Black History Month Match Takes on New Meaning for Ignite
Players Learn How Their Pro Volleyball Path Correlates to Black History in Rock Music
By Mark Robinson
FISHERS, Ind. (February 26, 2025) – On the surface, most wouldn’t see the correlation between the history of rock and roll music and that of women’s professional volleyball in the
United States. The parallels, however, are the reasons why the Indy Ignite are partnering with Indianapolis cultural organization GANGGANG for Thursday’s Black History Month Match at Fishers Event Center.
The Ignite (6-5) take on the Vegas Thrill (7-4) in the Pro Volleyball Federation match beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Throughout the evening, Indianapolis rock band The Last IV will perform. This follows Saturday’s PVF All-Star Match at Fishers Event Center, where GANGGANG curated the performances of several Black musicians and artists throughout the event.
In advance of the All-Star Match, members of GANGGANG and its I Made Rock ‘N’ Roll Festival met with Ignite players and coaches to share some of the similarities between rock’s roots and the advent of pro volleyball in the U.S. The common denominator is women.
Black female musicians are credited for being the pioneers of rock and roll before it was even named that. Most notable was Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a gospel musician with rhythm-and-blues leanings credited for inventing the guitar solo in the 1930s. She inspired the likes of legends Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix and countless others who followed.
Hayes Barnes, director of I Made Rock ‘N’ Roll and the marketing director for GANGGANG, pointed out that, like Tharpe did for rock music, the Ignite players are paving the way for what will be remembered generations from now as the foundational beginnings of U.S. women’s pro volleyball.
“Understanding authorship is so important, whether that’s in sports or in music,” Barnes said “Understanding who created something that we get to enjoy. Honoring the players and the craft that they’re displaying that we get to enjoy as entertainment is no different than recognizing the people that made a music, that made a culture that we get to reap the benefits of and enjoy and be a part of our lives. With the story of rock and roll, it’s exactly that same concept.
“(Women’s pro volleyball in the U.S.) was a space that wasn’t here before, in the same way that we made this music that didn’t exist before,” Barnes continued. “It’s exciting to see women at the forefront of this sport and being able to own and lead the charge of where that will go and almost be the deciders of your own destiny. Our own organizations are on the same path within our own individual verticals of passion. That’s what’s really exciting.”
Ignite players Carly Skjodt and Nina Cajic came away from the conversation impressed with the role that Black women played in rock’s beginnings, and how they can play a part in the history of their own passion, pro volleyball.
“We talked a lot about the start of rock and roll, and this is like the start of professional volleyball in the U.S.,” Skjodt said. “We never had a professional league to look up to here (before PVF), so it’s kind of crazy to put into perspective that we’re going to be like the first of what little girls will be able to say, ‘I saw professional volleyball.’ It’s hard to even comprehend that we’re the first.”
Cajic picked up on Skjodt’s thoughts to continue.