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PVF Grand Rapids Rise

Rise Seek to Regain Momentum against Orlando, Vegas

April 10, 2024 - Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF)
Grand Rapids Rise News Release


Grand Rapids Rise huddle up
Grand Rapids Rise huddle up
(Grand Rapids Rise, Credit: Nicolas Carrillo)

This Week's Matches

RISE (6-8) at Orlando Valkyries (7-8) // Thu., April 11 // 7 p.m. // Addition Financial Arena

Watch: YouTube at 7 p.m.

Season Series: 0-2 Overall, 0-1 Away. Third of four meetings overall, second of two at Addition Financial Arena

Noteworthy: Grand Rapids and Orlando face off in a rematch after the Valkyries defeated the Rise on Saturday, April 6, at Van Andel Arena. Orlando won in five sets by scores of 18-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-19, 9-15 to secure back-to-back wins for the first time this season. The Rise have lost three in a row.

RISE vs. Vegas Thrill (5-11) // Sat., April 13 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 7 p.m.

Watch: WXSP-TV and YouTube at 7 p.m.

Season Series: 1-1 Overall, 0-1 Home. Third of four meetings overall, second of two at Van Andel Arena

Noteworthy: Both Grand Rapids Rise and Vegas have secured wins on each other's home court. The Rise are 3-4 on the road this season. The Thrill have lost four consecutive matches with a 1-12 set record. The last victory for Vegas was a five-set triumph over the Rise on March 17.

Stuck on Repeat: For the first of two times this season, the Rise will have a rematch against a team they just faced. The home-and-away series is the fourth time that this has happened during the inaugural season of Pro Volleyball Federation. The Rise will also host consecutive matches against the San Diego Mojo on May 4 and May 5 to start a three-match homestand to conclude the regular season.

The Rise are looking to avoid a repeat of what happened five days ago in Grand Rapids, as the Valkyries escaped town with a five-set victory. Orlando also won the first meeting between the two teams on March 1 at home by set scores of 25-20, 21-25, 32-30, 27-25.

Across the two matches, the Valkyries have only scored 12 more points (210-198). Orlando also has had eight more blocks (23-15), 10 fewer serving errors (35-25), and a better hitting percentage (.295 to .254). The Rise have registered more kills (127-121), assists (119-107), and digs (138-125) despite picking up two losses.

Scully Steps Up: Rise outside hitter Shannon Scully had her best match this season last time out with 15 kills (.279) and 14 digs against Orlando on April 6. The Huntington Beach, California, native came into the match with only 17 kills in 37 sets played. It was the second time that Scully has started a match this season, but the fifth time that she has featured in every set during a match. Scully ranks fifth on the team in total attack attempts (101) and hitting percentage (.218) with a minimum of 20 sets played. She only had six attack attempts through the first seven Rise matches.

Whirlwind Ahead: The Rise are gearing up to play five matches in the span of 10 days, which will include travel before and after each match. The next week and a half will look like this: at Orlando (4/11), travel home to Grand Rapids to face Vegas (4/13), at Atlanta (4/16), home again against Orlando (4/18), and then over to Vegas to see the Thrill again (4/20). The multi-stop journey will roughly be 6,575 miles, and that doesn't include the other road trip to face Omaha (4/26) and Columbus (4/28) later this month. The Rise have five regular-season road matches left and will complete all of them before April is over.

Blocking Out: The Rise are 6-2 this season when having more blocks than their opponent, and 0-6 when they have same or fewer blocks. Both Grand Rapids and Orlando finished with nine blocks in the first meeting between the two teams on March 1. The Valkyries had eight more blocks (14-6) in the rematch on April 6 in Grand Rapids.

Middle blocker Marin Grote has been a force at the net for the Rise this season with a team-high 45 blocks, followed by Emiliya Dimitrova (21), Ashley Evans (21), and Alyssa Jensen (17). Grand Rapids averages 2.46 blocks per set, fourth best in the League, while Orlando ranks last at 2.36 blocks per set.




Images from this story

Grand Rapids Rise huddle up
Grand Rapids Rise huddle up
(Nicolas Carrillo)		   



Pro Volleyball Federation Stories from April 10, 2024


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