Pro Volleyball Spotlight: Lloyd Guides Austin Back to Final, Tealer Powers Indy Clinch
League One Volleyball (LOVB) and Major League Volleyball (MLV) both delivered statement performances this week, with Carli Lloyd stepping into the spotlight for Austin’s playoff run and Azhani Tealer leading Indy Ignite to a postseason berth. Both players played a direct role in their teams’ advancement, while putting up high-efficiency performances at just the right time.
Here’s a look at the performances that defined the fourteenth week of play.
Carli Lloyd Leads Austin Back to LOVB Championship
Carli Lloyd took over the starting setter role and delivered across the semifinals, helping LOVB Austin shut down LOVB Atlanta and return to the LOVB Championship.
Lloyd directed one of the most efficient offenses of the playoff round. Austin hit .359 as a team across two matches and the golden set, with Lloyd finishing the series with 91 assists, five kills, and two blocks.
She stepped into the starting lineup after playing behind Brie O’Reilly for much of the season and made an immediate impact. In the opening match versus Atlanta, Lloyd was named Player of the Game after posting 36 assists and 11 digs. She followed that with 51 assists in the second match, then added four more in the golden set to secure the series win.
Lloyd has appeared in 57 sets this season and made four starts, three of which came during Austin’s late push to clinch a playoff spot. She has totaled 338 assists with a .264 attack efficiency while adding 25 points.
Austin has now earned three straight weekly honors, with Kotoe Inoue and Madisen Skinner also picking up awards in the last two weeks.
With Lloyd running the offense, Austin now heads to Long Beach with a chance to defend its title.
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Azhani Tealer Leads Indy Ignite to Playoff Clinch
Azhani Tealer carried the scoring load for Indy Ignite and helped the team become the first to lock in a spot in the 2026 MLV postseason.
Tealer totaled 41 kills across two matches while hitting .500 on 82 swings. She also added 21 digs and a block as Indy moved to 18-4 on the season.
She opened the week with 22 kills and 14 digs versus San Diego, finishing just one kill shy of her season high. Tealer followed that with 20 kills and seven digs versus Atlanta to close out the week.
Her most efficient performance came in the sweep of Atlanta. Tealer converted 19 of 34 swings for a .558 kill percentage and posted a .471 hitting efficiency in the win.
The Indy Ignite and the Dallas Pulse are now the only teams to clinch playoff spots, with two postseason spots still up for grabs heading into the final stretch.
Siera Jones is the digital media reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Instagram and X @sieraajones.
