Ignite Drop Marathon Four-Set Match at Atlanta
Vibe Hold off Indy by Narrowest of Margins
By: Mark Robinson
DULUTH, Ga. (March 9, 2025) – The Indy Ignite couldn’t have come much closer to winning today’s Pro Volleyball Federation match at Atlanta, but the Vibe snuck away with a 3-1 victory in a slugfest duel that saw two sets go to overtime.
Despite losing outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh to an ankle injury for a second time this season, the Ignite displayed the true grit they’ve shown all season and kept plugging away in a valiant but unsuccessful effort to secure the road victory. The set scores of 23-25, 26-28, 25-22 and 31-33 show just how easily the result could have swung in Indy’s favor.
Instead, Indy slipped to 8-7 on the season and remained third in PVF standings, a half-game ahead of the winning Vibe (8-8).
“I was happy with the overall group moving forward after a teammate goes down,” Ignite head coach George Padjen said. “It's hard, so moving forward with the thought process of trying to just build and more like go for it at the end of games, we've been talking about it all year. You're going to be in (tight match) situations like that at some point, and especially in this league, so I think getting the opportunity to be in those situations more and more often is going to benefit us. We’ve just got to find a way to push through the door.”
The Ignite led the opening set 17-14 before the Vibe went on a 6-1 run to take control. Indy fought off one set point before the Ignite’s fifth service error gave Atlanta the winning point.
Atlanta led 20-18 in the second set when Member-Meneh was injured when her left foot landed on the foot of Atlanta opposite hitter Merritt Beason in a battle at the net. Member-Meneh, the PVF All-Star who returned just a week ago after missing more than three matches with a sprained left ankle, got help to the bench and did not return to play.
In her absence, the remaining Ignite players picked up the pace. Indy held three set points in the second set but couldn’t convert, with Atlanta nailing three straight points to take the 28-26 victory and a 2-0 match lead.
“Obviously (Member-Meneh’s injury) is really unfortunate, but we have a lot of depth and that's kind of a strength of ours,” Ignite opposite hitter and fellow All-Star Azhani Tealer said. “We had no doubt that Nina (Cajic) was going to come in and fill the spot exactly the way she did. The first two sets weren't really how we want to play. After that, Lek went down so we had a lot to rally around and a lot to think about. That's why you saw a little better volleyball those last couple sets.”
Staring at a match sweep when they trailed 16-11 in the third set, the Ignite rallied to tie at 17-all but fell behind again 20-18. Middle blocker Lydia Martyn then came alive with three kills and an ace, and Tealer put an exclamation point on Indy’s 7-2 run to close the set with a block to secure the 25-22 win.
Indy fought back from an early four-point deficit in the fourth set that seesawed throughout. Indy led 21-18 before Atlanta rallied for a 22-21 advantage. The Ignite went ahead 24-22 and were on the precipice of evening the match, but the Vibe fought off three set points. Indy then staved off four set/match points before retaking leads of 30-29 and 31-30, but the Ignite couldn’t close it out. Atlanta went on a three-point run at that point to win the lengthy, nail-biting, decisive set, 33-31.
Tealer led the Ignite with 20 kills, two blocks, two aces and 15 digs, compiling a stellar 47.6% kill percentage and 33.3% kill efficiency. Martyn was amazing in the middle with 16 kills, a block and an ace, with a 55.2% kill percentage and 48.3% kill efficiency.
Anna DeBeer, the Ignite’s first-round draft pick, continues progressing in her fifth match since recovering from her own ankle injury. The outside hitter added 12 kills, two blocks, an ace and 14 digs to the effort. Opposite hitter Grace Wade came off the bench in a couple key double-substitution situations to deliver three kills in seven attempts.
Setter Sydney Hilley orchestrated it all by tying her season high for a four-set match with 52 assists to go along with a kill, a block and 10 digs. Libero Elena Scott led the Ignite with 19 digs as Indy averaged 19 per set.
Despite the difficulty of swallowing the defeat, Tealer agreed with head coach Padjen that it will make the young Ignite roster, which features seven PVF rookies and three second-year players, better in the long run.
“We’re a bunch of rookies and first- and second-year (pro players),” she said, “so being in situations like that is going to be helpful for us when we get further down the road, and that's what our eyes are on. We want to win now but we definitely want to win later, so it will be good for us.”
Today’s match closed a three-match road trip for the Ignite in the past eight days. They return home to face PVF co-leader and reigning league champion Omaha (10-4) on Thursday. The Women’s History Month Match begins at 7 p.m. ET at Fishers Event Center. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster through the Indy Ignite website. The match also streams live on the PVF YouTube Channel.