Ember's Nest

Hey there Rise faithful, I just HAD to produce a podcast as the Rise announce that Cathy George is not returning as head coach and is transitioning to a front office role. I do have breaking news on when the new coach will be announced, so listen to hear that as well as my thoughts on who that coach could be! This episode is sponsored by me at Grand Rapids Watch Company. Pre-order at grwatchco.com

The Grand Rapids Rise fell 2-3 to the Orlando Valkyries in their home finale and were eliminated from the playoffs later in the weekend. It's frustrating that a team playing much better ball down the stretch could not overcome early season losses and injuries. I begin to discuss my thoughts on the offseason and what could or could not loom with the Rise coaches and players this offseason. What...

The description should be short because so is the episode! The Rise would not be eliminated with a loss tomorrow but they need the win as far as this podcast is concerned. The playoff scenarios are confusing without the loss! What do you think about the Rise playing their best ball at this time of year? Will it be enough?

This episode has it all: Listener thoughts and feedback, volleyball terminology, match recaps, controversial selections for best food at the arena, and analysis on the Rise not owning their 1st round draft pick this year. Let me know what you think of this as always by writing the podcast embersnest@gmail.com or commenting anywhere this is posted. Ember's Nest is available on Spotify, Apple Po...

I sat everywhere there was to sit in Van Andel to let you know where the best and worst places are to take in a Grand Rapids Rise game! Unfortunately, though the team is playing much better than at earlier points in the season, it was not enough as the Rise fell to Dallas at home before going on the road to Omaha where they fell to the Supernovas. What keeps you watching as the Rise find themselve...

The Rise pull off a 3-1 stretch to make things slightly more interesting, but even if they continue at that pace, will it be enough? Listen to hear my thoughts about a 3rd offensive option and thoughts about the different lineups the Rise have been deploying. A special thank you to the best listeners around-- listener Tom predicted some changes! The Ember's Nest Podcast is available on Spotify...

We're two games into the Morgan Hentz tenure on the Grand Rapids Rise, and we've got two lopsided results: on the front end there's a Rise sweep over Atlanta just a day after the trade, but a week later the Rise get swept in Dallas. What do you think about the recent results for the Rise? Listen to hear my thoughts! Let me know yours in the comments on social media or by writing the sh...

The biggest trade of the season just took place, The Grand Rapids Rise traded standout Libero Elena Oglivie and their 1st round selection for 2026 to the Omaha Supernovas for 2 time MLV Libero of the year Morgan Hentz. I found this trade initially head scratching as Oglivie had what I thought was a great year and a half in Grand Rapids, but I'll never complain about adding an elite player to t...

The Rise fall to Orlando by a more convincing margin than the first time and then follow it up with a Carli Snyder-less loss to Omaha. The postgame press conference was quite interesting and seemed to indicate to me that the team may not be firing on all cylinders. Am I making something out of nothing, or is there more to do, even when Carli Snyder returns to the lineup? Affiliate Links: Get month...

The Rise even up their season record at 2-2 after starting 0-2. The've proved that they can win in a multitude of ways, both spreading out the offense and concentrating the offensive power. What do you think about the Rise's start to the season and fresh win against San Diego? NOTE: I know the audio is not as good as usual here. This will be fixed by next episode. Affiliate Links: Get months FREE...

The Rise returned with players both new and familiar as the 2026 MLV season opened. Despite some back and forth action and strategic substitutions, Grand Rapids dropped the season opener to the defending champion Valkyries 3-2. What do you think of the Rise performance? Listen to hear my thoughts, but in short I wasn't going to overreact to a 1-0 or an 0-1 start. It will be interesting to see how...

Hey there Rise fans! I was really excited to record this episode as Katie was such a fantastic guest. In this episode we dive into Katie's journey from a standout volleyball player to a respected voice in sports broadcasting as color commentator for the Grand Rapids Rise. It was incredibly exciting to hear her thoughts on volleyball strategy, the MLV as a whole, the Rise team, and the vibrant voll...

Season 3 of the Rise has begun in Major League Volleyball (MLV). After a tumultuous offseason Omaha is back in the fold, Dallas is the new kid on the block, and Vegas is out. Beyond that there's a flurry of signings as Grand Rapids sees faces new and old join the ranks! What do you think about the MLV and the new Grand Rapids signings? Sound off on Reddit, Instagram, Spotify, or via email at e...

