This Week’s Matches
RISE (7-12) vs. Dallas Pulse (15-5) // Fri., April 3 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Watch: MLV YouTube Channel & Scripps Sports Network at 7 p.m.
Listen: 96.1 The Game at 6:45 p.m.
Season Series: 0-3 Overall, 0-1 Home. Fourth of four meetings overall, second of two at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Regular Season Series: 0-3 Overall, 0-1 Home
Noteworthy: The Rise are seeking their first win in franchise history over the Pulse after Dallas claimed the first three meetings this season. Grand Rapids enters the matchup coming off a 3-1 victory over league-leading Indy Ignite and now faces the second-place team in the MLV standings. Dallas carries a seven-match winning streak into the contest after going 7-0 in March and owns an 8-1 record on the road.
RISE at Columbus Fury (4-14) // Sun., April 5 // 5 p.m. // Nationwide Arena
Watch: VICE TV at 5 p.m.
Season Series: 1-0 Overall, 0-0 Away. Second of four meetings overall, first of two at Nationwide Arena
All-Time Regular Season Series: 6-3 Overall, 2-2 Away
Noteworthy: The Fury snapped a six-match losing streak with a 3-0 home sweep of the defending champion Orlando Valkyries on March 24 before heading into the all-star break. The teams’ only meeting this season came Jan. 14 in the Rise home opener, when Grand Rapids rallied for a five-set victory after falling behind 2-1 and then trailing 6-1 in the fifth set.
Two New Faces: The Rise added two veterans to their roster earlier this week in opposite hitter Danielle Harbin and middle blocker Jenna Rosenthal, filling the team’s open spots after season-ending injuries to Lauren Jardine-Clark and Leah Meyer. Harbin arrives after a nine-year pro career in Europe, including stops in Switzerland, Germany and Italy, and starred at the University of Arkansas before turning pro. Rosenthal returns to the court after serving in the Major League Volleyball front office, bringing additional pro experience with the Atlanta Vibe, Columbus Fury, Athletes Unlimited and overseas clubs in Germany and Finland, along with collegiate and international success.
All-Star Rewind: Rise standouts Morgan Hentz and Paige Briggs-Romine represented the franchise at the AdventHealth MLV All-Star Match in Orlando on March 28, competing for Team Launiere in the league’s second in-season showcase. Hentz finished with five digs and four assists across two sets, while Briggs-Romine recorded six kills and seven digs in the exhibition. Team Launiere captured the opening set before Team Meske rallied to win the final two sets to claim the match. Hentz and Briggs-Romine joined fellow Rise All-Star representatives Carli Snyder, Marin Grote, and August Raskie.
Playoff Picture: With nine matches remaining in the MLV regular season for the Rise, the league standings have largely separated into three groups. Indy Ignite (15-4) and Dallas Pulse (15-5) sit clearly at the top, while a tightly packed middle tier includes Omaha Supernovas (10-10), Orlando Valkyries (9-11), Atlanta Vibe (8-10), San Diego Mojo (8-10), and Grand Rapids Rise (7-12). The Columbus Fury (4-14) occupy the bottom tier.
Grand Rapids trails the fourth-place spot held by Orlando by two wins. The middle tier is separated by just three wins across five teams, making each remaining match critical for playoff positioning.
The Rise’s remaining schedule features six matches against teams currently in playoff contention and three against Columbus. The schedule includes three direct matchups against Atlanta, Orlando, and San Diego, with the first two at home. The other three are home contests against Dallas and Indy, and a second road trip to Omaha.
Five of the final nine matches are at Van Andel Arena, where Grand Rapids has been more successful this season (4-5 at home vs. 3-7 on the road). To reach the projected fourth-place playoff line of roughly 13-15 wins, Grand Rapids would likely need to win six to eight of its remaining nine contests.
Rise Stun League-Leading Indy: Grand Rapids overcame a first-set loss to top the league-leading Indy Ignite on March 25 by set scores of 19-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-17 at Van Andel Arena, handing Indy just their fourth loss in 19 matches this season. Grand Rapids held Indy to a .194 hitting percentage while producing a balanced .286 offensive hitting clip and a 10-6 advantage in blocks.
Grand Rapids was led offensively by outside hitter Snyder and opposite hitter Elizabet Inneh with 14 kills each, while Briggs-Romine added 12. Setter Camryn Turner ran the offense with a season-high 48 assists. Middle blockers Alyssa Jensen and Berkeley Oblad contributed six and eight kills, respectively, with Jensen adding four blocks, while Hentz anchored the defense with 19 digs.
Grand Rapids got off to fast starts, opening the first set 4-1 and building early leads of 7-3, 10-3, and 10-2 in the following sets. The San Diego Mojo, Omaha Supernovas (twice), and Rise are the only teams to defeat Indy this season.
Locked In Alyssa: Rise middle blocker Jensen has recorded 35 blocks over the last eight matches while stepping in for the injured Rhamat Alhassan. She set a career-high with eight blocks against Dallas on March 18 and followed that with a career-best .600 hitting percentage on seven kills in Omaha on March 20, adding four more blocks. Jensen leads the MLV with 0.93 blocks per set and holds the franchise record with 122 blocks across three seasons with the Rise.
Season Sweep Alert: The Pulse are looking to complete a four-match season sweep of the Rise on Friday after winning the first three meetings this year on Feb. 8 (3-1), Feb. 22 (3-0), and March 18 (3-1). Dallas has won nine of the 11 sets played, including four of the five that were decided by just two points, while the three sets decided by more than five points all went to Dallas. The only team to sweep the Rise in a full season previously was the Supernovas in 2025. Dallas is the only team the Rise haven't defeated this season.
Coaching Legacy: Rise head coach Cathy George is approaching two major career milestones in her 38th season, and third with Grand Rapids. She needs two more wins to reach 700 and three more matches to hit 1,200 coached. Nearly half of those totals came during her 17 seasons at Michigan State (2005–21), where she recorded 302 wins in 535 matches.
Rise-Pulse Connections: Notable shared history between the two teams:
· Rise outside hitter Briggs-Romine and Dallas outside hitter Kaylee Cox played one season together at Western Kentucky (2023) under head coach Travis Hudson;
· Pulse setter Celia Cullen is from Brighton, Michigan, and played two seasons under Rise head coach George at Michigan State (2020-21);
· Rise middle blocker Oblad and Pulse libero Kylie Murr and middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk played for the Vegas Thrill during the 2024 season;
· Dallas setter Natalia Valentin-Anderson and libero Kendall White won the 2024 league championship with Briggs-Romine and Allison Mayfield with the Omaha Supernovas;
· Middle blockers Jenna Rosenthal and Kaitlyn Hord played together with the Columbus Fury during the 2024 season.
Rise-Fury Connections: Notable shared history between the two teams:
· Rosenthal played for the Fury during the inaugural 2024 season;
· Columbus setter Ashley Evans was a member of the 2024 Rise team that reached the championship match. She played last season with Bergamo in Italy before coming back to the United States to join the Fury. She played with current Rise players Jensen and Camila Gómez;
· Fury outside Rachel Gomez is from Sturgis, Michigan, and was a two-time AVCA Honorable Mention All-American with Western Kentucky (2015-18), but just missed out playing with Briggs-Romine with the Hilltoppers (2019-23);
· Both Rise middle blocker Alhassan and Fury middle blocker Rainelle Jones are from Maryland and played for Metro Volleyball Club.
Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Rise