The Rise's First Serve

This Week’s Match

RISE vs. Columbus Fury // Thu., Jan. 25 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 7 p.m.

Watch: Stadium and WXSP-TV at 7 p.m.

Season Series: First of four meetings overall, first of two at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 0-0 Overall, 0-0 Home

Noteworthy: Grand Rapids plays its inaugural match in franchise history. Thursday’s contest will be the second-ever Pro Volleyball Federation match, following the League’s debut match between the Atlanta Vibe and the Omaha Supernovas in Nebraska on Wednesday night.

From The Ashes: A timeline of the foundation of the Grand Rapids Rise:

  • Dec. 5, 2022: DP Fox Sports & Entertainment announces the launch of West Michigan’s newest sports franchise, a women’s professional volleyball team that will begin play at Van Andel Arena in January 2024 as a member of the newly formed Pro Volleyball Federation.
  • March 13, 2023: West Michigan Pro Volleyball introduces Cathy George as the team’s head coach and director of volleyball operations.
  • April 14, 2023: DP Fox Sports & Entertainment announces the name of West Michigan Pro Volleyball as the Grand Rapids Rise.
  • June 1, 2023: The Rise sign their first three players in franchise history, as Claire Chaussee, Emiliya Dimitrova and Alyssa Jensen join for the inaugural season.
  • June 5, 2023: The Rise sign Camila Gómez, Marin Grote and Holly Toliver to contracts for the first season.
  • June 7, 2023: Rise sign former All-Americans Symone Abbott and Kayla Caffey.
  • June 9, 2023: The Rise ink former Big Ten Conference standouts Erika Pritchard and MacKenzi Welsh-Vazquez.
  • June 20, 2023: The Rise sign former USC Trojan Shannon Scully and current Team USA member Ashley Evans.
  • July 27, 2023: The Rise announce the hiring of Bill Walton as associate head coach.
  • Aug. 28, 2023: The Grand Rapids Rise sign two-time NCAA national champion Nia Grant.
  • Sept. 6, 2023: The Grand Rapids Rise hire Denis Dimitrov as an assistant coach.
  • Sept. 18, 2023: The Rise announce the signing of setter/libero and U.S. Olympian Sarah Sponcil.
  • Sept. 26, 2023: Setter MacKenzi Welsh-Vazquez becomes the team’s director of volleyball operations, assuming the role from Rise head coach Cathy George, who becomes VP of volleyball operations.
  • Nov. 22, 2023: The Rise announce the signing of experienced 10-year professional setter Taylor Bruns.
  • Nov. 28, 2023: Single-match tickets for the Rise’s inaugural 2024 season go on sale to the general public.
  • Dec. 4, 2023: The Rise practice for the first time as a collective team as part of their Rise Mini-Camp.
  • Dec. 7, 2023: The Rise introduce themselves to the Grand Rapids community by hosting a “Meet the Team” Showcase inside Van Andel Arena.
  • Dec. 11, 2023: Pro Volleyball Federation holds the first collegiate player draft. The Rise make five selections: Morgahn Fingall (First Round, Selection 4), Sydney Bolding (Second Round, Selection 11), Kenna Sauer (Third Round, Selection 18), Emma Clothier (Fourth Round, Selection 25) and Karly Basham (Fifth Round, Selection 32).
  • Dec. 29, 2023: Morghan Fingall, Sydney Bolding, Kenna Sauer, and Karly Basham sign to the roster, along with free agent setter Mac Podraza.
  • Jan. 15, 2024: After holding preseason training camp for two weeks, the Rise waive Holly Toliver and Karly Basham to trim the roster down to 17 players.
  • Jan. 18, 2024: The Rise waive setter Taylor Bruns.
  • Jan. 23, 2024: The Rise assign "practice player" spots to Sydney Bolding and Kenna Sauer to finalize the 14-player active roster.

Roster Breakdown: The Rise’s roster includes 16 players total, with 14 players on the active roster: outside hitters Symone Abbott, Claire Chaussee, Erika Pritchard, and Shannon Scully; middle blockers Kayla Caffey, Nia Grant, Marin Grote, and Alyssa Jensen; opposite hitters Emiliya Dimitrova and Morgahn Fingall; setters Ashley Evans and Mac Podraza; liberos Camila Gómez and Sarah Sponcil; practice players in middle blocker Sydney Bolding and outside hitter Kenna Sauer.

