Omaha Wins Epic Five-Setter to End Indy Win Streak in Front of Record Crowd
MLV Indy Ignite

Omaha Wins Epic Five-Setter to End Indy Win Streak in Front of Record Crowd

Published on March 14, 2026 under Major League Volleyball (MLV)
Indy Ignite News Release


OMAHA, Neb. - All good things must come to an end, including the Indy Ignite winning streak. It didn't happen without ultimate battle spirit from the Ignite, who nearly pulled off a reverse sweep before falling to the Omaha Supernovas in five grueling sets.

The slugfest played out before 16,838 fans at CHI Health Center, an attendance record for a women's indoor professional volleyball match in the United States-and every fan got their money's worth. Omaha won by scores of 25-20, 25-23, 26-28, 22-25, 16-14, snapping Indy's victory string at eight in a row. At 14-3, the Ignite still reside atop the Major League Volleyball standings, a full three games ahead of Dallas, which plays Sunday.

As has been the case nearly every time Indy and Omaha have met over the past two seasons, either team could have walked away a winner. Feeding off the energy of the record crowd, the Supernovas started aggressively while the Ignite struggled to a 31.7% kill percentage in the opening set. Add six Omaha block points and the Supernovas took the first frame by five points. Indy hit much better in the second set (45.5%) but Omaha was able to eke out a two-point win and put the Ignite on the ropes.

Indy launched a monumental effort in the third set to extend the match. Defensively, the Ignite registered an amazing 34 digs, nine from outside hitter Anna DeBeer to go along with her six kills. Setter Mia Tuaniga dished 20 assists and dropped three kills of her own, including back-to-back dunks that put Indy up 27-26. Outside hitter Kayla Lund terminated the overtime set with a kill of her own.

The Ignite killed at a blistering 46.2% rate in the fourth set that was tied 10 times - the last at 20-20 before Indy pulled away to square the match at 2-2. The fifth set saw the Ignite fall behind 7-3 before rallying to tie things at 12, 13 and again at 14. However, Omaha scored the final two points, the last on the Supernovas' 18th block of the night.

Ignite head coach Lauren Bertolacci tinkered with her lineup throughout the match to find the right combinations and energy, using 13 of her 15 players. She was proud that her team battled back from the 2-0 deficit that came up a few points shy of a memorable victory.

"On the good side, we showed that we quite literally have no quit in us and we're just going to hang around until the very end all the time," Bertolacci said. "Unfortunately, we just had a few moments of undiscipline in the game that cost us. That's a team (Omaha) that won a championship before; they have a championship roster. Those moments of undiscipline are going to hurt us against this kind of team, so I think it's a good lesson for us to take and improve on."

Bertolacci was a bit surprised but pleased to see Indy's 39.7% kill percentage for the match, nearly 10% better than Omaha's rate. But the Ignite also totaled 21 hitting errors to the Supernovas' 12 and Omaha doubled Indy in block points (18-9).

"I preach kill percentage and we had a much higher kill percentage than Omaha, but boy did we hit every error possible," Bertolacci observed. "That's OK for me because I'm looking for us to get better and better, keeping that kill percentage high and learning how to naturally lower those errors. I don't want to lower the kill percentage, even at the cost of a loss tonight, because it's very important for me, come the finals, that we're able to hit this kill percentage and hopefully not hit as many errors."

DeBeer and middle blocker Lydia Martyn shared the lead in kills for Indy with 12 apiece. Lund and opposite hitter Azhani Tealer had 11 each. Middle blocker Blake Mohler added eight kills and a team-high five blocks as the Ignite placed five scorers in double figures.

Tuaniga dispersed a season-high 63 assists, including 20 in the third set. The Ignite defense finished with 85 digs, led by libero Elena Scott's season-best 20 and followed by Lund (14), DeBeer (13) and Tuaniga (12).

Veteran middle blocker Mohler appreciated the effort from her teammates but knows the bar must continue to be raised as the season progresses and the competition stiffens.

"Teams are going to continue to get better and they're going to play a bit more cohesive," she said, "and we have to be able to adjust to that and stop them and not make errors. We hold ourselves to a really high standard in our gym, and tonight I don't think we played fully to that standard."

Even in defeat, the impact of the record crowd wasn't lost on the Ignite.

"That's what every volleyball player dreams of, playing in front of a crowd that genuinely cares about volleyball and cares about the athletes and wanting this league to do well," Mohler said. "It's tough that we were on the losing side of that, but that crowd was amazing and I'm really happy for them all to have that here."

Indy's returns home Thursday to host Columbus. For tickets and information, visit IndyIgniteVB.com.

By Mark Robinson

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