Indianapolis, IN
‘Fast-paced and a roller coaster:’ Indy Ignite electrify fans in season opening win
Meet Leketor Member-Meneh. The league’s most powerful outside hitter.
Leketor Member-Meneh says since day one the Indy Ignite volleyball team has felt like a family. Meet one of the league’s most powerful outside hitter.
FISHERS — After a nervous, out-of-rhythm first set that ended in a 25-13 loss to the Orlando Valkyries, the light turned on for the Indy Ignite who promptly swept the next three sets for a season-opening win inside the sold-out Fishers Event Center.
The victory was a team effort led by a dynamic duo of outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh and opposite Azhani Tealer, who combined for 44 kills and 49 points of the Ignite’s 88 total points scored.
Inside the arena, official attendance of 6,089, the fans were rowdy and raucous. “Thank you fans for making history with us,” the announcer shouted. This was Indy’s newest chapter in women’s professional sports.
“It reminded me a lot of the Fever games,” said Mandy Gripe, a season ticket holder for the Ignite and Fever. “I think that women’s sports have crossed the tipping point, and it just feels really cool to see it and witness all of it. It’s history.”
The Ignite played behind until the second set when the team took a 15-14 lead after a string of kills by Member-Meneh. Next point? Another kill by Member Meneh. After setter Sydney Hilley dumped on two, the Ignite were up 18-16.
The Valkyries, who swept their season opener Thursday against the San Diego Mojo, didn’t take another lead the rest of the match. Set two: 25-19. Set three: 25-17. Set four: 25-21.
Hilley racked up 44 assists and libero Kylie Murr scoured the floor for 12 digs and five assists. Rounding out the key players of the match with five points each were middle blocker Blake Mohler, outside hitter Nina Cajic and middle blocker Caroline Crawford.
After the match, hundreds of fans waited in line for autographs from Ignite players. Luke Miller and Asher Wilson came to the opener not knowing what to expect.
“I’ve always been a little bit of a fan of volleyball, so I thought I’d come check it out, you know?” said Miller. “I was surprised how electric it was. (Member-Meneh) has some hops. She can jump.”
Member-Meneh, who serves at more than 60 miles per hour, also had 18 digs.
In attendance for the team’s first win were Indianapolis Colts player Kenny Moore, commissioner Jen Spicher of the Pro Volleyball Federation and every mascot in the city, including the Colts’ Blue, there to support Ignite mascot Pepper’s debut.
“What most struck me upon entering was the number of young girls with their parents,” said Jake Query, sports radio host of ‘Query & Company’ on 107.5 The Fan. “I love that they have another option for role models.”
One role model who stood out was Member-Meneh, he said. “Leketor is Gary Brackett, Lance Stephenson and Brian Cardinal. The kind of selfless lunch pail athlete Indy loves.”
After attending the Ignite match, Query said he believes the team will catch on.
“Volleyball is a rhythm, momentum sport,” he said. “It is fast paced and a roller coaster.”
For Annabell Gripe, who plays for the Monon Select Club, she said there was a “wow” factor inside the arena.
“It was more than I expected it to be,” she said. “This is crazy that it’s a sold-out women’s sport. Women’s sports are so underrated.”
Her grandmother Gail Gripe, who coached volleyball at Lafayette Jeff and was there before Title IX was enacted, said the Ignite were another step toward gender equality in sports.
“I think that the Fever and the women’s Olympic soccer team and all of this has started this really good ignition. Women’s sports has really been taken notice of,” she said. “They’re so good at what they do. The fact that this was sold out, that’s very important. There are going to be more people that have to come back for this.”
The Ignite’s next match is 7 p.m. Thursday against the Grand Rapids Rise at the Fishers Event Center.
Saturday’s match was the first of 28 for the Ignite this season. Six of those will be broadcast nationally in partnership with CBS and FOX Sports. The remaining matches can be streamed on the PVF YouTube channel. The six Ignite matches designated for national broadcast are:
- · January 18 at Columbus, CBS Sports Network, 10:30 p.m. (tape delay)
- · February 2 vs. Columbus, FS2, 6 p.m.
- · February 8 at Orlando, FS2, 7 p.m.
- · February 16 at Atlanta, CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
- · February 27 vs. Vegas, FS2, 8 p.m.
- · March 22 at Omaha, FS1, 7 p.m.
