the season on the practice squad. Bolding filled in for Kayla Caffey, who was placed on injured reserve on 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.

Bolding watched her first two matches on the active roster from the bench before getting called into action near the end of the third set against the Columbus Fury on March 9. She made her presence known immediately by powering down a kill to conclude her first pro point. Bolding played two sets against the Fury, ending with the lone kill and one dig.

Scully Sighting: Rise outside hitter Shannon Scully had her best match this season against the Fury on March 9. After getting small pockets of playing time through the first seven matches, Scully took advantage of some extended court time during Saturday's matinee. She played in three sets and notched season highs in kills (3), attack attempts (10) and, most impressively, digs (9). The second-year pro out of USC added more stability to the Rise's backrow when called upon.

Sets That Refuse to End: The longest set in Pro Volleyball Federation history was extended to 70 points when the San Diego 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.

Grand Rapids has now been involved in the four longest sets in League history. Unfortunately, the Rise have lost all four: 36-34 first set at San Diego, 33-31 second set and 30-28 third set against Omaha on Feb. 12, and 32-30 third set against Orlando on March 1. The Rise are 3-9 in sets decided by the minimum of two points and are 15-11 in sets when the winner doesn't need to go beyond 25 points (or 15 points in the fifth set).

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Images from this story

Grand Rapids Rise in action
Grand Rapids Rise in action
(Nicolas Carrillo)		   



Pro Volleyball Federation Stories from March 13, 2024


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