OTTUMWA, IA – Coach Lyndsey Michel and her No. 14-rated Indian Hills volleyball squad were determined to prove that a season-opening straight sets road loss could be turned around the next time out.

But the schedule makers weren't exactly cooperative.

Having ten days to sit on that loss and then welcoming perennial power and No. 11-rated Iowa Western generally isn't a good way to tip the scales back in your favor, but that's exactly what Michel and her Warriors were faced with Tuesday night at the Hellyer Center.

And while there were certainly marked improvement over the loss to Hawkeye back on January 24, the end result was the same as the Reivers swept the Warriors in their first home match at HSLC in 15 months, 25-21, 25-18 and 25-16.

"We knew they would be a tough team coming in, they always are," Michel said after the loss.  "They've played a lot more volleyball than we have up until this point, and I thought we saw some of their physicality tonight."

The Warriors looked to be up to the task in the night's opening set which featured half a dozen ties and three lead changes, but a late Reiver rally broke open the first-set see saw, allowing Iowa Western to jump out to a 1-0 lead.

"We try to duplicate game speed in practice, but that's hard," Michel added.  "I think you could see in those longer rallies that we didn't finish those plays, and we got a little bit tired.  We have a lot to work on.  We need to be short-minded when things don't go our way and find a way to focus on execution."

IHCC jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 4-1 before eventually leading 11-8 in the second set, signaling a comeback was in the works, but a 7-0 spurt by the visitors would eventually catapult Iowa Western to a 2-0 lead.

"I felt like we really battled in the longer rallies tonight," said Michel.  "I liked how our physicality was at a higher level in the front row, but in the end we're just going to have to be a little bit better."

Smelling blood in the water, Iowa Western jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead in the final set which led to the 25-16 final dagger.  While the Warriors had swept the Reivers the last time they had met back in October of 2019, this night belonged to IWCC as they extended their all-time mark against IHCC to 39-7.

"Overall, while we never like a loss, it was a much better outing against the Reivers," noted Michel.  "We let Hawkeye walk all over us in the opener, but tonight we showed some fight. We just have to find a way to finish. 

"We have to get back to work on our serve receive and hope that it gets us going in the right direction," said Michel.  "I still feel the potential for this group is high, as long as we can be successful with serve receive.  These young women are passionate and will continue to persevere and be successful.  I'm certain of that."

Sophomore Cassia Lemos had another solid floor game for the Warriors as she put up 21 assists and nine digs to go along with 13-of-14 serves.  Freshman Jenna Vallee was 16-of-16 from the service line and led the team with 10 digs. Sophomore Gabriela Cavalcante Olivera led the team with eight kills, while Chantal Paniagua added eight digs and was 8-for-8 serving.

The Warriors were missing middle blocker Precious Daley from the lineup Tuesday as the freshman from Des Moines Roosevelt sustained a concussion in practice on Monday.  Classmate Jentry Schafer filled in for Daley and led the team with three blocks, and her contributions didn't go unnoticed by her coach.

"She was my 'Warrior' tonight," Michel added. "Jentry stepped up in a big way for us."

Tuesday's result moved Iowa Western to 4-3 overall while Indian Hills drops to 0-2.  The Warriors are scheduled to travel to Norfolk, Nebraska for a Thursday afternoon ICCAC battle against Northeast.  Stay tuned as impending weather may impact whether that contest is played.