This Week’s Matches
RISE (0-0) at Orlando Valkyries (0-0) // Fri., Jan. 9 // 7 p.m. EST // Addition Financial Arena
Watch: The Roku Channel at 7 p.m.
Season Series: 0-0 Overall, 0-0 Away. First of four meetings overall, first of two at Addition Financial Arena
All-Time Regular Season Series: 3-5 Overall, 1-3 Away
Noteworthy: The Rise open the 2026 MLV season on the road against the defending champion Valkyries. Grand Rapids beat Orlando in their first meeting of the 2025 season, but then lost the next three, including a five-set reverse sweep at home in their last meeting on April 30, 2025. The Valkyries are led by 2025 League MVP Brittany Abercrombie, while the Rise bring back 2025 All-League Second Team selection Carli Snyder.
RISE at Atlanta Vibe (0-0) // Sun., Jan. 11 // 4 p.m. EST // Gas South Arena
Watch: CBS Sports Network at 4 p.m.
Season Series: 0-0 Overall, 0-0 Home. First of four meetings overall, first of two at Gas South Arena
All-Time Regular Season Series: 3-5 Overall, 2-2 Away
Noteworthy: Atlanta posted the second-best record in the league last season (19-9) but for a second consecutive season bowed out in the first round of playoffs with a 3-1 loss to the Valkyries. The Vibe return the 2024 Most Valuable Player of the Year in outside hitter Leah Edmond and the 2025 Coach of the Year in Kayla Banwarth. Atlanta kicks off the 2026 MLV season with a home match against the Columbus Fury on Thursday, Jan. 8. The Rise have lost their last three matches against the Vibe but are 2-0 when playing in Atlanta at the start of a new season.
Reset and Ready for Season 3: The wait is finally over. After 252 days, the Rise return to the court for the franchise’s third season. A turbulent 2025 campaign saw Grand Rapids both open and close the year with three-match losing streaks, but the season also offered signs of promise, highlighted by separate four-match and three-match winning streaks. The Rise finished with a 11-17 record — fifth in the league — missing the playoffs by just two wins. Despite the result, Grand Rapids set the defensive standard, leading the league in total blocks (344) and holding opponents to a .202 hitting percentage during the regular season.
Challenging the Champs: The Valkyries hold the upper hand in the series, winning the last three meetings to take a 5-3 all-time advantage. Despite that, the Rise scored five more total points across the eight all-time matches, 720-715. Grand Rapids is 1-3 all-time in Orlando, with its lone road win coming in a 3-0 sweep on April 11, 2024. The Rise also claimed a dramatic five-set victory at home in the teams’ first meeting last season, winning 24-26, 25-15, 17-25, 25-18, 15-12.
Orlando closed the 2025 season on a seven-match winning streak and captured the franchise’s first championship with a four-set win over the No. 4-seeded Indy Ignite. The Valkyries’ last loss was a 3-0 home defeat to the Atlanta Vibe on April 12, 2025.
At ATL: The Rise earned their first win of the 2025 season with a 3-0 sweep on Jan. 19 in the Big Peach. Grand Rapids owns a stronger record against the Vibe in Atlanta (2-2) than at home (1-3), the only current MLV opponent they can claim that against. The Rise also set a team record with 103 digs in Atlanta on April 26, 2025.
Setting the Stage: New setter Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres looks to elevate the Rise offense in 2026. A Honolulu native, she won the 2022 NCAA National Championship with Texas and is coming off a LOVB Austin championship during that league’s inaugural season.
Ka'aha'aina-Torres is joined by returning setter Camryn Turner, who delivered a breakout rookie campaign in Grand Rapids last year. Turner totaled 569 assists, 178 digs, and 40 kills on a .309 hitting percentage across 22 matches. She also set the Rise single-match record with 58 assists at Atlanta on April 26, 2025.
Gator Chomp: Outside hitter and 2025 All-League Second Team selection Snyder returns for her second season with the Rise. Snyder played in all 28 matches last year, setting a team record with 111 sets played and leading Grand Rapids with 315 kills (.208) and 33 aces. She reunites with former Florida Gator middle blocker Rhamat Alhassan, who came out of retirement to play her sixth professional season. Alhassan most recently competed in Italy from 2019 to 2023 and spent the 2018-19 season in Japan before serving as director of sports information and JV volleyball coach at Flint Hill School in Oakton, Virginia, from 2022-24. At Florida, Alhassan was a four-time AVCA All-America selection and the 2017 SEC Player of the Year.
For the Thrill: Three former Vegas Thrill players have joined the Rise following the franchise’s inactive status for the 2026 season: middle blocker Berkeley Oblad, opposite hitter Lauren Jardine-Clark, and outside hitter Allison Mayfield. Oblad earned a selection to the 2025 All-Star match, while Jardine-Clark turned in an impressive rookie campaign with 114 kills, highlighted by a season-high 21 against the San Diego Mojo on April 19, 2025. Mayfield enters her 10th professional season after winning the 2024 league championship with the Omaha Supernovas and Paige Briggs-Romine.
Familiar Faces in New Places: Six former Rise players are now playing for new MLV teams:
· Atlanta Vibe: Raven Colvin (2025);
· Columbus Fury: Ashley Evans (2024);
· Orlando Valkyries: Naya Shime (2025);
· San Diego Mojo: Marin Grote (2024-25), Kayla Caffey (2024), and Shannon Scully (2024).
Preseason Poll: The Rise are predicted to be on the outside looking in for the 2026 playoffs according to the league's preseason poll, as voted on by MLV coaches.
Team Points
1. Orlando Valkyries (5 first-place votes) 46
2. Omaha Supernovas (3) 43
3. Indy Ignite 39
4. Atlanta Vibe 27
5. Grand Rapids Rise 24
6. Dallas Pulse 21
7. San Diego Mojo 15
8. Columbus Fury 9
The Rise didn't have a player selected for the Preseason All-League Team for a second straight season.
Rise-Valkyries Connections: Notable shared history between the two teams;
· Former Rise opposite hitter Naya Shime plays her former team for the first time. Shime left Grand Rapids in mid-March of the 2025 season after playing in 10 matches (34 sets), recording 92 kills, 67 digs, and 15 blocks in her rookie campaign.
· Former 2025 Vegas Thrill teammates face each other with Rise's Mayfield, Jardine-Clark, and Oblad taking on Orlando's Charitie Luper and Hannah Maddux. Oblad and Orlando setter Hannah Pukis also played for the Thrill during the 2024 season.
· Rise setter Ka'aha'aina-Torres and Orlando outside hitter Lindsey Vander Weide played for Changas de Naranjito in Puerto Rico during the 2022-23 season.
Rise-Vibe Connections: Notable shared history between the two teams;
· Former Rise first-round draft pick Colvin faces her former team for the first time. Colvin was selected seventh overall in the 2024 draft and played in 11 matches (22 sets) with the Rise during her rookie season. She finished with 31 kills (.294), nine blocks, and five aces.
· Leah-squared reunion as Rise middle blocker Leah Meyer faces former Kentucky teammate Leah Edmond. The pair played one season together with the Wildcats in 2019.
· Middle blocker Phoebe Awoleye played with Rise libero Camila Gómez with the Omaha Supernovas last season.
· Vibe assistant coach Laura “Bird” Kuhn coached Briggs-Romine, Gómez, and Mayfield during her two-year tenure (2024-25) as head coach of the Supernovas.
· Mayfield and Vibe outside hitter Ava Martin are both from Overland Park, Kansas.
Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Rise