Indy will also play host to the PVF All-Star Match that airs live on the national CBS network at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 22. It will be the first all-star match in league history and the first pro volleyball match to air on CBS’ main over-the-air network.
Follow the Indy Ignite on Facebook, Instagram and X. Purchase tickets.
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.
Indianapolis police shoot homicide suspect on South Harding Street
Indianapolis police shot a homicide suspect after a pursuit ended near I-70 on May 28, 2026. The suspect is in stable condition.
This article will update. Get breaking news alerts on your phone → download the IndyStar app.
Indianapolis police shot a homicide suspect after a vehicle pursuit that ended west of downtown near Interstate 70.
Just before 8:30 p.m. May 28, 2026 Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were dispatched to a shooting in the first block of North Rural Street. Arriving officers found Patricia Wieber, 65, with gunshot wounds. Wieber was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital.
Witnesses were able to give police information about the shooter and officers tracked the suspect to the 7500 block of Bullock Court on the city’s south side. The suspect, identified by police as Ronald Cross, 75, got into a different vehicle with another man. While tracking that vehicle officers attempted a traffic stop near West Southport and Bluff roads. The driver, who is not implicated in the homicide, got out of the vehicle without incident and was taken into custody.
Police said Cross then slid into the vehicle’s driver seat and fled. Officers used stop sticks and then in the 1000 block of South Harding Street near I-70 a SWAT officer used a vehicle to perform a PIT maneuver to stop the SUV, said Kendale Adams, IMPD deputy chief of criminal investigations.
After the vehicle was stopped officers shot the suspect, Adams said. Cross was taken to the hospital in stable condition. No officers were injured.
Adams said two firearms were located at the scene.
During a news conference at the scene, Indianapolis police chief Tanya Terry extended her thoughts to the family of Wieber who was killed in what police believe was a domestic violence situation. She also praised her officers’ handling of the situation.
“[Our officers] did exactly what our community expects them do to in situations like this,” Terry said. “Our officers worked with bravery, coordination and precision in their attempts to safely bring the suspect into custody. I’m extremely proud of them for the work that they’ve done.”
The chief added that Cross would be facing charges in the case and police confirmed hours later that Cross was arrested on a murder charge.
The shooting involving police was among a string of shootings across the city, including one downtown roughly two hours before that left a man in critical condition.
“It’s been a difficult night for our city,” Terry said.
The officers involved in shooting Cross have been placed on administrative leave, per department policy. The Civilian Use of Force Review Board will have a hearing on the shooting and body and dash cameras were activated during the shooting, Adams said.
It is unclear whether Cross fired at officers and what makes and models of firearms were found by police.
Asked those questions by IndyStar, an unnamed IMPD spokesperson did not provide additional information and instead referred to a press release that did not contain the answers.
This is the fourth shooting involving Indianapolis police since the start of the year.
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Get more information of shootings involving Indianapolis police here.
After an IMPD officer-involved shooting, what comes next?
From investigations and reviews to public updates and department procedures, this is what happens after an IMPD officer-involved shooting.
Indianapolis scored all three of their runs in the fifth inning on a single from Billy Cook and a two-run home run from Ronny Simon. It marked the third time the
José Plasencia brings Cuban cuisine to Fountain Square’s Inferno Room
Cuban food never got the opportunity to evolve. Now at the Inferno Room, José Plasencia is giving his homeland cuisine a second chance.
A standout burger can come from unexpected places, as evidenced by one Indianapolis restaurant whose unconventional take on the American classic has earned it a spot on a national USA Today list.
There’s only one burger on the menu at the recently reimagined Inferno Room in Fountain Square, but it’s a good one.
Chef José Plasencia’s rendition of the Cuban frita, a beef-chorizo burger defined by a topping of fried shoestring potatoes, joined heavy hitters from across the country on USA TODAY’s pantheon of patties.
The USA Today list included places like Mr. Bartley’s Burgers, a veritable institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts as well as Jay’s Burgers in Louisville and Sacred Beast in Cincinnati.
Indianapolis’ best-known burger spot, the more than century-old Workingman’s Friend, did not make the national list but appeared alongside the Inferno Room on USA TODAY’s roundup of exemplary Midwest burgers. Both were featured on IndyStar’s list of 10 burgers to try around town.
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