Retirement Recall: Rise head coach Cathy George announced her retirement when the Michigan State volleyball team concluded its 2021 season. George departed the Spartans as the winningest coach in the history of the volleyball program. She was the MSU head coach for 17 seasons (2005-21) and totaled 35 years as a collegiate head coach, including 11 seasons (1994-2004) at Western Michigan University. Upon her retirement from MSU in January 2022, her 667 career wins (667-457, .593) ranked 15th among active Division I coaches and third in the Big Ten. George began her DI coaching career at UT-Arlington in 1989, reaching the Final Four in her first season at the helm and winning three Southland Conference titles (1989, 1990 and 1992) in five years. She was the first female head coach to lead a team to the NCAA Division I Final Four. George got her start as a collegiate head coach at the NCAA DII level at North Dakota State University, serving from 1987-88.

First Time for Everything: Not only will this be the first professional volleyball match to be played at Van Andel Arena, but it will also be the first pro match for Rise active roster players Morgahn Fingall, Alyssa Jensen, and Mac Podraza.

Talent Rises to the Top: Here are some of the past accomplishments achieved by Rise players:

  • First Team All-Americans: Claire Chaussee (AVCA 2022 Louisville), Sarah Sponcil (VolleyMob 2018 UCLA), Nia Grant (AVCA 2014 Penn State), and Morgahn Fingall (AVCA 2023 Tennessee).
  • Second Team All-Americans: Alyssa Jensen (AVCA 2017 & 2016 Michigan State), Kayla Caffey (AVCA 2021 Nebraska), Marin Grote (AVCA 2021 Washington), and Morgahn Fingall (AVCA 2022 Tennessee).
  • National Titles: Camila Gómez (2017 & 2016 Miami Dade College), Kayla Caffey (2022 Texas), Sarah Sponcil (2019 & 2018 UCLA Beach), Shannon Scully (2022 USC Beach), and Nia Grant (2014 & 2013 Penn State).
  • National Team Members: Ashley Evans (Team USA – indoor), Camila Gómez (Team Colombia – indoor), Emiliya Dimitrova (Team Bulgaria – indoor), and Sarah Sponcil (Team USA – beach).
  • Player of the Year: Claire Chaussee (2022 ACC Player of the Year; 2022 AVCA All-East Region Player of the Year), and Sarah Sponcil (VolleyMob 2018 Pair of the Year; 2017 WCC Player of the Year; 2016 WCC Defender of the Year).
  • First Team All-Conference: Alyssa Jensen (2017 & 2016 Big Ten), Erika Pritchard (2020 & 2018 Big Ten), Marin Grote (2022 & 2021 Pac-12), Sarah Sponcil (2019 & 2018 Pac-12 Beach; 2017, 2016 & 2015 WCC), Shannon Scully (2021 & 2019 WCC), Symone Abbott (2017 Big Ten), Nia Grant (2014 Big Ten), Morgahn Fingall (2023 & 2022 SEC), and Kenna Sauer (2023, 2022 & 2021 Big 12).

Grand Experience: Prior to playing in their first Pro Volleyball Federation season, Rise players have combined to play in 50 professional seasons across 16 countries: Brazil, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States. Emiliya Dimitrova enters her 17th pro season, followed by Nia Grant (8th season), Symone Abbott (7th season), and Sarah Sponcil (7th season).

Back Home in the Mitten: The Rise boasts two homegrown Michigan players in Symone Abbott from Northville, just outside Detroit, and Holland native Alyssa Jensen. Abbott attended Northwestern University before playing multiple professional seasons overseas in France, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. Jensen, who attended Michigan State from 2014-17 under Rise head coach Cathy George, embarks on her first professional season.

Above the Net: Fourteen of the 16 players on the full roster are 6 feet tall or above. Practice squad player Sydney Bolding stands the tallest at 6-foot-5, followed by Alyssa Jensen and Marin Grote at 6-foot-4. The average height of the team is 6-foot-1. Liberos Camila Gómez and Sarah Sponcil are the outliers at 5-foot-2 and 5-foot-8, respectively.

Photo by Nicholas Carrillo