Heredia Colon Shines in Pro Debut, but Fury Fall to Ignite in Five Sets

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Fury fell 3-2 (25-23, 26-24, 25-18, 22-25, 22-20) in a competitive match against the Indy Ignite on Saturday evening inside Nationwide Arena.

First-year Fury player Flormarie Heredia Colon made her professional debut for the club and was sensational, finishing with 25 kills, eight digs, three blocks, and two of Columbus’ three aces.

The Fury jumped out to an early lead thanks to a 5-0 run orchestrated by Heredia Colon. The rookie took over serving duties with the opening set tied at 2-2 and did not relinquish them until Columbus built a 5-2 advantage. Indy responded with a run of its own to level the set at 5-5. Both teams traded points throughout the remainder of the set, but the visitors ultimately claimed the opening frame to take a 1-0 lead.

The Fury answered in the second set, trading momentum with the Ignite before pulling ahead late to even the match at one set apiece.

It was all Indy in the third set as the visitors jumped out to a 7-3 advantage early. Columbus clawed back to tie the set at 15-15, but was unable to sustain the momentum and dropped the frame.

Columbus regained its footing in the fourth set, forcing a decisive fifth and setting up an entertaining finish. The Ignite opened the tiebreaker with a 4-1 run, putting pressure on the hosts in the race to 15 points. Columbus responded by scoring four of the next five points to tie the set at 5-5.

From the 11th point on, neither team could build the two-point advantage required to secure the win. The match was ultimately decided when Indy middle blocker Lydia Martyn recorded the game-winning block, sealing the Ignite’s 22nd point of the set and giving Indy the two-point margin needed to claim the fifth set and the match.

UP NEXT
Columbus renews its rivalry with the Omaha Supernovas on Tuesday, January 22. First serve is scheduled for 8 p.m.

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