Nearly halfway into the season, the Atlanta Vibe are still figuring it out, but that hasn’t bothered them. They sit at the top of the Pro Volleyball League standings, which is a massive indication of the type of coach Todd Dagenais is and that the Vibe has the right ingredients to make a deep playoff run potentially. On Saturday, during the Vibe’s Women and Sports and Business night, the Vibe took on the Vegas Thrill and all bets were off as they eeked out a gritty four-set win.
The Vibe started super hot. They quickly jumped up to a 4-0 lead and were in full command of the set despite the Thrill making some quick adjustments. Anna Lazareva, fresh off her Player of the Week honors, was a force. She quickly racked up two kills, and Leketor Member-Meneh was behind her with some incredible points at the line. You can always count on Leah Edmond, who has been so good all season long, to bring the Vibe home. Edmond had a powerful kill from the outside to end the first set, pushing the score to 25-16.
The second set was a different story. Shelly Fanning, who was now up to seven kills, was trying her hardest to keep the Vibe in it, but every time they got close, they couldn’t pull away. (It was 13-13 and 16-16, but the Thrill were thrill-ing. Khat Bell said absolutely not!) Coach Dagenais took two uncharacteristic timeouts to settle the team down. With the help of Magdalena Jehlarova, the Vibe got it to 23-21 and even inched it to 24-22 before Vegas’ Gabby Gonzales ended any hopes of securing the set. Vegas took the second set, 25-22.
With the arrival of set three, Vegas is still beating Atlanta at the net with a full-on block party. They also use a soft touch to dump the ball low where Atlanta can’t respond. Also, the Vibe had no answer for Bell until Lazareva unloaded a kill with some extra juice. That’s when the Vibe went point-for-point, tying things up at 11-11 and eventually pushing the score to 13-12 before Vegas decided they had enough and took a timeout. Out of the break, the Vibe did not stop until they had taken all the momentum back, winning the third set 25-22, thanks in part to Lazareva and Edmond taking over.
Set four is super gritty as Bell and Kenna Sauer continue wreaking havoc, but slowly, the Vibe string together some super solid points and jump up 15-13 thanks to an Edmond dump that ignites the arena. Then comes Lazareva, who will add some exclamation points and Fanning, with some support. Finally, Lazareva has seen enough, and she pushes the Vibe to set point, and Member-Meneh slams the door shut. The Vibe win the final set 25-20 and push their record to 7-3. It wasn’t the cleanest night (14 service errors), but the Vibe were patient, and it paid off.
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