OTTUMWA, IA – After feasting on several struggling squads over the past couple of weeks, Indian Hills knew it was in for more of a challenge Tuesday night when Kirkwood came to the Hellyer Center. And while the Eagles came in sporting a shiny record of 11-2 and a No. 6-NJCAA Division II ranking, the results were the same as they've been since February 20.
Another Warrior win.
IHCC, now 10-5 and 7-3 in the ICCAC, reeled off its ninth straight victory with a four-set triumph over Kirkwood, 25-20, 26-28, 25-23 and 25-17. The Eagles fell to 11-3 and 10-3.
"We would never underestimate Kirkwood," said IHCC Head Coach Lyndsey Michel. "They always put together a good squad. We've seen a few teams lately that might have been a little lower on the ICCAC totem pole, and I've been wanting to get a good look at how good we really are. We've seen splashes of what we can be and what we're made of. Maybe I'm underestimating us a little bit, but we continue to do good things."
The win wasn't a cakewalk, however, as some issues that have concerned Michel despite the win-streak, reared their ugly heads once again.
After taking the opening set, the Warriors were poised to take the second stanza, only to falter near the 20-point mark, which has been an Achilles heel for the squad nearly all season. IHCC led 19-14 and looked ready to take a commanding 2-0 lead heading to the third, only to see the Eagles rally to take a 28-26 win to even things up.
"We told them at the end of the first set that Kirkwood was not going to just go away," Michel said. "I had them repeat it after me, 'finish through twenty.' We just need to put the foot on the gas when we get there and not look back."
Apparently the lesson was learned, as the Warriors fought through a tight third set that saw neither team take an advantage by more than four points the entire set. The battle was knotted at 21, 22 and 23 before the Warriors finally put it away 25-23 to go up 2-1.
"We weren't getting in transition quick enough, and we had a lack of anticipation," Michel explained. "I think we overcame that and were able to make plays out of system to keep things controlled enough to get back and get it the next time."
With victory within reach, IHCC didn't let down when it got to a 20-13 advantage in the fourth set, due in large part to a dominant performance at the net that featured four Warriors that reached double figures in kills.
Usual suspects Gabriela Cavalcante Oliveria and Jenna Vallee had 12 kills apiece, followed by 10 from Jarolin de los Santos. The Warriors were led, however, by Precious Daley's 20 kills.
"She's a powerhouse," Michel said of her freshman hitter from Des Moines. "She has a cannon and she's scoring points from wherever we work. She's a player that executes and she's running wherever Cassia's telling her to go from whatever position on the court and finishing place."
Cassia Lemos racked up 54 assists and added 12 digs for the Warriors while libero Anja Vranic led the team with 17 digs on 18-of-19 serving with two aces. Bailea Yahnke was 22-of-23 from the service stripe with a pair of aces. Vallee added 11 digs and two aces as well.
Another concern of Michel's is a rash of service errors that have seemed to plague the Warriors too often. IHCC had 11 errors on Tuesday night, a total that is not acceptable to the Warrior head coach.
"We have to make teams earn everything they get from us and not just give it to them," Michel said. "Serving is just like free throws in basketball. Totally mental. They just need to get back there and say, 'I can do this.'"
The Warriors will host Mineral Area (8-5) Thursday at 5 p.m. back at the Hellyer Center. IHCC had downed the Cards, 3-1 back on the February 20, when the current winning streak began.
"Their libero got hurt right before we played them last time," said Michel. "Their middles did a great job against us, so I don't know that it would have made a huge difference in the outcome, but they are a very competitive team, so we'll have to be ready to play."