By Annie Walker

April 07, 2024

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Mojo defeated the Columbus Fury in four sets, 23-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-23, on Sunday at Viejas Arena. It marked the second consecutive victory for the Mojo, a first in franchise history, and gave the team three victories over their last four matches. San Diego improved to 5-7 this year and into fifth place in the league standings, while Columbus fell to 5-9 on the season.

San Diego’s Temi Thomas-Ailara collected a match-high 28 points and set franchise record with 27 kills. The Mojo had four players score in double figures with Valeria Papa scoring 13 points and Kenrda Dahlke 12, while Ronika Stone added 11 points. Nootsara Tomkom paced San Diego with 49 assists and 17 digs.

Thomas-Ailara began raking up the points early in the match, scoring the first three points the Mojo to give the team a 3-2 lead. The Mojo slowly built a four-point leading, moving ahead 15-11. An errant Mojo serve out of a media timeout cut the advantage to three, but back-to-back kills by Papa put the Mojo 17-12. The Fury battled back with three straight points until the one-two punch of Tomkom and Stone ended the run. The Mojo tacked on another point with a Stone block to make it 19-15, but a five-point run by Columbus allowed the Fury to regain the lead at 20-19. A huge swing by Lindsey Vander Wiede evened the set, 20-20. The sides traded the next six points to move the score to 23-23, but the Fury closed it out, 25-23. Thomas-Ailara had a set-high nine points during the first frame, scoring on nine-of-15 swings, including eight of her first 11. San Diego led the first set in kills, 19-17, but had four errors to Columbus’ one.

After trading the first two points of the second set, a block by Hannah Tapp, kills by Thomas-Ailara and Papa and a Dahlke ace gave the Mojo an early 5-1 lead in the set. After the Mojo pushed their lead to 7-2, the Fury scored the next four points to make it a one-point game. San Diego and Columbus traded the next six points to make it 10-9, before back-to-back points for the Mojo made it 12-9. The Mojo extended the lead further and a drop shot by Stone gave San Diego a 15-12 lead. Libero Shara Venegas collected her first kill of the year to give the Mojo a six-point lead at 23-17 and force the Fury to take a time out. Columbus scored coming out of the time out, but San Diego scored two of the next three points to take the set 25-19. Thomas-Ailara once again led the way for the Mojo, scoring 10 points during the set, while Nootsara had 13 assists for the second-straight frame.

In a tightly-contested third set, neither side was able to build more than a two-point advantage until a Dahlke stuff block put San Diego by three points, 13-10. After a Fury time out, the Mojo scored to take the largest lead of the set, 14-10. Columbus slowly chipped away at their deficit and gained the lead at 18-17. The Mojo called time out and once again scored out of the break to even the set. San Diego moved ahead, 20-19, on a Dahlke kill, but the Fury once again evened the match. The sides traded the next four points until a three-point run by the Mojo closed out the set, 25-22. Dahlke paced the Mojo scoring effort in the third frame with seven points, while Thomas-Ailara had five points and six digs and Tomkom chipped in 14 assists.

Columbus jumped to a 4-1 lead in set four and pushed it to a four-point advantage, 7-3. San Diego begin cutting into the lead and tied the score at 10-10 after Hannah Tapp collected three-straight points for the Mojo. A net violation gave the San Diego their first lead of the set at 12-11 and the Mojo tallied three of the next four points to make it 15-12. The Fury scored three-straight points of their own to once again even the set. A huge back row kill by Thomas-Ailara allowed the Mojo to regain the advantage and San Diego reeled off the next three points to open a four-point lead, 19-16. The Fury battled back and scored the next four points to regain the lead. The Mojo recorded five of the next six points to set up match point, 24-21. After back-to-back hitting errors by San Diego, a Thomas-Ailara kill sealed the win for San Diego, 25-23.

San Diego closes out the homestand on Wednesday, April 10 when they host the league-leading Atlanta Vibe. First serve inside Viejas Arena will take place at 7 p.m.

• Thomas-Ailara scored 20-plus points for the second time this week and third time in the last five matches.
• The Mojo started the week in seventh place and have moved ahead of Vegas and Columbus in the standings after two victories.
• San Diego is 4-3 at Viejas Arena this season, one of three teams in the league with winning records at home.
• The Mojo have won their last two matches in four sets, dropping the first set in each contest.

COURTESY SAN DIEGO MOJO COMMUNICATIONS