The Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) has started off its inaugural season with a bang.
Widely considered to be the premier professional volleyball league in the United States, the PVF has brought in numerous stars from rookie talents like two-time NCAA national champion Asjia O’Neal from Texas to seasoned veterans like Bethania De La Cruz, who has been playing professionally for well over a decade. With the playoffs just about a month out and the format and the location of the games just being announced, I thought it would be a good time to give you my power rankings and also give you my predictions of what the playoffs will look like. If you are unfamiliar with this league, let me give you a quick breakdown of how it operates.
The 2024 season of the PVF features seven teams; the San Diego Mojo, Vegas Thrill, Omaha Supernovas, Orlando Valkyries, Atlanta Vibe, Grand Rapids Rise and Columbus Fury. Each team faces every other team four times, twice at home and twice on the road for a grand total of 24 games. This league has grown exponentially fast with plans to already expand to three more cities in 2025: Indianapolis, Dallas and Kansas City. On top of that, the league has had multiple games break the record for the most attended indoor volleyball match. A handful of games are broadcast on CBS Sports Network, while the rest are broadcast on YouTube and various local broadcast networks. The playoffs will be hosted in Omaha, Ne. at CHI Health Center, the home of the Omaha Supernovas, on May 15 and 18. The top four teams will play, with the top team playing the fourth and the second facing the third. The regular season will conclude on May 12.
Now that everyone is caught up, let’s jump right into the power rankings.
7. Columbus Fury
Coming in last place is the Columbus Fury. The team based in Ohio has had one of the biggest roller coasters in recent sports history and has been a neck-snapping whiplash week in and week out. The season started out with the Fury using their top overall pick to select middle blocker Asjia O’Neal out of Texas, one of the most highly touted players in the draft. After the season started though, the team took a nosedive, dropping their first two games and being one of two teams in the league without a win. They quickly picked up momentum though, winning their next four games, including a win over the Omaha Supernovas, considered by many at the time to be the best team in the league . The one-two punch of O’Neal and outside Reagan Cooper seemed unstoppable.
Then, something seemed to just crash for the team. They would lose nine of their last 10 and fall to second to last in the overall standings. Their lone win was a head-scratching upset against the top ranked Atlanta Vibe, making Columbus the only team to notch wins over both Omaha and Atlanta. Sitting at 5-10, the playoffs are not out of the picture for them, but making it there would be very difficult, as they are three games away from a losing record and are one of three teams currently incapable of capturing the top seed in the playoffs.
To add insult to injury for this team, their number one overall pick has just been called upon to play with team USA for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The schedule does not get any easier for them,as they still have to play Atlanta and Omaha twice. With the way this season has gone, the last nine games look bleak, the ship is going down, just as the name says, in a fast and destructive fury.
6. Vegas Thrill
In a razor thin margin, the Vegas Thrill have been deemed a better team than the Fury, a small victory in an ocean full of bad this season. Sitting at 5-12, they have the worst record in the league, and one more loss would seal a losing season for the women out west. They started the season off with a bang, taking down the Supernovas on the road, but that was the only point in the year that they could tout a winning record. They traded wins and losses to get to 2-2, but then lost 10 of their next 13 games. They have been relatively noncompetitive in their losses as well, only losing in five sets once and have been swept five times.
Despite all of the negative pieces for this team, there are two major things that keep the Thrill above the Fury. The first of which is their recent record. Despite being on a five-game losing streak, just like the Fury, they are 3-7 in their last ten games, including a win over the Fury in Columbus 3-1.
The second is their remaining schedule is much less intimidating. They have seven games remaining and only have one more date with the top four teams in the land. The only team that they face off against twice are the Orlando Valkyries, who sit at 7-10. There are a few flickering flashes of hope, but they are dying out very fast.
5. Orlando Valkyries
The Valkyries have had a tale of two seasons this year. They have never been bottom of the barrel in the league, but they have also never found themselves at the mountain top, either. They are a combined 7-3 against the other bottom four teams in the league, but a combined 0-7 against Atlanta and Omaha. The worry for this team is can they land on the right side of mediocrity and, as of recent, the answer has been no. Just about a week ago, they were 7-1 against those bottom teams, but they just lost back-to-back matchups against the Grand Rapids Rise and the San Diego Mojo to give them double-digit losses.
They have been very competitive though, only being swept twice this year, but one of them was just a few days ago against the Rise. While they have gone to five sets seven times this year, they are an abysmal 2-5 in those games, as they’ve found themselves on the wrong end of nail-biting matches far too many times this year, most recently in their game against the Mojo where they lost their fifth set 18-16. While the playoff push is not incredibly hard, they need to start being stronger in close sets if they wanna punch a ticket to Omaha in mid May.
4. Grand Rapids Rise
The Rise have had quite an inconsistent season, but they have also seemed to keep themselves above water the majority of the year. They fell to fifth in the league at one point, but outside of that, have been in the playoff picture at most points. After a 3-1 start, they dropped their next three to hit their lowest point in the season, but they have pretty much traded wins and losses since then as they now sit at a perfectly even 8-8 and are third in the league.
The most confusing thing about this team is that they have had some of the most impressive performances of the year, yet also some of the worst. The good is that they are responsible for half of the losses of the Atlanta Vibe and currently lead the series against the juggernauts 1-2 with one more match up in Atlanta on April 17. Three teams in the league have not beaten Atlanta once, the San Diego Mojo have lost all 12 sets they have played against them, but Grand Rapids have knocked in the teeth of the queens time and time again.
