Indy Rebounds to Beat San Diego, Advance to Postseason for Second Straight Year

SAN DIEGO, California, April 9, 2026.- They did it the hard way, but the Indy Ignite are the first team to clinch a spot in the 2026 Major League Volleyball postseason. The Ignite came from behind to win a five-setter at San Diego and lock up a playoff berth with a quarter of the regular season still remaining.

At 17-4, Indy for the second straight year is guaranteed to be among the four teams advancing to the MLV Championship. Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, home of the Dallas Pulse, plays host on May 7 and 9, with the winning team earning a $1 million bonus.

“We definitely want to go to Dallas, so now we are and that is important,” said Ignite head coach Lauren Bertolacci, who in her first year with the Ignite has directed the team that has led the league all season. “Like I've said a million times, anything can happen in that kind of (playoff) format, but you've got to be there to make it happen. Winning breeds winning and we want to keep winning.”

The Ignite figured a way to win at San Diego but it wasn’t without many tense moments. Set scores were 25-20, 19-25, 22-25, 25-19 and 15-9 in just the third five-set match of the season for Indy. It was also the team’s first victory in four all-time visits to Viejas Arena and took nearly every available player to pull out the playoff-sealing triumph.

And on this dramatic night, everyone who played made significant contributions. Opposite hitter Azhani Tealer led the way in scoring with 22 kills (one off her season high), hitting at a 45.8 percent kill percentage on 33.3 percent efficiency. Outside hitter Kayla Lund added 14 kills and set an Ignite season high with 26 digs. Setter Mia Tuaniga racked up 56 assists, 16 digs, six kills and a pair of key service aces in the fifth set. Libero Elena Scott tied her season best with 20 digs, had seven assists and made her usual assortment of magical passes and saves.

The list goes on. Middle blocker Cara Cresse contributed eight kills and three blocks. Fellow middle Lydia Martyn, playing for the first time in four matches while recovering from a foot injury, helped ignite the comeback with four kills and three blocks in the last two sets. Outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh left the match after colliding with Tuaniga early in the third set, joining outside hitter Anna DeBeer, who was ruled out just before the match with a back injury.

Emoni Bush replaced Member-Meneh and added a spark with three kills and three digs. Taylor Landfair took over for Bush in the last two sets and came up big with seven kills, five digs and a block.

“I just wanted to take advantage of my opportunity,” Landfair said, “just because every opportunity is something new or something different. It's really cool that I get to be able to play in this league and try to make sure that when I go into the game to just to go for it.”

It was a true total team effort on this night worth celebrating.

“We had to use people that maybe haven't played as much,” Bertolacci said. “We had an injury before the match and an injury during the match. I'm really so happy and proud – and not surprised at all – to see that the bench is really deep and able to come in, and in Taylor’s case change the game around for us and really have a positive impact. That's something that we're just going to need as we get into the playoffs. You never know what kind of happens, so we want to have everybody on our team ready. We've always talked about being 15 deep and we are, so we're happy.”

Tealer is among seven Ignite players who were also on the team last season when they reached the championship match before falling. She’s eager for another shot at winning it all.

“It's exciting. It's really cool to see the program keep getting better and better,” Tealer said. “We want to be there and now whatever happens happens, but it's a really cool feeling to know that we're right in. So, it's good.”

Tickets for the 2026 MLV Championship are on sale now via the TicketMaster website. Prices start at just $19 and provide access to both the semifinal and championship rounds. For more information, visit ProVolleyball.com 

In the meantime, the Ignite continue their quest to lock up the top seed for the playoffs in their remaining seven matches. First up is Sunday, when the Atlanta Vibe visit Fishers Event Center at 3 p.m. ET.

San Diego wraps up its homestand Saturday, April 11, against the Orlando Valkyries at Viejas Arena. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. The match will mark the Mojo’s third in seven days.