The Ignite fell behind 13-8 on the opening set before going on a 17-5 rampage to take it going away. Setter Ainise Havili spread the wealth with 13 assists. Outside hitter Emoni Bush, opposite hitter Camryn Hannah and middle blocker Blake Mohler had four kills apiece, outside hitter Kayla Lund added three kills and middle blocker Cara Cresse had three blocks, with Bush and Hannah each notching a service ace.
Indy led 22-21 in set two before the Valkyries went on a 4-1 run to even the match at 1-1. The key juncture of the evening came in the third set, with Indy facing an Orlando set point, trailing 24-23. Behind three Lund kills and another from Cresse, the Ignite stormed to the 27-25 overtime win and snatched the momentum along with it.
The visitors bolted to a 12-3 lead in the fourth set and, behind six kills from opposite hitter Azhani Tealer along with four kills and a block by outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh, Indy punctuated the triumph with the 25-18 set four win.
Making her first start, Lund led the Ignite with 14 kills, a block, two aces and 13 digs. Bush totaled 13 kills and two aces despite not playing in the final set. Mohler had seven kills and six blocks, Hannah added nine kills and two blocks, Tealer scored 10 kills off the bench and Cresse chipped in five kills, four blocks and an ace. Havili and Mia Tuaniga split setter duties and combined for 59 assists.
As a team, the Ignite set a franchise record for most kills in a four-set match (66) and most points scored by their offense in a four-setter (86).
Bertolacci explained that the different starting lineup she used tonight is indicative of just how even the talent level is throughout the roster. Plus, it gives her a chance to play the long game with an eye toward the postseason.
“We’re early in the season, so right now is a really good time for me to find out honestly what everybody can do and in what moments they can do it,” she said, “as well as making sure we are managing the load. We fly tomorrow and we have our home opener on the next day, and we have a couple girls that are recovering from some injuries, so we thought if we can win with this lineup –which I really thought we could, and we did – then we would want to go with it and make sure that we are managing the load over the season as well and being prepped hopefully for May.”
Saturday’s home opener with Omaha starts at 7 p.m. ET, with a pre-match fanfest inside Fishers Event Center beginning at 5 p.m. Few tickets remain for the match and are available at IndyIgniteVB.com. The match streams live on WTHR+ and the MLV YouTube channel.
