Natalia Zilio Pereira in a blue jersey hitting the ball over the net by two Team De La Cruz-Mejía players in orange jerseys

Recap: Team Kingdon Rishel rallies behind Zilio Pereira for 69-63 victory

Eric Rhew

Oct 03, 2025

OMAHA, Nebraska — Outside hitter Natália Zilio Pereira tallied 11 kills and added nine digs as Team Kingdon Rishel rallied in the final set to secure a 69-63 victory over Team De La Cruz-Mejía in the opening match of the 2025 AU Pro Volleyball Championship season at Liberty First Credit Union Arena on Friday evening.

KEY MOMENT

Trailing by a 57-49 margin early in the third set, Team Kingdon Rishel scored 11 of the next 13 points to take a 60-59 advantage. Zilio Pereira led the comeback effort by recording three of her 11 kills during the rally.

LEADERBOARD UPDATE

Middle blocker Sophie Fischer claimed the early advantage on the leaderboard after claiming MVP 1 honors and 274 leaderboard points in her Athletes Unlimited debut. Zilio Pereira followed by accumulating 269 points in an MVP 2 performance.

TEAM KINGDON RISHEL NOTES

Team Kingdon Rishel overcame a 50-44 deficit after two sets to earn the match victory, marking the 11th time in AU Pro Volleyball Championship history where a team has dropped two sets but won the match … It also marked the fourth time in league history where a team has lost the first two sets, but rallied to win the match.
Outside hitter Madi Kingdon Rishel now owns a 2-0 lead in the all-time series against outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz-Mejía … Kingdon Rishel stands as just one of three opposing captains without a loss against De La Cruz-Mejía.
Kingdon Rishel, who evened her career captain’s record to 2-2, is also one of three captains to own multiple match victories over De La Cruz-Mejía in the head-to-head series.
Middle blocker Sophie Fischer tallied five solo blocks in her AU Pro Volleyball Championship debut, marking the 23rd time in league history where a player has recorded five or more rejections in a single match … She also added three service aces and four kills.

Next Match: Sunday, October 5 vs. Team Abercrombie | 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT

TEAM DE LA CRUZ-MEJÍA NOTES

Outside hitter Dani Drews became the third player in AU Pro Volleyball Championship history with 400 or more career kills after closing the season opener with 14 kills on Friday night … She joins outside hitters Bethania De La Cruz-Mejía and Leah Edmond on the exclusive list.
Drews also collected 10 or more kills for the 26th time in her Athletes Unlimited career, the third-highest total in league history.
Drews logged the 13th Match MVP award of her AU Pro Volleyball Championship career, moving her into sole possession of fifth place on the league’s all-time chart.
De La Cruz-Mejía completed Friday night’s season opener with 10 kills, marking the 51st double-digit kill performance in her AU Pro Volleyball Championship career.
De La Cruz-Mejía, who dropped to 31-15 all-time as a captain, also became the first player in AU Pro Volleyball Championship history to surpass 800 career kills.
Setter Micha Hancock registered the first double-double of her AU Pro Volleyball Championship career after contributing 27 assists with a match-high 11 digs.

Next Match: Sunday, October 5 vs. Team Hentz | 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT