GRAND RAPIDS RISE 2 at Vegas Thrill 3
Jan. 10, 2025
HENDERSON, Nev. — The Grand Rapids Rise were dealt a tough hand in their season opener Friday night, falling to the Vegas Thrill in a dramatic reverse sweep by set scores of 20-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 16-14.
Despite looking poised for another season-opening sweep, the Rise experienced a haunting déjà vu as Vegas once again pulled off the improbable. Last season, on March 17, 2024, the Thrill also stunned the Rise with the first-ever Pro Volleyball Federation reverse sweep.
Michigan native Alisha Glass Childress helped the Thrill rally from a 2-0 deficit to secure the win, setting a PVF single-match record with 72 assists. Vegas also set a new PVF single-match record with 76 team kills, finishing with a .284 hitting percentage.
The Rise set two franchise records with seven aces and 16 blocks in the defeat.
The Thrill struck first on Friday, scoring the opening two points, but the Rise quickly responded with three straight. Returning middle blocker Alyssa Jensen, a Holland, Michigan native, earned the Rise’s first point of the 2025 season with a center-court kill. Newcomer opposite hitter Sherridan Atkinson followed with a powerful kill off a block touch and then added a block of her own.
Grand Rapids edged out to a five-point lead and forced a Vegas timeout after a pair of setter dump kills from August Raskie and an ace from middle blocker Marin Grote. The Rise had four aces in the opening set, including one by Carli Snyder to reach set point. Atkinson’s fourth kill of the match claimed the first frame for the Rise, 25-20.
The Rise hit .324 in the opening set, while holding the Thrill to a .171 hitting percentage.
Jensen once again opened the scoring for the Rise in the second set with a kill. Vegas countered with a quick 4-0 run to take a 7-4 lead and re-energize the home crowd. Tied at 14-14, Grote tapped down a kill to put Grand Rapids ahead heading into the media timeout. Out of the break, Rise outside hitter Paige Briggs-Romine made her first appearance.
Multiple Thrill attack errors, a block and kill from Snyder, and a second ace from Grote pushed the Rise to a 22-16 lead, putting them on the verge of a 2-0 set advantage. Symone Abbott sealed the set with her sixth kill on set point, ending the second set with the same score as the first, 25-20.
Determined to avoid a season-opening sweep, Vegas built a five-point cushion to start the third set, leading 12-7. However, an emphatic block by Atkinson on rookie Charitie Luper, followed by a net violation from Vegas, brought the Rise back to a 13-13 tie. Last tied at 16-16, the Thrill edged ahead, with Hannah Maddux and Layne Van Buskirk delivering key plays down the stretch to secure a 25-22 set victory to keep the match alive.
Rise head coach Cathy George called on her bench in the fourth set, giving setter Camryn Turner and opposite hitter Naya Shime their professional debuts, while also bringing in former San Diego Mojo middle blocker Ali Bastianelli.
The rotational changes couldn’t slow the Thrill’s momentum. Led by six kills each from Luper and Maddox, Vegas hit a staggering .472 in the fourth set to secure a 25-21 win and force a fifth and final frame.
Glass Childress broke the PVF single-match assist record early in the fifth set, surpassing San Diego’s Nootsara Tomkom, who had 64 assists in a match against Vegas last season. She then added a setter dump kill to give the Thrill a 7-3 lead in the fifth set. Glass Childress also finished with 10 digs, joining three other Thrill players with double-doubles: Luper (13 kills, 15 digs), Maddux (13 kills, 10 digs), and Lauren Jardine (13 kills, 11 digs).
The Rise battled until the bitter end with Atkinson and returning outside hitter Erika Pritchard getting key points in crunch time. Pritchard, who did not play in the first two sets, finished with six points, including her fourth kill, which set up match point for the Rise at 14-13.
Unfazed, Vegas scored the next three points — Luper kill, a Rise attack error, and a Glass Childress block — securing the decisive set, 16-14, and match, 3-2.
Notes
- Atkinson (17 kills, three blocks, one ace) and Snyder (16 kills, three aces, two blocks) each finished with a team-high 21 points for the Rise. Snyder’s three aces matched Ashley Evans’ franchise record for most aces in a single match, a feat Evans achieved in a five-set win over Vegas on April 13, 2024.
- The only Rise player on the active roster who didn’t see playing time on Friday was first round draft pick Raven Colvin.
- Raskie finished with 48 assists, 11 digs, and six kills. Her .600 hitting percentage ranked fourth in Rise history for a single match (minimum 10 attack attempts).
- Grand Rapids collectively hit .280 as a team, which is the third-highest hitting percentage in franchise history.
- Jena Otec, making her pro debut, started as the Rise libero and collected a team-high 12 digs and had four assists.
- Vegas head coach Rámon Hernández picked up his first professional win.
GR 25 25 22 21 14 — 2
VG 20 20 25 25 16 — 3
Team Leaders
GR: Kills — Sherridan Atkinson 17, Carli Snyder 16, Symone Abbott 7; Assists — August Raskie 48, Jena Otec 4, Camryn Turner 3; Aces — Snyder 3, Marin Grote 2, Atkinson 1, Raskie 1; Blocks — Grote 4, Jensen 3, Atkinson 3; Digs — Snyder 12, Otec 12, Raskie 10.
VG: Kills — Charitie Luper 18, Hannah Maddux 13, Lauren Jardine 13; Assists — Alisha Glass Childress 72; Aces — Luper 1, Jardine 1; Blocks — Glass Childress 2; Digs — Teaghan DeFalco 22, Luper 15, Jardine 11, Glass Childress 10, Maddux 10.
Record / Next Match
Grand Rapids: 0-1 / Sun., Jan. 12 vs. Omaha Supernovas, 6 p.m. EST
Vegas: 1-0 / Sun., Jan. 12 vs. Atlanta Vibe, 5 p.m. PST
Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Rise