The Atlanta Vibe haven’t played since May 2, but don’t worry about libero Morgan Hentz being rusty.
No, while her team was back home preparing for the Pro Volleyball Federation Championship that begins Wednesday, Hentz was in the USA national-team gym in Anaheim.
“I had this perfect opportunity to come out here and thankfully the USA staff has been flexible with me being part of PVF and allowing me to do both,” Hentz said last week.
The schedule for the fledgling league included 24 matches for each team, but the start and finish was not even. Atlanta, for example, played more matches early than most. San Diego, which started much later, had three matches last week while the Vibe were hanging out.
Atlanta is the No. 1 seed after finishing 19-5, three full games ahead of the second-seeded Omaha Supernovas (16-8).
Atlanta plays the fourth-seeded Grand Rapids Rise (12-12) at 6 p.m. Central in the first semifinal Wednesday in Omaha’s CHI Health Center. They split their four matches this season.
In the second semi, Omaha plays San Diego (13-11). They also split their four matches.
Both matches will be shown on the CBS Sports Network with Paul Sunderland and Holly McPeak on the call.
The inaugural championship match is Saturday and the winning franchise gets a $1 million prize that will be split up among the players and team staff.
ATLANTA VS. GRAND RAPIDS: The Vibe won 10 of their last 11 matches before beginning their extended break.
Outside hitter Leah Edmond is second in the league with 381 kills. Hentz leads the PVF with 373 digs.
The Vibe has three players in the top five in hitting percentage. Magdalena Jehlářová is second at .459, Anna Lazareva is fourth at .426 and Shelly Fanning is fifth at .414.
Rise outside Claire Chaussee leads the PVF in kills with 395 and teammate Emilya Dimitrova is third with 371. Grand Rapids won its last two matches to end a three-match skid.
OMAHA VS. SAN DIEGO: Omaha will have a huge home-court advantage because the Supernovas have attracted the most fans in the PVF by far this season. But while Omaha is coming a regular-season-ending, five-set loss to Grand Rapids, the Mojo have won three in a row and 12 of 18.
San Diego outside Lindsey Vander Weide is the final regular-season player of the week. She’s the third Mojo player to win the honor in the last five weeks, preceded by setter Nootsara Tomkom on April 16 and opposite Willow Johnson on April 30.
San Diego…
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