It was 1997 when the U.S. Volleyball National Teams left Balboa Park’s Municipal Gym to start training in Colorado Springs, Colo.
That level of volleyball hasn’t been played in San Diego on a regular basis since.
Friday night changed that.
In front of a raucous crowd of 6,020 at Viejas Arena, the San Diego Mojo made their home debut in style, beating first-place Grand Rapids, 36-34, 25-27, 25-23, 25-23.
“We’ve been working toward this moment,” Mojo head coach Tayyiba Haneef-Park said. “We’ve had some battles up and down, but I’d rather have them at the beginning of the season knowing that it made us stronger and prepared us
for a moment like this.”
The Mojo next hosts the Vegas Thrill (2-3) on Thursday.
The Mojo were the seventh and final team in the Pro Volleyball Federation to play a home game, taking their lumps in front of huge crowds.
Apparently home cooking and sleeping in their own beds meant as much as a spread out offensive attack against the Rise (3-2).
“It’s a great feeling,” Haneef-Park said. “We want these fans to come back, and I think we did a good enough job to bring them back. Home-court advantage is huge, and that clearly showed.”
The high level of competition implemented in practice by Haneef-Park manifested itself into the Mojo winning long rallies throughout the match, particularly in a thrilling first set.
The Mojo (1-3) fought off six set points after being down 23-20. Setter Nootsara Tomkom spread the wealth throughout the set. Outside hitter Temitayo Thomas-Ailara had five of her nine kills in the set toward the end to keep the hosts alive.
Facing set point at 24-23, she hit off the block to tie it. Down 27-26, she put the ball away on the outside in serve receive for the tie. Down 28-27, Tomkom again went to her to tie it at 28. Down 31-30, her kill off the block again tied it. Down 32-31, her kill in serve receive tied it at 32. Down 33-32, they went to Thomas-Ailara on the right side in serve receive to tie it at 33. Finally, Ronika Stone and Lindsey Vander Weide combined to stuff block Emiliya Dimitrova for the 36-34 set win.
“In those moments the one thing we think about is being consistently good,” said Thomas-Ailara, who had a match-high 21 kills with five blocks. “It’s how can we be consistently good for that next point? We don’t have to be perfect. We just have to put in a playable ball. Get that second touch as good as we can and convert if we can.”
The Mojo carried the momentum into the second set, going up 16-11 after Morgan Lewis got a kill out of the pipe and Hannah Tapp (11 kills) notched back-to-back stuff blocks, followed by a Stone ace.
But the Rise fought back as the back-and-forth conclusion of the set went to the visitors despite the Mojo serving for set point at 24-23.
Due to load management issues, Haneef-Park made a lineup switch in the third set, moving Thomas-Ailara to opposite, replacing Lewis. Valeria Papa started in Thomas-Ailara’s outside spot.
Thomas-Ailara got stuffed on her first attack, but the move paid off. She notched five kills and two stuff blocks on the right side, including a hammer in serve receive on set point.
The Mojo were in control in the fourth set save for some nervous moments toward the end. Fittingly, the match ended with a Thomas-Ailara kill. Perhaps serendipitously, it came from her more natural spot on the outside.
“We have the mindset that this team is going to go out and score some points,” Haneef-Park said. “So it’s just take it point by point. Whatever they’re going to do, we’re going to turn around and and do the same thing right back to them. It doesn’t have to be the end-all, be-all if they bounce the ball in front of us and then our hopes are just dismantled. It’s you know what, bring it. I dare you to do it again. I’m coming right back for you.”
