Lund had four kills, six digs and a block in the second set when Indy never led by more than four points, finally pulling away to a 25-22 win. Opposite hitter Camryn Hannah scored on four kills and a block in the set, with setter Mia Tuaniga dishing 16 assists, dropping two kills and adding a pair of digs.
A five-point burst let the Ignite pull away from 12-all deadlock in set three, and while the Supernovas did close within 21-20, outside hitter Anna DeBeer pushed Indy to take the set 25-21 by scoring her team’s last three points on two kills and a service ace. DeBeer totaled eight points (five kills, two aces, one block) in the set, with Lund chipping in five kills and Tuaniga totaling 17 assists.
Indy blew open the fourth set with an early 8-2 run and closed it with a 9-2 burst to end the match with the 25-13 set triumph. Behind five Lund kills and four more from Hannah, the Ignite hit a sensational 63.6% with 54.5% efficiency in the clincher.
“It was just one of those games where things were going my way,” Lund said following her 14-for-20 attack performance. “When you kind of reach just a flow state of, ‘I didn't fully mean to do that and it fell and I'll take it.’ Sometimes they just barely kiss the back line and I'll take it. Our team set me up pretty well. Mia’s a great setter, and we got digs everywhere. Normally I'm not that offensive, but I'll take that for a win.”
The Ignite placed four players in double figures, led by DeBeer with 19 points (13 kills, three aces, three blocks) in her second consecutive strong match this week.
“Now that she's jumping through the roof, we're getting used to her hitting from that height again,” Bertolacci said of the second-year pro from Louisville. “There were some really nice swings and some nice overload plays that she put down today, so I'm really happy to see Anna's progression. The last couple games have been really phenomenal from her.”
Lund’s 14 points all came on kills in just three sets of action. Hannah also had 14 points (12 kills, one block, one ace) and middle blocker Lydia Martyn scored 10 (nine kills, one block). Middle blocker Blake Mohler just missed the double-digit club with nine points (seven kills, two blocks). Tuaniga finished with 52 assists and 11 digs for her own double-double, tying libero Elena Scott for the team lead in digs.
The Ignite have a week between matches now but aren’t about to rest on any laurels earned from their sensational opening half of the season. If anything, it motivates them to keep reaching for the next levels and chase that ultimate achievement, the MLV championship.
“We've had a great start but that doesn't mean we need to stop working,” DeBeer said. “There's so much game left, a lot of season left, so we're really just going to take it game by game and we have a lot to improve on and we know that. If we can keep on doing that, it'll be really good for us as we finish out this season.”
The Ignite host Grand Rapids at 6 p.m. ET Sunday, March 8. A pair of special events take place before the match. To commemorate International Women’s Day, Ignite President and General Manager Mary Kay Huse will host a panel discussion featuring some of the top women CEOs in Indiana at 3:30 p.m. At the same time, families, youth and community groups may participate in interactive activities focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) to collect stamps in a STEM Fest passport and earn an Ignite prize. Tickets are available at IndyIgniteVB.com.
