By Annie Walker

February 06, 2025

This Week’s Match

RISE (4-3) at Columbus Fury (0-7) // Fri., Feb. 7 // 7 p.m. // Nationwide Arena

Watch: YouTube at 7 p.m.

Season Series: Second of four meetings overall, second of two at Nationwide Arena

All-Time Regular Season Series: 4-1 Overall, 2-1 Away

Noteworthy: In the first meeting between these two teams this season on Jan. 26, the Rise completed the franchise’s first-ever reverse sweep win by set scores of 19-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-14, 15-12 to keep the Fury winless on the year. Grand Rapids improved to 4-1 all-time over Columbus with a 12-7 edge in sets won and a 417-402 lead in total points scored. The lone match the Fury won against the Rise was a home sweep on April 28, 2024.

On The Rise: After opening the season with three straight losses, the Rise have flipped the script, winning their last four matches — including the franchise’s first-ever reverse sweep against the Columbus Fury on Jan. 26. The winning streak is the longest in the team’s history. The Rise have also improved to 2-0 this season when trailing 2-1 after three sets, a dramatic turnaround from last year’s 1-10 record in the same situation.

This four-match surge also includes sweeps over the Atlanta Vibe (Jan. 19) and San Diego Mojo (Feb. 2), along with a five-set victory against the Orlando Valkyries (Jan. 30). During this stretch, Grand Rapids has outscored its opponents by 37 points (358-321). The longest win streak in PVF history belongs to the Vibe, who won seven straight from March 27 to April 16, 2024.

EP Track Two: PVF Player of the Week Remix: Rise outside hitter Erika Pritchard was named the Week 4 Pro Volleyball Federation Player of the Week presented by Franklin Sports, as announced by the League office on Tuesday. She becomes the second consecutive Rise player to earn the honor, following Carli Snyder’s selection for Week 3. Retired Rise opposite hitter Emiliya Dimitrova also won the award once last season.

Prichard finished the week with 41 points (31 kills on a .352 hitting percentage, seven blocks, three aces) across two wins, recording 5.13 points per set. She had a Rise season-high 27 points (21 kills, five blocks, one ace) in a five-set victory over the Valkyries on Jan. 30, then followed that up with 14 points (10 kills, two blocks, two aces) in a sweep of the Mojo on Feb. 2.

Bastianelli’s Block Party: Rise middle blocker Ali Bastianelli matched the team record for most blocks in a single match, tallying seven in a 3-0 sweep over her former team, the Mojo, on Feb. 2. Marin Grote also recorded seven blocks on Feb. 18, 2024, though hers came in a five-set victory over the Vibe. Bastianelli has registered at least two blocks in each of her last five matches and leads the team with 19 blocks this season. She also tops the League with 0.95 blocks per set, continuing the dominance she displayed last year when she finished with a PVF-best 1.02 blocks per set.

Offensively Efficient: Grand Rapids is second in the League in team attack percentage, hitting .265. The Rise hit a season-best .288 in the sweep of the Mojo on Feb. 2. Grand Rapids also averages a league-low 3.37 attack errors per set. Three of the Top 8 most efficient attackers across PVF have started the last four matches for the Rise. This trio includes setter August Raskie (.481, 2nd), and middle blockers Grote (.391, 5th) and Bastianelli (.304, 8th).

Danger Alert: Raskie, nicknamed “Danger,” nearly made history the last time the Rise were in Columbus on Jan. 26, finishing three kills shy of the team’s first triple-double. The crafty left-hander tallied 45 assists, 10 digs, and a season-high seven kills (.600). She had a season-high 51 assists on Jan. 30 against Orlando and tied the Rise single-match record with 26 digs. Raskie has recorded double-doubles in six out of seven matches and is averaging 9.96 assists and 3.31 digs per set. She has the most kills for a setter (26) so far this season and is second in the League in attack percentage (.481).

Shime In: Rookie Rise opposite hitter Naya Shime, a second-round pick out of Southern Methodist, has made the most of the playing time she has received to start the season. At the quarter-way mark of the campaign, Shime has emerged as a key contributor in the starting rotation with 56 kills (.215), 37 digs, and eight blocks in 19 sets played. Her 64 points is third-most on the team behind outside hitters Snyder (88) and Pritchard (80).

First Line of Defense: An improved defense has played a key role in the Rise’s turnaround from 0-3 to 4-3. In their three losses, opponents hit .291, .253, and .406, but in the four wins, those numbers dropped to .194, .142, .194, and .168. A big factor has been blocking, with the Rise outblocking opponents 52-36 during the streak. Grand Rapids leads the League with 3.07 blocks per set.

Starts with Serving: For the first time in team history, the Rise had more aces (5) than service errors (3) in their Feb. 2 win over the Mojo. Grand Rapids ranks second in aces per set at 0.96, trailing only the Vibe (1.00).

Rise-Fury Connections: Familiar faces meet again:

• Rise libero Valeria León returns to Columbus for a second time, first time on the active roster, after playing for the Fury in PVF’s inaugural season.
• Western Kentucky graduate Kaylee Cox played a season with Rise outside hitter Paige Briggs-Romine in 2023 and was coached by Rise libero Jena Otec for two seasons (2023-24) with the Hilltoppers.
• Rise middle blocker Bastianelli and setter Raskie played with Fury opposite hitter Morgan Lewis with the San Diego

COURTESY GRAND RAPIDS RISE COMMUNICATIONS