GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The San Diego Mojo (10-10) defeated the Grand Rapids Rise (10-12) in four sets, 22-25, 25-18, 27-25, 25-15, at Van Andel Arena on Saturday evening to move into third place in the Pro Volleyball Federation standings.
San Diego opened the 2024 campaign with a 1-5 record, losing in sweeps in the first three matches, but have won nine of 14 matches since. The Mojo have won all three matches against the Rise this season.
Willow Johnson continues to impress for the Mojo, collecting a match-high 18 kills on 45 swings (40 percent) with one block, and Ali Bastianelli set a San Diego record with 10 blocks in the four-set victory. Ronika Stone, Temi Thomas-Ailara and Lindsey Vander Weide chipped in with 11 points each, while August Raske led San Diego with 37 assists and Shara Venegas paced the team with 14 digs.
In a scrappy first set, San Diego opened the scoring and the squads battled point-for-point until Grand Rapids took their first lead of the match at 4-3 and pushed the advantage to 5-3. The Rise extended the lead to 10-6 before a four-point run by the Mojo leveled the score, capped off by a huge swing from Johnson. Grand Rapids regained momentum with a three-point run of their own to regain the lead, maintaining the three-point lead when San Diego called a time out with the score 19-16. The Mojo scored out of the break with a Stone kill and were still down by two late with the Rise up 24-22 after San Diego challenged and won a block touch to keep the set alive, but Grand Rapids scored the next point to close out the first set.
Both sides had trouble serving early in the set with three errors by Grand Rapids and two by San Diego during the first eight points as the squads traded scores to open the frame 4-4. The Rise opened a 6-4 lead and the Mojo battled back to tie the set, 7-7. The Mojo took their first lead of the set, 11-10, after a swing and kill by Johnson. San Diego took a 15-13 lead into the media time out, then saw the lead disappear after a pair of points by Grand Rapids. The visitors responded with a four-point run highlighted by three-straight blocks by Bastianelli to give the Mojo a 19-15 lead and force a Rise time out. San Diego scored on another Johnson swing to give the Mojo a five-point lead. Grand Rapids cut the deficit to four, 22-18, before San Diego wrapped up the set with three consecutive points to win it, 25-18.
In a tight set three, Grand Rapids was in front for much of the early portion of the frame but was unable to build a lead greater than two points. San Diego took the lead for the first time in the frame, 7-6, after a Rise attacking error. The teams traded leads over the middle portion of the set until the Mojo went up 17-16 and pushed the lead to 20-16. Grand Rapids dug out of the hole and evened the score, 21-21, then took a 23-22 lead before a San Diego time out. The Rise moved to set point after the break before kills by Johnson and Vander Weide and a Grand Rapids error gave San Diego a 25-24 lead. Grand Rapids tied it once again, but swings by Vander Weide and Morgan Lewis gave San Diego the set, 27-25.
Grand Rapids once again built an early lead and was ahead 8-6 when the Mojo went on a four-point run to take a 10-8 lead. A huge block by Bastianellli gave the Mojo a 13-10 lead, which they later pushed to four points when a block by Stone took the advantage to 17-13. It was all San Diego from there, as the Mojo won eight of the final 10 points to secure the set, 25-15, and the win.San Diego and Grand Rapids will square off one more time in the regular season on Sunday, May 5 when the teams meet inside Van Andel Arena at 1 p.m. PT. The Mojo will then return to Viejas Arena on Tuesday, May 7 for the final home match of the season against the Columbus Fury at 7 p.m. PT.
MATCH NOTES
- Johnson has scored in double-digits in all five matches she has played this season.
- San Diego out-blocked Grand Rapids 17-7 and had seven service aces to the Rise’s four.
- The win in four sets snapped a string of five-set matches for San Diego that had reached six consecutive contests.
- The Mojo have won seven of their last 10 matches.
- San Diego is three matches behind the Omaha Supernovas (13-7) in the PVF standings with four matches to play.
MATCH STATS | FULL MATCH VIDEO
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ABOUT SAN DIEGO MOJO
The San Diego Mojo are a women’s professional volleyball team in San Diego, Calif. and is an inaugural member of Pro Volleyball Federation, the premier women’s professional volleyball league in North America. The Mojo play their home matches at Viejas Arena on the campus of San Diego State University. Tickets are on sale now.