By Annie Walker

January 25, 2024

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—The Columbus Fury opened their inaugural season with a tough loss in straight sets (25-17, 25-23, 25-19) to the Grand Rapids Rise. The teams battled it out in front of a crowd of 8,000-plus.

The Fury took the first point of the match on a kill from Reagan Cooper, but the Rise got out to the quick start grabbing an early 7-3 lead. The Rise closed out the first set winning by eight points, 25-17.

The Rise momentum continued into the second set taking a 3-0 lead, but the Fury would not go away quietly. Columlbus used a 7-1 run to take the 7-4 lead. The teams traded points throughout the second set with the Rise gaining the advantage late, taking set two 25-23.

The Rise attack proved to be too much for the Fury as they powered to a 25-19 win to earn the sweep, hitting .250 for the match.

Set 1

Cooper would put down the first point of the match and the Rise answered with a 7-2 run. The Fury battled back to within two points, 9-7, on a kill from María Schlegel. Grand Rapids responded with another run to push their lead to 16-9 and never looked back on their way to a 25-17 set one win. Columbus totaled 10 kills in the set with Raymariely Santos dishing out a balanced attack with four of five hitters tallying two or more kills in the set.

Set 2

The Rise opened set two with an early 3-0 advantage, but the Fury were able to respond with a 4-0 run of their own capped by an ace from Schlegel. Columbus took a 7-4 lead on a kill from Kaitlyn Hord, her third of the night. The teams traded points and the lead throughout the second set with the teams tied late, 17-17. A long rally gave the Fury an 18-17 lead on a block from Rainelle Jones, who had three block assists in the set. Columbus pushed their lead to 20-17 but a five-point run from the Rise gave them the 22-20 advantage and Grand Rapids closed out the set 25-23.

Set 3

The Rise came out of the intermission and kept their momentum, opening the set 5-0. The Fury were able to capitalize on a few errors from the Rise to get back within four on a massive block from opposite, Ashley Wenz. Wenz then capped a four-point run with a service ace to cut the Rise lead to 11-10. Grand Rapids used a few short runs to push their lead back to six, 20-14, and were able to close out the sweep, 25-19.

Standout Stats

• Valeria León led the Fury with 13 digs while María Schlegel added 10 digs on the night.
• The Fury totaled 26 kills but hit .069 for the match.
• Cooper led the way with nine kills while Kaitlyn Hord put down eight kills on a .430 percentage.
• Rainelle Jones totaled six block assists, a match-high for either team.

Columbus will have a long stretch before they are back in action on February 16 in Orlando. The team will play their home opener on Wednesday, February 21 at 7 p.m. at Nationwide Arena.

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