Ignite Lose Five-Set Battle to Thrill
Vegas Pulls Off Reverse Sweep, Drops Indy to 3-2 on Season
By Mark Robinson
HENDERSON, Nev. (January 31, 2025) – Traveling out west hasn’t been kind to the Indy Ignite early in the 2025 Pro Volleyball Federation season. For the second straight Friday, the Ignite lost in a late-night match, this time in five sets to the Vegas Thrill.
Vegas rallied to complete third reverse sweep victory of the season by scores of 18-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-12 and 15-9. The loss follows a January 24 defeat at San Diego and dropped Indy to 3-2 on the season, with a home match against Columbus ahead for the Ignite on Sunday.
Indy appeared headed to victory after taking the first two sets at Vegas with a balanced attack. Outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh scored 10 points (eight kills, two block points) in that time frame, outside hitter Nina Cajic added seven points (five kills, one block, one service ace), opposite hitter Azhani Tealer scored six points (four kills, two blocks) and middle blocker Lydia Martyn – seeing her first action of the season – chipped in seven points (six kills, one block).
That’s when the Thrill tightened their defense, however, and never trailed in the final three sets.
After managing just five block points in the first two sets, the Thrill tallied 11 over the closing three sets. Hannah Maddux led Vegas with 15 kills, two block points and an ace, Camryn Hannah had 16 kills and a block, and Morgan Stout closed out the match with back-to-back service asses as the Thrill moved to 5-2 on the season.
Ignite libero Kylie Murr, who played for the Thrill last season, said that while Friday’s loss was
disappointing, it provides the team with “good lessons.”
“We need these five-setters,” Murr said. “They're going to keep coming up, so it's a good lesson. We're learning them early so it's good.”
Cajic finished with 14 kills, a block and an ace for the Ignite, Tealer had 11 kills and four blocks, and Member-Meneh 12 kills and two blocks. Setter Sydney Hilley had another all-around strong
night with 51 assists, 15 digs, four kills (with no attack errors) and two aces.
Sunday’s match with Columbus at Fishers Event Center begins at 6 p.m. ET and airs live on
FS2. Tickets are available at IndyIgniteVB.com.
Indy Ignite Volleyball Editor Mark Robinson may be reached at Mark@indyignitevb.com