Weekly Volleyball Rundown - The Night the Script Flipped
CEDAR PARK, TX - MARCH 26: LOVB Austin libero Kotoe Inoue digs a ball with a pancake during the League One Volleyball (LOVB) match between LOVB Madison and LOVB Austin at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park on March 26, 2026 in Cedar Park, Texas. Austin defeated Madison 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 15-25, 25-20). Inoue recorded a league-record 34 digs in the match. (Photo by Dr. Matt Powell)
Atlanta was hitting .448 in the second set. The gym was leaning their way. Two sets up with a crowd behind them, everything pointed toward a third straight LOVB victory.
And then Nebraska decided they were not done.
What followed on Wednesday night in Atlanta was one of those sequences that reminds you why this sport never lets you leave early. Nebraska clawed back one set. Then another. Then closed it out 15-10 in the fifth to complete a reverse sweep that nobody in that building saw coming. It was the kind of match that changes a team's identity. And it was not the only time this week that someone tore up the script.
Indoor: MLV
The last week of MLV regular season action before the All-Star break delivered exactly what you would hope for, with chaos at the top and the middle of the standings shifting beneath everyone's feet.
In Grand Rapids on Tuesday, the Rise did something only three other teams have managed all season. They beat the Indy Ignite. And they did not just beat them. After dropping the first set 19-25, Grand Rapids rattled off three straight to send the league leaders into the break at 15-4 with something to think about. Head coach Lauren Bertolacci used the loss as a roster laboratory, rotating all fourteen available players through the match. Rookie outside hitter Taylor Landfair got her first extended look and tied for the team lead with 11 kills on a blistering .524 clip. Setter Ainise Havili stepped in and posted 35 assists and 11 digs for a double-double. The Ignite are still in first by a game over Dallas, but the injury absence of middles Blake Mohler and Lydia Martyn is a storyline that is not going away. Bertolacci was direct about the All-Star break priority: find a middle before the trade deadline.
Down in San Diego on Wednesday, Maya Tabron walked off the bench in the second set and changed the entire match. The Mojo had dropped the opener 16-25 to Omaha and looked like a team headed for a fourth straight loss. Tabron erased that conversation in about forty-five minutes. She finished with 17 kills, a .382 hitting percentage, and 10 digs. Meanwhile, setter Marlie Monserez set franchise records for both single-season and career double-doubles, putting up 45 assists and 11 digs for her 14th of the year. San Diego won in four and snapped the skid. Sometimes a team just needs someone to walk in and say, "Not tonight."
Dallas kept the pressure on Indy by grinding out a five-set win over the Atlanta Vibe on Thursday. The Pulse needed all five, with sets two and four going to extras. Pia Timmer came off the bench for Atlanta and dropped a season-high 16 kills, and setter Averi Carlson was everywhere with 48 assists and 22 digs. But Dallas found another gear in the fifth and took it 15-8, staying one game back in the standings.
Then came Saturday. The second annual MLV All-Star Match packed Addition Financial Arena in Orlando with 5,380 fans, a lower-bowl sellout that spilled into the upper section. CBS carried it live nationally. Team Meske, coached by Louisville's Dan Meske, took the match 2-1 over Team Launiere, coached by Utah's Beth Launiere. The format was clean: three sets to 25, no win-by-two. Team Launiere grabbed the opener 25-24 before Meske's squad answered with a 25-19 second set and closed it out 25-22. Colyer paced all players with 13 points. Luper and Leah Edmond, the first player in MLV history to reach 1,000 career kills, each had 10 for the winning side. Monserez ran the offense with 12 assists, and Marin Grote hit .500 from the middle. For a league that is still writing its story, 5,380 people in Orlando on a Saturday afternoon felt like a chapter worth remembering.
Indoor: LOVB
If MLV's week was about the margins, LOVB's was about momentum, and how fast it can swing when the postseason is this close.
I already told you about LOVB Nebraska's reverse sweep in Atlanta on Wednesday. But the details make it even better. Anne Buijs earned Player of the Match with 23 kills, a .488 attack efficiency, 12 digs, and three blocks. That is not a stat line. That is a declaration. Atlanta's Magdalena Jehlárová posted season highs with 16 points and 11 kills, and Ivonee Montaño led the team with 20 kills. Atlanta did almost everything right for two sets. Nebraska simply refused to let it matter.
The same night, about 1,300 miles west, LOVB Houston reminded everyone who sits at the top of this league. They swept Salt Lake 25-20, 25-21, 25-15 at the Fort Bend County Epicenter, and even the competitive sets did not feel close. Every time Salt Lake found a rhythm, Houston had an answer. Salt Lake head coach Tama Miyashiro put it plainly: "Any momentum we found, Houston had an answer." Serena Gray was efficient with 11 kills on .579 hitting, and Claire Hoffman added 10, but it was not enough to crack Houston's block and serve pressure. Houston's grip on first place just got tighter.
On Thursday, Austin took care of business against Madison in four sets, winning 25-23, 25-19, 15-25, 25-20 at the H-E-B Center. Madison's Temi Thomas-Ailara led with 12 kills and 13 digs, and Anna Haak contributed 9 kills, 2 blocks, and 16 digs in a losing effort. Coach Matt Fuerbringer's message after the match carried the kind of weight you only hear when the season is slipping: "We're going to fight and compete and enjoy each other because this is the last run we get."
Saturday brought clarity. Atlanta swept Madison 25-20, 25-20, 25-23 at McCamish Pavilion to clinch a playoff spot. Madison is out. For a team that fought all year, the finality was hard to watch. Rookie middle Rebekah Allick spoke with the kind of honesty that makes you root for the future of this league: "We need to grow this league and more people need to know about us, and they deserve a good show." Meanwhile, Nebraska continued their surge by sweeping Salt Lake 3-0, controlling the match from start to finish. Nebraska is writing themselves into the playoff conversation, and the pen is not slowing down.
Off the court, LOVB Salt Lake got new owners. Synergy Sports Capital, led by former NFL players Terrence C. Murphy Sr. and Reggie Bush, completed the acquisition. That is the kind of outside investment that signals where professional volleyball is headed.
The Week Ahead
The MLV All-Star break gives teams a week to regroup before the stretch run. Indy's search for a middle blocker before the trade deadline is the biggest storyline to watch. When play resumes April 3, San Diego travels to Columbus and then opens a three-match homestand against Dallas. That Mojo-Pulse matchup should tell us something about who belongs in the top half.
In LOVB, the final stretch before playoffs is everything. Houston looks locked in at the top, but Atlanta, Nebraska, and the rest of the field are fighting for positioning. Nebraska at home has been a different team. If they carry this momentum into April, the playoff bracket gets very interesting.
I will be watching all of it. And I will be here next week to tell you what happened.
———
Matt Powell is a professional sports content creator based in Houston who specializes in volleyball photography. See his volleyball portfolio or get in touch about coverage for your program or athlete.