Despite Loss, Ignite Still Lead MLV Heading to All-Star Break
MLV Indy Ignite

Despite Loss, Ignite Still Lead MLV Heading to All-Star Break

Published on March 25, 2026 under Major League Volleyball (MLV)
Indy Ignite News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - For one of the first times this season, the Indy Ignite failed to find their footing in a match. The result? A four-set loss at Grand Rapids in the final outing prior to the Major League Volleyball All-Star break.

The Ignite played inconsistently all night, falling to 15-4 on the season. They still retain first place in the standings by a game over the 14-5 Dallas Pulse, who play Thursday.

Despite the struggles, Indy fared well enough in the opening set, breaking from a 15-15 tie to take it going away 25-19. The bottom fell out after that. The Rise (7-12) jumped on the Ignite early in each of the succeeding sets, building leads of 12-5 in the second, 10-3 in the third and 10-2 in the fourth. The Ignite recovered to tie the second set at 21, 22 and 23 before falling 25-23. They weren't able to mount rallies in the latter sets, losing by scores of 25-19 and 25-17.

"Grand Rapids played a great game today," Ignite head coach Lauren Bertolacci said. "They put a lot of pressure on us. We really struggled to stop their offense and not a lot of our balls went down. ... It was just an unfortunate situation where we were not able to gain the advantage today, but this is a very, very well-deserved win by Grand Rapids."

Bertolacci used multiple player combinations throughout the night in an effort to turn the tide. All 14 available Ignite players saw action, with outside hitter Taylor Landfair and setter Ainise Havili coming off the bench to shine. But it wasn't enough to pull out a victory.

"We're definitely in the stage where we kind of recognize when we're maybe not playing at our best, best, best," Bertolacci said, "so we have a deep roster and we want to make sure by the time we hopefully get to playoffs that we understand what those people can do. I think these two (Landfair and Havili) kind of showed how they can influence a game as well, and it's important to learn that.

"It wasn't planned but it's been known for a while that we want to make these rotations when we have a chance to really see where we're at."

In her first extensive match time of the season, rookie Landfair tied for the team lead in kills (11) and points (13). She led the team in kill percentage (52.4) and efficiency (38.1).

"It was nice," Landfair said of the opportunity. "I've been working really hard at practice, so just being able to apply what I've been working on at practice I feel is getting easier for me. Also, it's nice that the coaches have confidence in me and my teammates have confidence in me to be able to go out and just be myself, do my thing and even make mistakes, and it's going to be OK."

Havili played the majority of the match at setter and had her best outing in two seasons with the team. Replacing starter Mia Tuaniga for most of the final three sets, Havili handed out 35 assists and contributed 11 digs for her first double-double this season and third as a member of the Ignite. But she wasn't happy with the result.

"We definitely were out-scrapped today," Havili said. "They just came out and were an aggressively gritty team. I thought we were mixing up our shots but they were making it really hard to score. That's a credit to their defense."

The Ignite now have the chance to rest and regroup before returning to action April 4 when they travel to Omaha. A priority, Bertolacci said, is adding a middle blocker after the team lost Blake Mohler to a season-ending leg injury and continues to wait for fellow middle Lydia Martyn to return from a foot injury.

"We're going to use that time to find a middle before the trade deadline because we're kind of running low on them," Bertolacci said. "That's going to be important for us. It's a chance for us to reflect a little and come back firing. We know exactly what we need to work on, so we're going to come back into the gym next week and do that."

Ignite players Elena Scott, Azhani Tealer and Tuaniga are headed to Orlando for the AdventHealth MLV All-Star Match that airs live on CBS and Paramount+ at noon ET Saturday. Mohler and Martyn made the all-star team as well but won't play because of their injuries.

Indy's March 4 match at Omaha streams live at 4 p.m. on WTHR+ and the MLV YouTube channel. The next home match is April 12 against Atlanta. For ticket information, visit IndyIgniteVB.com.

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Major League Volleyball Stories from March 25, 2026


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