Ottumwa, IA – Sophomore Kinga Michalska (Szówsko, Poland/ZSSCHiO) of the Indian Hills Volleyball team has been named the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Volleyball Region 11 Player of the Year, announced by the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) on Wednesday.
Michalska becomes just the third player in program history to earn the NJCAA Region 11 Player of the Year honor, and the second consecutive honoree for the Warriors. Michalska joins last year's recipient Hennesys Lalane and former standout Marianna Rodrigues in 2019. All three individuals helped guide the Warriors to the national tournament.
In addition to Michalska's individual honor, the Warriors landed four All-Region 11 selections while head coach Lyndsey Michel was tapped as the NJCAA Region 11 Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.
READ MORE: WARRIORS LAND FOUR ON ALL-REGION 11 SQUAD
READ MORE: MICHEL NAMED REGION 11 COACH OF THE YEAR
"Kinga's efforts have made her a unanimous selection for the Region 11 Player of the Year," stated Michel. "We hope to see her continue to climb towards the top of the leaderboard as we head to Hutchinson for the national tournament."
Michalska, who was also named to the NJCAA All-Region 11 team, has powered the Warrior offense throughout the last two seasons while putting together a sophomore campaign that ranks among the all-time greats at Indian Hills. The outside hitter, who led the Warriors in total kills as a freshman, broke the 500-kill milestone as a sophomore, the first Warrior to reach the mark since 2019. Michalska becomes just the fourth individual to lead the Warriors in kills in back-to-back seasons in school history, joining former All-Americans Rodrigues (2018-19), Tamara Merseli (2014-15), and Philister Sang (2003-04).
Heading into the national tournament, Michalska ranks fourth in the nation with 514 kills on the year while the sophomore's .326 hitting percentage leads the ICCAC and ranks 16th among all NJCAA DI Volleyball participants. The sophomore has been tapped three times this year as the ICCAC DI Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week.
On the year, Michalska has produced 26 matches with double-digit kills, including eight matches with at least 20 kills. Michalska has tallied five 20-kill efforts over the team's final 10 contests of the season to spark the Warrior offense heading into the national tournament.
Michalska currently ranks sixth all-time in school history with 943 kills, just 26 kills shy of breaking into the top-five while her 514 kills on the year rank in the top-10 in school history for a single season.
Indian Hills is set for the upcoming NJCAA DI Volleyball National Tournament in Hutchinson, KS, which gets underway November 15 from the Hutchinson Sports Arena. The Warriors will learn their opponent during the NJCAA DI Volleyball Selection Show at 12:00 PM Thursday.
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