This Week’s Matches
RISE (4-4) vs. Atlanta Vibe (4-5) // Thu., Feb. 13 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: 96.1 The Game at 7 p.m.
Watch: VBTV at 7 p.m.
Season Series: 1-0 Overall, 0-0 Home. Second of four meetings overall, first of two at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Regular Season Series: 3-2 Overall, 1-1 Home
Noteworthy: This is the second matchup of the season between the Rise and Vibe. Grand Rapids swept Atlanta in their first meeting on Jan. 19, marking the first three-set match between the two franchises. All-time, the Rise lead the series with a 14-11 edge in sets and a 554-543 advantage in total points scored.
RISE at Orlando Valkyries (5-4) // Sat., Feb. 15 // 7 p.m. // Addition Financial Arena
Watch: YouTube at 7 p.m.
Season Series: 1-0 Overall, 0-0 Away. Second of four meetings overall, first of two at Addition Financial Arena
All-Time Regular Season Series: 3-2 Overall, 1-1 Away
Noteworthy: The Rise topped the Valkyries in five sets in the first meeting this season on Jan. 30. Grand Rapids trailed 2-1 after the third set but won the final two frames, 25-18 and 15-12. Since that defeat, the Valkyries have won three straight matches over Omaha (3-0), Atlanta (3-0), and Indy (3-1). Orlando plays in Columbus (1-7) on Wednesday, Jan. 12 before coming home to play the Rise.
Trio of All-Stars: Three Rise players have been selected to compete in the first-ever Pro Volleyball Federation All-Star Match on Saturday, Feb. 22. Middle blocker Marin Grote and setter August Raskie will play for Team Collier, while outside hitter Carli Snyder will represent Team Shondell. The teams will be coached by two volleyball legends in Purdue’s Dave Shondell and Georgia Tech’s Michelle Collier.
Grote has tallied 37 kills (.356), 19 digs, 16 blocks, and four aces across 27 sets. In her second season with the Rise, she leads the franchise in career sets played (133) and blocks (85).
Raskie has recorded 312 assists, 99 digs, 28 kills, four blocks, and three aces this season. She has notched a double-double in seven of eight matches, and her .413 attack percentage ranks second in the League.
Snyder currently leads the Rise with 111 points (91 kills, 10 blocks, and 10 aces) and has added 86 digs. She is coming off a season-high 23-point, 20-kill performance against the Columbus Fury on Feb. 7.
Nelson, León Debuts: Former Rise practice squad players Kaleigh Nelson and Valeria León saw their first action of the season on Feb. 7 in Columbus, meaning all 15 players on Grand Rapids' roster have now appeared in a match this year. Nelson, playing her first pro match since the 2017-18 season, stepped in for an injured Naya Shime and made an immediate impact, scoring the Rise’s first point with a kill. She finished with seven kills (.200) and 15 digs, while libero León played one set and picked up three digs.
Serves Up: The Rise, like many teams around the League, are still working to find consistency from the service line. On Feb. 2 against San Diego, Grand Rapids hit a milestone by recording more aces (5) than service errors (3) for the first time in franchise history. While their Feb. 7 match in Columbus saw a franchise-high 21 service errors alongside six aces, the overall numbers show improvement. Grand Rapids has totaled 32 aces to 89 service errors so far, a step forward from last season’s 30 aces to 106 errors through eight matches. Snyder ranks third in the League with 0.32 aces per set.
PVF Players of the Week: Both Rise outside hitter Erika Pritchard (Week 4) and Snyder (Week 3) have been named Pro Volleyball Federation Player of the Week so far this season. They joined retired Rise opposite hitter Emiliya Dimitrova, who won the award once last season.
Prichard finished the Week 4 with 41 points (31 kills on a .352 hitting percentage, seven blocks, three aces) across two wins. 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. Snyder picked up the accolade in Week 3 with 22 points, including 17 kills with a season-high .429 attack percentage, seven digs, three aces, and two blocks in a 3-2 win over Columbus on Jan. 26.
After five weeks, Grand Rapids is the only team to have multiple Player of the Week winners.
Not Four Us: Through eight matches, Grand Rapids has yet to have a match finish after four sets. The Rise have split both of their four three-set matches (2-2) and four five-set matches (2-2). Last season, exactly half of their contests (13 of 26) went to four sets.
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. 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 six matches and leads the team with 21 blocks this season. She ranks second in the League with 0.88 blocks per set, continuing the dominance she displayed last year when she finished with a PVF-best 1.02 blocks per set.
Danger Alert: Raskie, nicknamed "Danger," recorded a season-high 53 assists on Feb. 7 in Columbus, just one shy of the franchise record (54) set twice last season by Ashley Evans. She is averaging 10.06 assists and 3.19 digs per set while leading all setters with 28 kills. Her .413 attack percentage ranks second in the League. Raskie needs one more dig to be the first Rise player to hit 100 digs on the season.
Rise-Vibe Connections: A few college ties between the two sides:
- Two former Stanford liberos, Rise’s Elena Oglivie (2020-24) and Atlanta’s Morgan Hentz (2016-19), cross paths for the first time in the professional ranks. Hentz won three NCAA national titles in four seasons as a Cardinal (2019, 2018, 2016).
- Oglivie also played four seasons at Stanford with Vibe middle blocker McKenna Vicini (2019-23).
- Rise outside hitter Snyder competed for Florida (2014-17) alongside two of the Vibe’s Marlie Monserez’s sisters: Allie Monserez (2016-18) and Madison Monserez (2011-14). All three Monserez sisters were setters. Snyder graduated just before Marlie’s collegiate career began (2018-21).
Rise-Valkyries Connections: A handful of reunions:
- Sisters Marin Grote (Rise, middle blocker) and Lydia Grote (Valkyries, opposite hitter) meet in the professional ranks for a second time.
- Former Rise outside hitter Shannon Scully plays her former team from a season ago.
- Rise setter Raskie goes up against former Oregon teammate Lindsey Vander Weide. They played together for four seasons with the Ducks (2015-18).
- Rise opposite hitter Nelson and Orlando outside hitter Courtney Schwan played one season together (2014) at the University of Washington.
- Shime (Rise, opposite hitter) and Natalie Foster (Orlando, middle blocker) helped SMU reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament this past fall.
Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Rise