By Annie Walker

This Week’s Match

RISE (3-4) vs. Columbus Fury (4-2) // Sat., March 9 // Noon // Van Andel Arena

Listen: 96.1 The Game at Noon

Watch: YouTube at Noon

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

Noteworthy: Grand Rapids aims to snap a three-match losing streak by beating Columbus a second time this season at home. The Rise swept the Fury in their inaugural Pro Volleyball Federation match on Jan. 25 by set scores of 25-17, 25-23, 25-19. Columbus rebounded from a 0-2 start and now holds the League’s longest winning streak, entering the match with a 4-2 record (1-2 on the road).

Rocky Road: The first three-match away stretch for the Rise proved to be a learning experience. Grand Rapids went 0-3 despite only being outscored by 17 points, 319-302. The Rise won at least one set in all three matches, and five out of the nine sets they lost were decided by the minimum of two points. In the 3-1 loss at Orlando on March 1, Grand Rapids even set a new season-high with a .298 hitting percentage, with 64 kills and 16 attack errors on 161 swings.

The current three-match losing skid ties the longest for a Pro Volleyball Federation team this season, as both the San Diego Mojo and Vegas Thrill lost three straight earlier this year.

The good news for Grand Rapids is it won’t have a longer road journey this season. The first trip out west to San Diego was a 3,690-mile round trip. That was followed by a two-stop journey last weekend to Orlando (1,025 miles) with a return flight back over to San Diego (2,140 miles). Add the 1,845 miles to get home to Grand Rapids and the Rise traveled approximately 8,700 miles by zigzagging across the country in the span of 13 days (including travel days).

Sets That Refuse to End: The longest set in Pro Volleyball Federation history was extended to 70 points, as 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 2-9 in sets decided by the minimum of two points and are 13-10 in sets when the winner doesn’t need to go beyond 25 points (or 15 points in the fifth set).

Jensen, Fingall Make Debuts: 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.

Two matches later, opposite hitter Morgahn Fingall made her long-awaited debut against the Mojo as well. Fingall, a native of Fairfax, Virginia, was selected by the Rise in the first round, 4th overall, of the 2023 Pro Volleyball Federation college draft after she played five seasons at Tennessee. She made her debut appearance count by also notching her first pro kill in the third set.

Parity Rampant: The “anyone can beat anyone” parity circle for the inaugural Pro Volleyball Federation season only took 18 League matches to be completed. The circle was closed with the Mojo picking up their first franchise win against the Rise on Feb. 23. The circle: Grand Rapids beat Atlanta, which beat Omaha, which beat Orlando, which beat Columbus, which beat Vegas, which beat San Diego, which beat Grand Rapids.

Air Claire Strikes: Rise outside hitter Claire Chaussee put together her best two matches so far this season against the Valkyries on March 1 and the Mojo on March 4. She crossed over the 20-kill plateau in both matches and hit .380 and .327, respectively. Chaussee accounted for 34.1% of the Rise kills across the two matches.

• At Orlando (March 1): 21 kills, 11 digs, two assists, one block and one ace;
• At San Diego (March 4): Season-high 23 kills, 10 digs and two aces. Moved into fifth place in the League in kills per sets played (4.21).

Chaussee leads Grand Rapids in total attacks (365) and service aces (8) so far this season. She is second in kills (122) behind opposite hitter Emiliya Dimitrova (129).

Bolding Called Up: Rise 6-foot-5 middle blocker Sydney Bolding was 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 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. Bolding has been on the active roster for two matches now but has yet to make her professional debut with the Rise.

Starts With Serving: The Achilles’ heel for the Rise continues to be serving and serve-receive. Grand Rapids had a season-high 20 service errors in the loss at Orlando on March 1. The Rise have had 22 more service errors than their opponents this season (90-68), while also having eight fewer aces (36-28) for a 30-point swing on points given away before a rally could even commence. Breaking down those 30 points a little further, the Rise allowed 22 more points from the service line in their losses, with the remaining minus-eight differential coming in the team’s three wins. Grand Rapids is 2-0 overall when having more aces than its opponent but 1-4 if it has the same amount or fewer aces.

Rise – Fury Connections: The Rise have three players on their roster who hail from Ohio (Ashley Evans, Nia Grant, and Mac Podraza), while the Fury don’t have any natives from Michigan. Podraza’s mother, Christine, currently serves as team services director for the Fury.

Former college teammates between the two squads include:

• Podraza played four seasons (2019-22) with Fury outside hitter Jenaisya Moore at Ohio State.
• Columbus setter Gabby Blossom, middle blocker Kaitlyn Hord and Rise outside hitter Erika Pritchard played at Penn State together in 2021. Pritchard also played with Fury middle blocker Rainelle Jones at Maryland (2018-20). From 2012-14, Grant and Fury outside hitter Megan Courtney Lush were also teammates at Penn State.
• Columbus Fury first overall pick in the 2023 Pro Volleyball Federation college draft, Asjia O’Neal, was on the 2022 NCAA Tournament championship Texas team with Rise middle blocker Kayla Caffey.

COURTESY GRAND RAPIDS RISE COMMUNICATIONS