SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Mojo celebrated National Girls & Women in Sports Day with a 3-1 win over the Columbus Fury, 22-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-17. The victory marked their second win of the season and tied the Fury and Grand Rapids Rise for sixth place in the Major League Volleyball rankings.
While the Mojo have had a hard time closing out games, they have kept a lot of games close. Friday’s win gave them a boost of confidence and put their development on display.
“It’s a reward for a lot of hard work, and it’s a message to stay the course and that we can see the progress match over match,” said head coach Alisha Childress.
The Fury set the tone immediately and started the game strong. Five different Columbus players recorded blocks in the first set, while San Diego struggled to get anything going on offense. The Mojo dropped the first set 25-22.
Momentum shifted in the second set. San Diego held a firm lead for most of the set behind opposite hitter Jovana Brakočević’s eight kills. The Mojo responded to the first set loss with a 25-21 victory in the second.
The adjustments made between sets proved to be crucial for the Mojo’s success.
“I think that we knew that they were going to make adjustments on us,” said Mojo outside hitter Shannon Scully. “We knew that we needed to fight back with some urgency, because we can never let good teams get too far ahead of us.”
Middle blocker McKenna Vicini and opposite hitter Jovana Brakočević go up for a block. Soleil Dam/Her Sports SD
San Diego took the energy from the second set into the third and fourth sets. The Mojo dominated the third set with a 25-18 win. They also started the fourth set strong, but Fury middle blocker Regan Pittman challenged the Mojo hitters. Pittman, who played for the Mojo last season, recorded two blocks and two kills in the fourth set, but it was not enough to push Columbus to a win. San Diego took the match victory with a 25-17 fourth-set win.
Brakočević and middle blocker Marin Grote led the way and finished the match with 17 and 12 kills, respectively The offense proved to be the deciding factor in the game as the Mojo recorded six more kills and three more assists than the Fury.
Friday’s win sets the Mojo up nicely for their next match against the league-leading Indy Ignite on Monday.
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