Mojo Fall in Five Sets at Vegas Thrill
April 26, 2025 - Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF)
San Diego Mojo News Release
HENDERSON, Nev. - The San Diego Mojo dropped a five-set heartbreaker to the Vegas Thrill, 24-26, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-11, on Friday Night at Lee's Family Forum. For the second consecutive match, San Diego (9-16) captured the first two sets against Vegas (10-15), and for the second consecutive match Vegas claimed sets three and four, but this time the Mojo was unable to stop the Thrill momentum, dropping the fifth and final set.
Opposite hitter Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani had team highs of 17 points and 14 kills on the night, adding two aces and a block, while outside hitter Kendra Dahlke had her team-leading 11th double-double of the season with 11 kills and 12 digs.
Regan Pittman also scored in double figures, registering 14 points with eight kills and a match-high six blocks, bringing the middle blockers total to 60 blocks on the year. Fellow middle blocker Ronika Stone added nine points with five kills, three blocks and one ace, bringing her career point total with the Mojo to 503, the first San Diego player to surpass 500 career points scored.
Libero Shara Venegas led the Mojo with 22 digs on the night, tied for the fifth-most in team history, any pushed her season total to 366 to break her own single-season team record of 345 established last season.
The Mojo kicked off the match winning the first point, but quickly Vegas put together a four-point run to take an early 4-1 lead before kills by Pittman and Dahlke cut the host's lead to one. The Thrill responded, collecting four of the next five points to build an 8-4 advantage at the technical timeout. Out of the break, Mojo setter DaYeong Lee set Dahlke up for a kill for Mojo kill and Bedart-Ghani followed with her first ace of the match. The squads traded the next 13 points until a Stone collected a pair of points with a kill and a block to give the Mojo a 15-14 lead. Vegas answered and pushed back in front, 21-18, only to have the Mojo rally and tie the set at 22-22 to force a Thrill time out. The sides split the next four points before a Thrill service error and a Bedart-Ghani swing gave San Diego the first-set win, 26-24.
San Diego started the second set on fire, scoring the first six points courtesy of two opening kills by Dahlke, back-to-back blocks by Pittman, a Thrill attacking error and another Dahlke kill. Vegas ended the Mojo run with a pair of points, but San Diego collected two of the next three to move ahead 8-3. Vegas rallied out of the break, cutting the Mojo lead to 9-7 until a Stone block curtailed the Thrill momentum and kicked off 6-2 run to put the Mojo in front 15-9. The hosts responded once again, earning the next five points before a Pittman stuff block put the Mojo ahead 16-14 at the media timeout. Dahlke posted an ace out of the break and the Mojo appeared to be off and running from there, building a five-point advantage, only to have the Thrill creep back in and tie the set, 21-21. Bedart-Ghani scored the next three points with a pair of kills and her second ace to take the Mojo to set point. Vegas collected the next two points before Bedart-Ghani closed it out, 25-23, with a kill off the fingers of a Thrill player. Pittman was stellar in the second frame, collecting four blocks in the set.
Another quick start for San Diego had the squad up 5-1 to kick off set three, but Vegas battled back,scoring four consecutive points to tie the score. The squads split the next four points and then the Thrill caught fire with a four-point run to force a time out by the Mojo. With Vegas in front 16-10 at the media timeout, San Diego mounted a rally of their own, winning four of the next five points. However, the set belong to the Thrill, who took the third frame, 25-18.
The Vegas momentum carried over into set four, as the Thrill quickly jumped out to a 6-1 lead. After a San Diego timeout, the Mojo began chipping away at the deficit, picking up six of the next eight points to find themselves down one, 8-7. A pair of San Diego attacking errors pushed the Vegas lead back to three, which the hosts quickly extended to eight points, 18-10. The Mojo responded with a five-point run to get back into the set and force a Thrill time out. Vegas was the first team to reach the 20-point mark at 20-17 and sprinted their way to the finish, closing out the fourth set, 25-19.
Set five started similarly to the previous frame, as Vegas easily moved in front 6-2. San Diego kept fighting, trimming the deficit to 8-7 before leveling the score, 9-9. It was all Vegas from there, as the Thrill went on a 6-2 run to take the set 15-11 and earn the win.
Next up, the Mojo close out the road portion of the 2025 season on April 27 at the Indy Ignite. First serve from the Fishers Event Center will take place at noon PT and the game will air live on KUSI. Fans are invited to a Mojo Watch Party hosted by One of Us Bar at 619 Spirits in North Park.
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