GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Rise are postseason bound. With a guaranteed spot in the Pro Volleyball Federation playoffs awaiting the winner Sunday afternoon inside Van Andel Arena, the Rise overcame the San Diego Mojo for the first time this season. Grand Rapids (11-12) prevented San Diego (10-11) from completing a four-match season series sweep with a 3-0 home victory by set scores of 25-23, 25-18, 25-16.
The Rise became the third team to clinch a postseason berth with the win, leaving the Mojo, Columbus Fury (8-13), and Vegas Thrill (8-14) to fight for the final spot with a week left in the regular season. Seeding for the final two spots hasn’t been decided yet, while the Atlanta Vibe will be the No. 1 seed and the Omaha Supernovas the No. 2 seed.
Less than 24 hours after Grand Rapids lost 3-1 to the Mojo, the rematch on Sunday was a complete turnaround for the Rise. Grand Rapids hit .296 — their second-best attacking percentage this year, with a season-low 11 attack errors — and a trio of players reached double figures in kills: Emiliya Dimitrova (13, .379), Claire Chaussee (11, .188), and Erika Pritchard (10, .391).
Dimitrova, who was held to nine kills (.000) in her return to the lineup on Saturday, came out firing Sunday with seven kills (.462) in the opening set. The first set ended up being the closest, with the score tied at every point from 14-14 up to 23-23. Chaussee then delivered with a formidable kill and a set-point ace that clipped off the top of the net, 25-23. Grand Rapids is now 11-16 in sets decided by the minimum of two points.
Four out of the first five Rise points in the middle frame were off Pritchard kills. Marin Grote’s second ace of the match and a Mojo attack error gave Grand Rapids an early 9-6 lead, forcing a San Diego timeout. The Mojo responded with a 5-0 run to take a brief one-point advantage, 13-12, but three straight Rise blocks — Dimitrova with two, Kayla Caffey with one — flipped the momentum back in Grand Rapids’ favor. Tied at 16-16, the Rise went on a 4-0 spurt following a Mojo serving error, kills from Chaussee and Dimitrova, and an ace from Pritchard. Grand Rapids then scored the final four points of the set with a setter kill from Ashley Evans, a third kill of the match from Caffey, and a pair of San Diego attacking errors.
Everything was seemingly going right for the Rise. First, they won a point on a quick serve to beat the serving clock in the middle of the third set after nearly getting out of rotation. Then later, Grand Rapids survived a dangerous overpass that eventually turned into a Mojo attacking error to take a 15-10 lead in the final frame. The Mojo miscue spiraled into a 10-6 Rise run to close out the match. Libero Camila Gómez put an exclamation point on the Rise win by scoring the final point on a freeball pass at the net that found the back corner on the Mojo’s side of the court.
Gómez picked up a match-high 17 digs and had six assists. Evans recorded a double-double for a second straight match with 34 assists and 11 digs. The Rise had three more blocks than Mojo (9-6) after getting outblocked 17-7 on Saturday. San Diego’s Willow Johnson was held to a team-high seven kills and Alison Bastianelli, who had 10 blocks the day prior, was held to only one rejection.
Notes
- For the first time this season, the Rise didn’t give up an ace to their opponent.
- Grand Rapids earned its third sweep this season, tied for second-most in the League with Omaha. Atlanta finished its regular season already with 10 sweeps in 24 matches.
- After playing 13 out of their 14 players on Saturday, the Rise didn’t make any substitutions on Sunday. All seven players who started ended up playing the whole match. It’s the first time the Rise rotation went untouched during a match this season.
Box Score [clk.griffinshockey.com]
SD 23 18 16 — 0
GR 25 25 25 — 3
Team Leaders
SD: Kills — Willow Johnson 7, Lindsey Vander Weide 6, Temi Thomas-Ailara 6, Morgan Lewis 6; Assists — August Raskie 21, Nootsara Tomkom 12; Aces — None; Blocks — Ronika Stone 3, Alison Bastianelli 1, Vander Weide 1, Lewis 1; Digs — Shara Venegas 13, Thomas-Ailara 11, Valeria Papa 6.
GR: Kills — Emiliya Dimitrova 13, Claire Chaussee 11, Erika Pritchard 10; Assists — Ashley Evans 34, Camila Gómez 6, Dimitrova 2; Aces — Marin Grote 2, Pritchard 1, Chaussee 1; Blocks — Kayla Caffey 3, Pritchard 2, Dimitrova 2; Digs — Gómez 17, Evans 11, Dimitrova 9.
A — 3,885
Record / Next Match
Grand Rapids: 11-12 / Sun., May 12 vs. Omaha Supernovas, 5:30 p.m.
San Diego: 10-11 / Tue., May 7 vs. Columbus Fury, 7 p.m. PDT
