Ignite Down Dallas in Three Sets

FRISCO, Texas, February 19, 2026.- The Indy Ignite are on fire and continue blazing the pace in Major League Volleyball. On Thursday night, it was the Dallas Pulse who fell victim to the attacking Indy style, the Ignite triumphing by scores of 25-20, 26-24 and 26-24.

It marked the second straight sweep to victory for the Ignite, extended their current win streak to three matches and made them a perfect 3-0 this season against Dallas. Indy moved its record to a league-leading 9-2 while the Pulse’s hopes to tie the Ignite at the top fell short as Dallas dropped to 7-4.

The close nature of the set scores bore truth to just how tight this match was between the top teams in the standings. The Ignite never led by more than four points in the opening set before scoring four of the final five to win it. Indy recovered from a 12-7 deficit in set two and never led by more than two, with a Leketor Member-Meneh service ace clinching it in overtime.

The third set saw the Ignite pull away from a 20-20 tie to go ahead 24-21 before they squandered three match points. Dallas’ 13th service error of the night put Indy back on the precipice and middle blocker Lydia Martyn sealed the victory with a smashing kill on a Pulse overpass.

“I don’t even remember it!” Martyn admitted in the post-match news conference. “I was excited to win. Our team comes in and we work so hard at practice and to see certain things like overpass kills – we trained in practice and worked on them – so it’s cool to finally see them show up in the game. I got a couple tonight, actually.”

Ignite head coach Lauren Bertolacci said a point of emphasis was limiting the success of Pulse outside hitters Mimi Colyer and Sofia Maldonado Diaz. Mission half accomplished. Colyer was held to eight kills in 29 attempts. Maldonado Diaz, the reigning MLV Player of the Week, scored 18 kills on 35 attempts. Still, it wasn’t enough.

“A big focus for us was to be able to slow down Mimi and Sofia a little bit,” Bertolacci said. “I think we achieved one of those two and that’s it. It gives us a chance to get some transition points and do our own offense. We were not perfect tonight but we were very gritty and we did a good job in that aspect, and we were able to end up taking a win in a very close game.”

Outside hitter Member-Meneh led what was again a balanced Indy attack. She scored 14 points on 11 kills, two aces and a block. Martyn finished with 10 points (seven kills, two blocks, one ace), outside hitter Anna DeBeer had nine points (eight kills, one block) and opposite hitter Camryn Hannah eight points (seven kills, one block).

“Just staying aggressive,” Member-Meneh said of the Ignite offense. “At the end of the day, we want to attack their block and that’s just what my mindset was: attack, attack, attack and put the pressure on them.”

She was also just as proud of her team’s defense. Indy registered 45 digs in the three-setter, led by libero Elena Scott’s 13, setter Mia Tuaniga’s nine and five each from Member-Meneh, DeBeer and middle blocker Blake Mohler.

“It’s hard to talk about (defense) because it’s just so normal,” Member-Meneh said. “Elena’s everywhere. I feel very confident in our defense playing next to her. It’s something that we practice and we focus on every day, so it’s strange when we’re not doing it – not necessarily a surprise when we are doing it. 

“I don’t think tonight was our best defensive night, which says a lot about our team, but at the end of the day our goal is to keep getting better. The end of the year is when we want to be our best and we’re slowly working toward that.”

The Ignite head to Atlanta to take on the Vibe at 6 p.m. ET Saturday, with the livestream available on WTHR+ and the MLV YouTube channel.

The Dallas Pulse (7-4) remain home Sunday, Feb. 22, to face the Grand Rapids Rise at 2 p.m. CT at Comerica Center.