Ottumwa, IA – Six members of the Indian Hills Women's Soccer program have been named to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-Region XI Team, announced by the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) on Wednesday.
The Warriors made a run to their fourth consecutive NJCAA Region XI title match and finished the season with an 11-8-1. Indian Hills was recognized with six individual postseason honors, including three first-team selections. Sophomores Abbie Bailey (Redditch, England/Arrowvale), Dare Kroeten (St. Louis Park, MN/St. Louis Park), and Mifumi Sasanuma (Tokyo, Japan/Shutoku) received NJCAA All-Region XI First-Team honors while Ikumi Okumura (Edogawa, Japan/Murata), Kenya Lee (Cassopolis, MI/Dowagiac), and Nagi Higashi (Osaka, Japan/Osaka Toin) all earned Honorable Mention recognition.
Bailey becomes just the fourth individual in school history to earn back-to-back First-Team All-Region XI honors after receiving the accolade as a freshman last year. Bailey joins former teammates Bailey Wiemann (2020-21) and Risa Ogasawara (2020-21) along with alum Emily Murphy (2018-19) to be selected to the first-team twice.
Serving as the team's primary defender, Bailey netted a career-high 13 points for the Warriors during her sophomore campaign. Bailey scored five goals and added three assists while starting all 20 matches for the Warriors this year. Bailey helped guide a Warrior defense that boasted a 1.57 goals against average and pitched seven shutouts on the year.
Throughout her career at Indian Hills, Bailey was a part of 19 shutouts on the defensive front while totaling 20 points on the offensive attack. Bailey finished with eight career goals and four assists.
Kroeten was named to the first-team after a standout sophomore season. The forward totaled 20 points on the year, second-most on the team for the Warriors. The sophomore posted eight goals and contributed four assists. Kroeten recorded five consecutive matches with a goal this year spanning from August 27-September 6 and totaled 11 matches with at least one point.
Kroeten finished her Warrior career with 36 points, including 12 goals and 12 assists.
Sasanuma tied Kroeten with the second-most goals on the team with eight as the sophomore played a key role in the midfield position throughout the year. Sasanuma added a pair of assists this season for a total of 18 points. The sophomore was key down the stretch for the Warriors, including a two-goal, one assist performance in the NJCAA Region XI Semifinal matchup where Sasanuma added a penalty kick goal to help the Warriors advance.
Okumura was named to the Honorable Mention team following a strong sophomore season. Despite missing four games due to injury, Okumura served as a main point of the Warrior offense in the midfield. The sophomore totaled three goals and added two assists while making 16 starts on the year.
Lee appeared in 18 games as a true freshman, starting 13 contests on the year, including 11 of the last 12 matches. The forward scored one goal and added an assist, both coming in a 3-0 road victory at Iowa Central on October 1.
Higashi made an immediate impact on the Warrior defense during her freshman campaign. Higashi appeared in all 20 matches for the Warriors and started the final 18 contests of the season. The freshman totaled three assists throughout the year.
Indian Hills has now received six All-Region honors in each of the last four seasons.
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