Atlanta Vibe Come Up Short in 3–1 Loss to Orlando Valkyries

The Atlanta Vibe Fell 3-1 to the Orlando Valkyries at the Georgia State Convocation Center in front of a downtown Atlanta crowd of 3,000 announced fans.

Atlanta Vibe Head Coach Kayla Banwarth highlighted her team’s resilience throughout the match.

“They competed hard, they battled, they grinded every point out,” Banwarth said. “There’s not a whole lot more I can ask than to give that type of effort. I’m proud of them, not the result we wanted, but there’s a lot of good that we can take from tonight.”

The Vibe took the early 1-0 lead with a 25-23 win in the first set powered through a combined 10 kills between Outside Hitter Leah Edmond and Opposite Hitter Aiko Jones.

Orlando evened up the match 1-1 with a 25-16 result in the second set.

The Valkyries took the first lead of the match with a 25-17 win to make it 2-1.

Orlando took the 3-1 match victory with a 25-22 win in a close fourth set.

Jones scored her second-most kills of the season and led the Vibe with 20. The Opposite Hitter added seven digs and a block. Jones said the team was hungry to win the match in front of a loud downtown crowd and that her mantra is to “jump high and hit hard.”

“It’s less about what I’m seeing and more about what I know I can do and what I know I have to do to put us in good positions,” Jones said.

Edmond, who was honored in front of the boisterous crowd in a pre-match ceremony in recognition of reaching 1,000 career kills earlier this season, finished with a double-double of 12 kills, 15 digs, two aces and two blocks.

Atlanta Setter Averi Carlson scored a double-double of her own with 34 assists and 13 digs while Libero Elli McKissock added 19 digs and four assists.

Carlson, now 20 matches into her professional career, said she’s getting more comfortable building trust with her hitters and finding connections.

“I have a lot of hot hands and that makes it really fun as a setter,” Carlson said.

Atlanta takes to the road for the team’s next match against the Columbus Fury on April 10 at 7 PM ET.