Ignite on TOP
From their opening night win against Orlando, I had a feeling this team was going to be a GRITTY one. With their most recent five set road win over Columbus Fury Saturday January 17th, that word stands true. With this win, Indy Ignite moves on to 3-0 on the season giving them the NUMBER ONE spot in the league. Unfortunately, I am not able to attend Ignite's away matches, so these blog posts will look slightly different. However, I still wanted to give some of my thoughts from the match. Two things in particular stuck out to me. The second and fifth set.
SECOND SET: When I tuned into the match via the live stats, I was at a Pacers game - sorry Pacers, priorities. It was the second set and the score was 21-24, Columbus. It was at this moment I thought to myself “Well, I guess we will see how gritty this team really is.” I didn’t take my eyes off my phone until Ignite took the set 32-30. When looking at just the deficit Ignite had, it’s easy to be impressed with their comeback winning set. However, what I want to highlight here is the HOW. How did Indy Ignite manage to comeback despite having to fight off four set points to tie the set at 24-24 to then fight off six more set points? The how is having discipline (both physically and mentally) tenacity, and focus from every single person, whether they be on or off the court. You have to be in the MOMENT and worry about the current point you are on rather than how many you have left. If you don’t have this complex recipe, it is near impossible. The fact a new team, with new players and coaches, who are creating an identity, is extremely IMPRESSIVE. This set proved much more than Ignite’s ability to compete when they are down. It showed WHO THEY ARE as a team. They are a team of competeres who want nothing more than to see each other succeed. When you then add in their work ethic and drive for greatness, it makes for a tough team to stop
FIFTH SET: By the time the fifth set rolled around, I was nervous! With the momentum Ignite had gained by winning the first and especially second set, I was convinced they were going to sweep Columbus. Fury had other plans as they came back to win the next two sets 19-25 and 22-25 to send it to a fifth. Being that all the momentum was on Fury’s side in combination with it being an away game for Ignite, I was skeptical. Part of the reason reverse sweeps happen is because of teams dwelling on how they let their opponents back into the match, rather than accepting the situation for what it is and moving on. This is exactly what Ignite did. They MOVED ON. One thing I want to note here, is that this just does not happen. You have to make it happen. I give so much credit to the Ignite players, leaders, and coaching staff for creating this. Ignite took the fifth set 15-11.
This team is special and I have a feeling things are just getting started for Indy Ignite.
