GRAND RAPIDS RISE 3 vs. San Diego Mojo 0
March 5, 2025
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Rise picked up their second straight sweep on Wednesday night, defeating the San Diego Mojo 25-20, 26-24, 25-20 inside Van Andel Arena. The win was their fourth sweep of the season, with two coming against San Diego, and it also marked the first time in franchise history that the Rise have won consecutive 3-0 matches.
The straight-set win also avenged a 3-1 loss in San Diego on Feb. 27. The Rise (6-8 overall) will now head back to San Diego (5-9) this weekend for the final match of the four-game series on Sunday. While Grand Rapids leads the season series 2-1, the Mojo hold a 4-3 all-time edge and have yet to lose to the Rise on their home court.
The Rise faced an early scare Wednesday when setter August Raskie delivered a kill but landed awkwardly and sustained an injury. Though she was able to walk off the court on her own, Raskie spent the rest of the set cheering her teammates from the sideline. Rookie setter Camryn Turner stepped in to finish the opening frame before Raskie returned for the second set.
The Rise seized momentum with an early 5-0 run, capped by an ace from Alyssa Jensen, to take a 9-4 lead in the first set. Back-to-back aces from fellow middle blocker Ali Bastianelli extended the advantage to 14-9 — a notable contribution, as she entered the match with just four aces on the season. Behind five kills (.444) from Paige Briggs-Romine, Grand Rapids kept the pressure on and closed out the set 25-20.
Grand Rapids improved to 8-6 in first sets this season, hitting .333 as a team.
An emphatic put down by Jensen into the center of the court gave the Rise an 8-4 lead headed into the first media timeout of the second set. The action intensified late in the frame when a pair of Carli Snyder kills helped the Rise erase a 23-21 deficit in crunch time. Snyder then foiled a Mojo set point with another kill to knot the score at 24-24. Jensen’s fifth and final block of the match put the Rise ahead 25-24 before Snyder fittingly wrapped up the second set, 26-24, with her fifth kill of the stanza.
Snyder finished with a match-high 13 kills (.209) and five digs. She had four or more kills in all three sets.
Grand Rapids had seven blocks in the second set alone. Three coming from Jensen.
Trailing 8-11 in the third set, the Rise added opposite hitter Kaleigh Nelson to the rotation for the first time and then swapped setters once again, putting Raskie in for Turner. The changes paid off, with Grand Rapids pulling even at 18-18. Briggs-Romine then added an ace, extending her streak to four straight matches with one. She finished the match with her second straight double-double performance with 10 kills (.259) and a team-high 15 digs.
The Rise scored five out of the final six points to complete the sweep, winning the third set 25-20. That included back-to-back blocks from Raskie and kills from Nelson and Snyder before a Mojo service error ended the match.
Notes
- Grand Rapids finished with a higher hitting percentage (.215 to .122) and had more kills (47-35), digs (61-56) assists (44-33), blocks (13-9), and aces (4-1).
- Turner had a season-high 25 assists, alongside three digs, two kills (.500), and a block. Raskie added 13 assists, eight digs, three blocks, and a kill.
- Jensen is the first player in Rise history to record five or more blocks in consecutive matches. She also five blocks in the win over the Vegas Thrill on Sunday, March 2.
- Former Rise setter/libero Sarah Sponcil had a team-high 17 assists for the Mojo. Maya Tabron was the only San Diego player to reach double figures in points with 10.
- With four sweep wins on the year, the Rise have exceeded their sweep win total from last season.
- Grand Rapids also had a 6-8 record last season before eventually reaching the inaugural PVF championship match.
GR 25 26 25 — 3
SD 20 24 20 — 0
Team Leaders
GR: Kills — Carli Snyder 13, Paige Briggs-Romine 10, Erika Pritchard 8; Assists — Camryn Turner 25, August Raskie 13, Elena Oglivie 5; Aces — Ali Bastianelli 2, Briggs-Romine 1, Jensen 1; Blocks — Jensen 5, Raskie 3, Bastianelli 2, Briggs-Romine 2; Digs — Briggs-Romine 15, Oglivie 11, Pritchard 8, Raskie 8.
SD: Kills — Maya Tabron 9, Elise McGhee 7, Kendra Dahlke 6; Assists — Sarah Sponcil 17, DaYeong Lee 13, Shara Venegas 3; Aces — Kayla Lund 1; Blocks — Regan Pittman 5, Ronika Stone 3; Digs — Venegas 13, Tabron 8, Dahlke 7.
A — 3,137
Record / Next Match
Grand Rapids: 6-8 / Sun., March 9 at San Diego Mojo, 7:05 p.m. EDT
San Diego: 5-9 / Sun., March 9 vs. Grand Rapids Rise, 4:05 p.m. PDT
Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Rise