Ignite Come Tantalizingly Close but Fall at Omaha
Indy Battles to Bitter End in First of Three Straight Road Matches
By: Mark Robinson
OMAHA, Neb. (March 2, 2025) – The Indy Ignite showed again Sunday just how close they are to being among the elite teams in Pro Volleyball Federation. While they were swept by defending PVF champion Omaha for the second time this season, the Ignite came breathtakingly close to reversing the outcome.
The final set scores were 25-19, 25-23 and 27-25. In the two matches that the Supernovas have prevailed over the Ignite, the total point differential has been just 16 points.
A win Sunday would have knotted Indy with Omaha for second in the standings. Instead, the Ignite fell to 7-6 and stayed in third place, while the Supernovas advanced to 9-4.
“I liked what we did tonight in a lot of spaces,” Ignite head coach George Padjen. “Maybe we could have done a little better from the service end. I’m happy for the group, we’ve just got to learn and grow. We’re young. That’s never my excuse but there’s things we have to learn and improve on, and that will be road games, road environments.”
Indy fought from behind the entire night at CHI Health Center but never wavered in their bid for victory. The Ignite never led in the opening set but forced the Supernovas to work hard for the 25-19 win. Ignite setter Sydney Hilley was exemplary in the set with 11 assists, two kills, two service aces and two digs.
The second set typified Ignite's grit, shown throughout the season. They didn’t take the lead until 15-14 and again at 20-19 before Omaha outscored Indy 6-3 the rest of the way to take a two-set lead.
The third set proved even tighter. The Ignite fell behind 23-21 before scoring three straight points to have a set point at hand. Omaha responded, however, with two points of their own to be at set/match point. An Anna DeBeer kill saved that one, but the Supernovas closed the match with back-to-back points for the clinching 27-25 triumph.
“It was a competitive game, felt like it was five sets even though it was three,” said Hilley, making her first appearance at Omaha since she led the Supernovas to the PVF championship last year when she was named Postseason MVP. “Omaha played really well. We did some good things but I think (Omaha outside hitter) Brooke Nuneviller played out of her mind. She’s one of my best friends but I was like, ‘Oh, come on!’ But no, she did great.
“We’re just going to find a way to learn from it and bounce back for our next match.”
Nuneviller led Omaha with 16 kills and a block. The Supernovas outscored the Ignite 12-5 in block points, which went a long way in determining their victory.
Indy was led by middle blocker Lydia Martyn, who totaled 13 points on 11 kills, two blocks and posted a sensational 64.7% kill percentage and 58.8% kill efficiency in the match. In her first appearance since sustaining an ankle injury on February 13, outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh added 10 kills and two service aces to the effort. Hilley upped her league-leading average with 40 assists. DeBeer, playing her third match as she continues recovering from an ankle injury sustained in December at the NCAA championships, had seven kills.
“I feel like we’re finally getting back to full strength, where we’ve had a couple outside (hitters) out,” Hilley said. “Anna’s finally back, Lek’s back. Now it’s just finding our groove with the new group on the court. I think we’ll just keep getting better and better as the season goes on.”
Indy plays the second of three straight road matches at Vegas on Wednesday. The match streams live at 10 p.m. ET on the PVF YouTube Channel.
Indy Ignite Volleyball Editor Mark Robinson may be reached at Mark@indyignitevb.com