The Rise concluded their second season in emotional fashion, and I tried my hardest to find out what players and coaches are thinking about next season. I also get on my soapbox to stress my personal belief that the league needs less roster turnover year over year. Give this pod a listen to hear from me, coach Cathy George, Camryn Turner, Eleanor Holthaus, and Carli Snyder at the end of an up and...

Grand Rapids's slow starts continued, and this time it was fatal. The Rise fought hard to complete the reverse sweep but couldn't make it happen. That loss, plus the Indy win eliminated Grand Rapids from the playoffs. Do you think they were a team that was good enough to make it but just didn't play well enough, or do you think Grand Rapids lacked the talent to get it done? Listen to h...

Against the Ignite the Rise win to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Rise are 1.5 games back with 3 to play while Indy drops their 4th straight. Newcomer Holthaus provided a boost, Jensen seemed like she'd hit the ceiling of Van Andel, and seemingly all went right for the Rise as they answered the call. Plus, a big announcement! Sound off regarding your thoughts on Spotify, Instagram, Reddit...

Eleanor Holthaus made her impact immediately felt against Vegas after only joining the team earlier in the week from Germany! She was second on the team in points in a dominant Rise sweep over the Thrill. The Rise are desperate to get back in the playoff hunt, and have a chance to make things interesting with upcoming matches against Orlando and Indy. A listener had also written in regarding the P...

The Rise playoff hopes grow dimmer as they prevail in an exciting 3-2 match against Columbus, but then fall 3-1 to the Supernovas on the road. If that wasn't enough to discuss, the Rise added Devyn Robinson off waivers but may (or may not) have dropped Naya Shime from the roster entirely. What happened? No one knows! If you know, comment on Reddit, Spotify, or Instagram or write the show, embersne...

The Grand Rapids Rise drop their latest match to the Vegas Thrill and have fallen out of the playoff race. If they want to get back into it, they've got to start winning at a clip we have not seen this season. They've got the practice time to work some things out, but will that be enough to make things interesting down the final stretch of the season? I offer my thoughts in the podcast. Wh...

Grand Rapids drops the first two games of their 4 game home stand in entirely different ways. A great defensive performance but sub par offense spelled doom against Atlanta, while an offensive resurgence wasn't nearly enough against Indy as the Ignite hit .405 against the Rise's vaunted defense. I recap both matches, offer a silver lining, and we hear from coach George, Oglevie, Snyder, Pr...

Grand Rapids finishes up their season series with the Mojo in San Diego by way of a 3-1 victory. Jensen and Briggs-Romine led the way in this one, but it required a total team effort to earn the victory as well as a PVF record 18 blocks (again)! This sets up a massive showdown against Atlanta and Vegas as all 3 teams battle for playoff positioning. Grand Rapids took care of business, but it's...

Ember's Nest is back! While some personal obligations prevented me from making episodes after the last 2 matches, I'm locked back in for a 3 match recap episode! It's interesting looking back at these matches together; I felt as if I was uncovering just how many clues were left behind regarding the team's strategy going into this latest match against the Mojo. Are the Rise back on...

The Rise drop a heartbreaker to Columbus 3-2 in Van Andel Arena despite several changes to the lineup. I thought most changes were positive, but the team seems to tense up in tight moments. Do they have the yips? Let me know by writing the show embersnest@gmail.com, or commenting on Spotify, Reddit, and Instagram. After we hear from the players and coaches I talk about the biggest event of the PVF...

Grand Rapids journey from the cold winter to the sunny skies of Orlando did not go as planned as the Rise get swept. Orlando had great performances from Ambercrombie, Foster, and others, while the Rise just could not get going offensively in this one. They held Orlando to a .207 hitting percentage, but the Rise in turn only hit .161 as a team. In my estimation, the Rise have to find another source...

In this one the Rise and I are all out of sorts! The Rise cruise to victory in set 1 but cannot overcome Atlanta's adjustments and fall 3-1 to the Vibe. Meanwhile, I left all my notes and post game questions in the press box! When I sat down to record the podcast, I used the wrong mic! I fixed as much as possible but as a result I sound quite... interesting. Can we call it method acting? I don...