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The Indy Ignite professional volleyball team—which is in its first year of competition—will play Sunday for the Pro Volleyball Federation championship.
The Ignite, who entered the postseason tournament seeded fourth, will face the Orlando Valkyries at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada, just outside Las Vegas.
The 4 p.m. game is scheduled to be aired live on CBS Sports Network. The winner will earn a $1 million league bonus.
The Ignite played Orlando in its first match in franchise history on Jan. 11. They won that contest in front of a sellout crowd at Fishers Event Center.
The Ignite earned its championship berth on Friday by defeating defending champion and No. 1 seed Omaha, 3-2.
The Ignite won with scores of 25-17, 23-25, 23-25, 25-20 and 15-13.
“That was really high-level volleyball by both teams—really high level,” Ignite head coach George Padjen said in a statement. “For us to come out on top, I think it just shows that they’ve grown throughout the year as a group and believe in each other and trust each other. I could not be more proud of what they just did.”
Ignite setter Sydney Hilley had 16 assists while also contributing three kills and a block. Six Ignite players scored points in the set, led by middle blocker Lydia Martyn’s five kills in six attempts. The team finished with a 54.5% kill percentage and 45.5% efficiency.
“We’ve had some struggles in five-set matches this season,” Hilley said in a statement. “When we win the first set, sometimes we come out flat in the second or third. We’ve dealt with that but I thought we did a really good job tonight of staying in the moment, one point at a time, and that’s what you’ve got to do when teams are playing really well.”
Orlando, the No. 3 seed, defeated No. 2 seed Atlanta in the league’s other semifinal. The Pro Volleyball Federation has eight teams.
The Valkyries bring a six-match winning streak into the championship, which includes a four-set win over the Ignite on April 25.
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