However, against the bottom feeders of the PVF, they have not fared so well at points. Their most embarrassing point was against the Las Vegas Thrill on March 17 when they were on the losing end of the first and only reverse sweep in PVF history. They almost did the same thing against the Thrill a month later after blowing a 2-0 lead before ultimately winning 3-2. On top of that, they have not managed to notch a win versus the San Diego Mojo who, while very hot right now, started the year 2-6, only beating the Rise. Ultimately, the Rise are a wild card. They can beat just about anyone and lose to just about anyone. While they will probably make the playoffs, beating two great teams back to back in a championship setting most likely will not fare well for the Rise.
3. San Diego Mojo
For the first 10 games of the year, the Mojo were a punching bag, only beating the Vegas Thrill once, a year long bottom feeder, and the Rise twice. But going into their matchup against the Supernovas, something clicked. They took down Omaha in four sets in arguably the biggest upset of the season. This kicked off a 4-1 run with their sole loss being to the Vibe. After their most recent victory against the Valkyries in a scrappy 3-2 victory, they pushed themself to 7-8 and into the playoff picture.
While their next two matchups are against the Supernovas, who are most certainly looking for revenge, five of their last seven are against teams that are the outside looking in of the playoff picture, with the only matchups against playoff teams that they have are against the Rise, who the Mojo have owned this whole year. The Mojo looked absolutely dead in the water, floating into the abyss and doomed to be the victims of every adversary that came their way .But at just the right time, they woke up, learned how to swim and have risen to just about every challenge that has come their way. A championship appearance may be too far away, but they have shown over and over again all they need is a chance.
2. Omaha Supernovas
The gap between the Omaha Supernovas and the rest of the teams is incredibly large. Sitting at 11-6, they are nearly three games ahead of the next team in the rankings. It has been tough sledding against the top team in the league, only being 3-1 against the Vibe on the year, but since the hiring of head coach Laura Kuhn, they sit at 9-2 against everyone else in the PVF, only losing to the Fury during their hot streak and the Mojo upset that took just about everyone off guard.
The team is incredibly well-rounded with seasoned vets like De La Cruz as well as first year pro Maggie Cartwright from Arkansas leading the attack. Despite losing two of their last three, they look incredibly strong and definitely have the gumption to finish the season strong. On top of that, they have the added bonus of hosting the championship games as well as having tickets open early to Supernova season ticket holders, making the playoff games home games for all intensive purposes. On top of that, when they did take down the Vibe, it was not even close, as they dominated Atlanta 3-0. Lucky for them, their regular season matchups against the Vibe are done. Their next two are against a red-hot Mojo team, but they will absolutely be looking for revenge. If they can close out the season strong, the championship rounds look very bright for them.
Atlanta Vibe
No huge surprise to anyone, the Vibe come in as the top team in the PVF. The Vibe are the only team to have clinched a playoff spot, locking themselves above the Thrill, the Valkyries and the Fury. They sit at 15-4 with just five games left, are on a six-game winning streak and are 11-1 in their last 12 games. They also have roughly a four win lead over the Supernovas, and at least a seven win lead against everyone else.
Their next game is against the Rise, who they are looking to tie the series against, but their final four are against the bottom three teams in the PVF. Leah Edmond has helped lead a dominating offensive attack. In the PVF so far, there have been 17 sweeps, and eight of them have been Vibe wins. I do not have a lot more to say about this team, but what do you say when the message is clear, the Vibe are the best team in the league. Omaha does come close; in a playoff setting, they could cause some problems, but Atlanta has blown through this league in incredible fashion. For the sake of Atlanta fans, lets just hope that the Vibe do not mess up a chance at a crown. Lucky for them, it’s mathematically impossible to blow a 25-point lead.
Playoff predictions
4 Mojo vs 1 Vibe
The Mojo have had a strong last few weeks, but have a tough slate coming up. With a 7-8 record, I expect a 5-4 record in the last nine, notching wins against the Thrill, the Valkyries, the Rise and the Fury while taking loses to the Rise, the Valkyries and the Supernovas to land at 12-12. The Vibe, on the other hand, should win their last five easily to get to 20-4. In a championship setting, the Mojo may just be happy to be here, and they should be after the season they have had. The Vibe, however, are in a championshiporbust situation. I see the Vibe blowing through the Mojo in the first two sets, but slowing down a bit in set three. The firepower should come back in set four to punch a ticket to the championship match over the Mojo 3-1.
3 Rise vs 2 Supernovas
The Rise should continue on their same path and finish 13-11. Lucky for them, their last match is against the Supernovas, a team who should have a substantial lead over them and will most likely rest their starters, giving the Rise the chance to jump up to the third seed. I see them taking down the Valkyries, the Thrill, the Fury, the Rise and the Supernovas while losing to the Vibe, Supernovas, and the Mojo.
The Supernovas, on the other hand, should bounce back well, beating everyone on their schedule except their final game in a rest match against the Rise to sit at 17-7. The gap between the Supernovas and the Rise seems quite large, but I could very well see the Rise catching up in a set or two. Ultimately, being at home, having their crowd and having that final regular season matchup to scout out Grand Rapids, the Supernovas will take the win 3-1.
Championship game
The championship game that many expected is set between the Vibe and the Supernovas. These two teams have blown through just about everyone this year, but have both embarrassed each other.
The Vibe are responsible for half of the Supernovas losses, beating them three times. The Novas gave the Vibe their only three set loss up to this point. While the Vibe have been better than the better of the two to this point, the environment of the championship is very much in the favor of the Supernovas. The majority of the crowd will be much more lenient towards Omaha, and a very electric game should be expected. The Vibe end their season on May 2, nearly a week and a half before the Supernovas, which I believe will create some fatigue for the Vibe. On top of that, their last five matchups do not provide a lot of challenge. The Supernovas, while a great team, have taken the bad losses, the low points and the hits, and I believe that will help them.
In a game that will most likely go to extra points numerous times, I believe the Supernovas will hoist the trophy in an electric 3-2 championship game victory.