As they have all season, the Grand Rapids Rise started a match strong. The only question on Wednesday was whether they could finish that way.
The Rise did finish: defeating the No. 1 seed Atlanta Vibe in five sets to earn a chance to play for a million dollar prize in Saturday’s Pro Volleyball Federation Championship 2024.
Grand Rapids advanced by going 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 22-25, and 15-8. As a result, Grand Rapids won three of the five matches it played against Atlanta this season. Atlanta lost only six matches in total.
This season, Grand Rapids has a 20-5 record in first sets, but at times has experienced difficulty finishing off opponents. No such worries on Wednesday in the PVF semifinals.
There were concerns as to whether the Vibe would be rusty after more than two weeks off from their last match. But rust wasn’t the problem: No. 4 seed Grand Rapids used a balanced game to outplay Atlanta for almost the entire match.
The Rise won set one behind eight kills by birthday girl Clair Chaussee. In set two, Atlanta gained control midway through and pulled away at the end as middle blocker Shelly Fanning recorded three blocks.
In set number three, the Rise survived a few errors on errant swings to grab control as Erika Pritchard and Ashley Evans produced big plays. Then it appeared Grand Rapids would brush aside the Vibe in set four, until a late collapse.
GR led Atlanta 19-17 in set four when Chaussee committed a service error. That opened the way for an 8-3 Vibe run to steal the set and force a fifth.
But, Atlanta never seemed to have solid footing in set five, starting with a serve into the net to start. In all, the Vibe committed three service errors, and had three swings that went wide. The Rise took advantage of replay, getting three points on challenges of block or net touches.
Emiliya Dimitrova started off sluggishly, but turned it on in the fourth and fifth sets. In set five, the 17-year pro, who is playing her final weekend of volleyball, delivered three kills, a block, and a key dig to set up a kill by Evans. The Vibe never led in the fifth, and trailed by at least three points from point five onward. A Chaussee kill from way above the net was the set and match winner, sending Atlanta home.
Pritchard had 15 kills and hit .324, while Chaussee had 22 kills, and Dimitrova came away with 19. Kayla Caffey was 10-for-19 in kills.
The story of the match was the offensive efficiency of the Rise, who hit .243 (30 points above their season average). Meanwhile, Atlanta hit only .188 (50 points below their average). For the season, Atlanta had held opponents to just .179 hitting, but were unable to have that success against the Rise, who had their number for the year. Half of Atlanta’s six losses came against Grand Rapids.
Rise coach Cathy George leads her team against the winner of the second semifinal match between Omaha and San Diego. The PVF Championship will take place at 4:30 PM ET at CHI Health Center in Omaha.
