This Week’s Match
RISE (11-14) at Atlanta Vibe (17-8) // Sat., April 26 // 8 p.m. // Gas South Arena
Watch: FS2 at 8 p.m.
Season Series: 1-2 Overall, 1-0 Away. Fourth of four meetings overall, second of two at Gas South Arena
All-Time Regular Season Series: 4-4 Overall, 2-1 Away
Noteworthy: The Vibe won the previous two meetings in Grand Rapids, both 3-1, after the Rise opened the season series with a 3-0 sweep in Atlanta. The Rise are 2-1 all time inside Gas South Arena. The Vibe have won 11 consecutive matches, a PVF record, with their last loss coming on March 1 at the Orlando Valkyries. Atlanta is coming off a pair of 3-0 road sweeps over the Valkyries and Omaha Supernovas.
Playoff Picture: Three teams have already clinched a spot in Vegas for the 2025 Pro Volleyball Federation playoffs: the Omaha Supernovas (17-7), Atlanta Vibe (17-8), and Orlando Valkyries (14-10). One spot remains with four teams still in contention. The Indy Ignite currently hold the No. 4 spot with a 12-12 record but have lost four straight matches. The Rise (11-14) are 1.5 matches back with three matches to play, while the San Diego Mojo and Vegas Thrill are narrowly hanging around with 9-15 records.
For Grand Rapids to make the playoffs, one of the following scenarios would need to happen:
- Rise finish 3-0, and Indy goes 1-3 or 0-4.
- Rise finish 2-1, and Indy goes 0-4. But San Diego and Vegas could also factor into this scenario if either wins all of its remaining matches and collects enough points to surpass Grand Rapids.
Points are earned throughout the season with a 3-0 or 3-1 win being worth three points, a 3-2 win worth two points, and a 3-2 loss worth one point. Indy currently has 38 points, while Grand Rapids has 32 points. As such, Indy will win all tiebreaker scenarios should the two squads finish with the same record and can ensure its spot by going 2-2 or better.
Vibe Check: Atlanta is currently the hottest team in the League, riding a PVF-record 11-match win streak as it chases the Supernovas for the No. 1 seed in the postseason. During this impressive run, the Vibe have secured four sweeps, four 3-1 victories, and three 3-2 wins. They've also defeated every team in the League, dominating with a 33-10 set record over this stretch. Atlanta is 9-3 at home this season, with one of those losses coming in a 3-0 sweep by the Rise on Jan. 19. The other two home defeats for the Vibe came in back-to-back matches against Orlando on Feb. 6 (3-0) and Omaha on Feb. 8 (3-1).
Final Road Test: This Saturday in Atlanta marks the Rise’s final road match of the season. Grand Rapids has a 5-8 away record but has only been outscored by 16 points (1,119-1,103). The Rise are 4-2 this season (9-4 all time) when winning the first set on the road, but just 1-6 this season (1-11 all time) when dropping the first frame. The lone win was the first-ever Rise reverse sweep on Jan. 26 at Columbus.
Monster Blockers: Through 25 matches, the Rise lead the League in both total blocks (314) and blocks per set (3.20), thanks in large part to standout middle blocker Ali Bastianelli. She currently leads the League with 81 blocks this season. Alyssa Jensen has also made a huge leap at the net, tallying 56 blocks after recording just 19 last season. Grand Rapids tied the PVF record for most blocks in a match with 24 during 3-2 road win April 12 over the Ignite. The next week, the Rise blocked Indy 21 times in a four-set home win on April 19.
Blocks by Bastianelli: Bastianelli has been a dominant force all season, recording at least one block in 23 consecutive matches and registering three or more blocks in 13 of them. She tied her own franchise record with nine blocks in last Saturday’s win over Indy, bringing her season total to 81 — setting a PVF season record for blocks.
Dig Machines: Defensively, the Rise are doing more than just blocking. Over their last five matches, they’ve averaged 18.4 digs per set, a significant jump from the 15.8 digs per set they averaged through the first 20 matches of the season. In their last three wins, opponents have had hitting percentages of .141, .147, and .057. Rookie libero Elena Oglivie leads the group with a team-record 339 digs this season, including 12 matches with 15 or more digs.
Wealth of Options: The Rise showcased a diverse offensive attack in their April 19 match against Indy, with six players registering at least 10 attack attempts. Eleanor Holthaus (44), Carli Snyder (42), and Paige Briggs-Romine (39) led the charge in swings. Holthaus had a season-high 18 kills in just her fifth match with the team. Grand Rapids also leaned heavily on its middle blockers, as Bastianelli posted a season-high 31 attack attempts and 12 kills (.323), while Jensen added seven kills on 14 swings (.357).
Rise-Vibe Connections: A few college ties between the two sides:
- Two former Stanford liberos, Rise’s Oglivie (2020-24) and Atlanta’s Morgan Hentz (2016-19), cross paths 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 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).
Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Rise