San Diego Mojo came out with a dramatic four-set victory, its first as a member of the Professional Volleyball Federation, over the Grand Rapids Rise on Friday, Feb. 23 at Viejas Arena.
The Mojo won a thrilling first set with neither side wanting to blink by a score of 36-34 before falling in the second set 27-25. The Rise put up a good fight in the third and fourth sets, but the home side managed to make the key plays when it mattered to come out on top with identical scores of 25-23 to the elation of the fans.
“San Diego is a great sports community,” said Mojo head coach Tayyiba Haneef-Park. “They have a craving for female sports. They’ve been given the (San Diego Wave) and now we’re capitalizing on it.”
San Diego came into its first home match after three road losses to the Atlanta Vibe, Omaha Supernovas, and Vegas Thrill all by identical 3-0 shutouts. The win over Grand Rapids was the first game of a five-game home stand where the team will take on Vegas this Thursday, Feb. 29 followed by a rematch of the season opener against Atlanta on March 2 before taking on Grand Rapids once more on March 4 and closing out with its first head to head duel versus the Orlando Valkyries on March 11.
“We want to give them a show and keep them coming back, so we’re going to try and keep performing for them,” Haneef-Park added.
San Diego will then embark on a two-game road trip before returning to Viejas Arena for a match against Omaha on April 2.
