The Atlanta Vibe (4-2) fought another hard five-set battle on Sunday evening, falling to the Grand Rapids Rise (3-1) on the road.
Opposite hitter Anna Lazareva made her debut with the Vibe on Sunday, picking up 25 kills on a .339 hitting percentage. She had 11 kills and 11 digs in the first two sets alone and hit .440 in the third and fourth sets to power the Vibe to two set wins.
Setter Marlie Monserez entered the match in the end of the second set and helped lead the Vibe to two set wins to send the match to a fifth set. Monserez connected with the Vibe’s offense to tally 33 assists through the end of the match, 26 of which came from the third and fourth set wins. It marked her second 30-set match after she started and tallied 47 in a five-set win over Orlando on Feb. 12.
Karis Watson led the team’s defensive effort at the net, finishing with four blocks and getting a hand on five of the Rise’s attacks. Libero Morgan Hentz tallied her fourth match of the season with 20+ kills, finishing with 27 and seven assists.
Atlanta returns to their home court on Thursday, February 23 to host the Omaha Supernovas at 7:00 p.m. ET at Gas South Arena.
Notes
Two Vibe players finished the match with 20+ points, with Anna Lazareva scoring 26 off 25 kills and Leah Edmond finishing with 24 off 20 kills.
In her American volleyball debut, Russian opposite hitter Anna Lazareva led the Vibe with 25 kills, just two short of the season record Leah Edmond set in the first match of the year (27 at Omaha 1/24). Lazareva also added 17 digs, the second-most on the team behind libero Morgan Hentz, and an ace to bring her to 26 points in her debut match.
Outside hitter Leah Edmond recorded her fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 20 kills and 16 digs, and adding on an ace and three blocks.
The Vibe are now 8-0 in sets decided by two points this season after winning the third and fourth sets 25-23 each on Sunday afternoon.
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