Hutchinson, KS – The No. 2 ranked Indian Hills Volleyball team returns to action on Friday after nearly a full week off. The Warriors are set to head to the Blue Dragon Classic in Hutchinson, KS.
DETAILS: 2022 Blue Dragon Classic
Friday, September 23 – Saturday, September 24
Watch Live: Blue Dragon Network
After a thunderous start to the year that saw the Warriors ascend to its highest national ranking in program history, the Warriors welcomed a five-day break before its trip to Kansas. With a 21-1 overall record and 14-match winning streak in tow, the Warriors are set for four matchups over the next two days.
Indian Hills will take on Jefferson College (MO) at 12:00 PM Friday before squaring off with No. 8 nationally ranked Trinity Valley Community College (TX) at 6:00 PM. The Warriors will wrap up play on Saturday against Cloud County Community College (KS) at 3:00 PM followed by a matchup with Butler Community College (KS) at 5:00 PM.
All four matches will be streamed live on the Blue Dragon Network.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Milestones? The Warriors are on pace to set a number of individual and team accomplishments in the coming weeks, if not days.
Sophomore Jarolin de los Santos (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Luis Munoz Rivera), already the career blocks leader in Indian Hills history, looks to add on to her nation leading total. The middle blocker leads the NJCAA in both solo and total blocks heading into the weekend.
Freshman Sasha Vidal (Asunción, Paraguay / Trinity School) is just 35 digs away from 500 digs for the season. The libero would be the first Warrior to surpass the 500-dig mark since the 2019 season.
Sophomore Hennesys Lalane (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Colegio Luis Munox Rivera) is within reach of a number of accomplishments heading into the weekend. The sophomore is just two service aces shy of cracking the top-five of all-time in Warrior history, and only eight away from breaking the top-three. Lalane is within striking distance of her second consecutive 1,000 assist season as well.
Sophomore Jenna Vallée (Pornichet, France/Lycee Aristide Briand) has already surpassed last year's total of kills and is just 24 kills away from the 500-career kill mark.
SIZING UP THE VIKINGS
After making a surprise run to the NJCAA National Tournament last season, Jefferson has gotten off to a slow start in 2022 with a 5-7 record, a slate that includes a 3-1 loss to Indian Hills on August 20. The Vikings have put together two consecutive wins heading into the weekend.
In the team's previous matchup, freshman Larissa Barreiros Scatamburlo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colégio Liceu Franco-Brasileiro) led the charge with a team-high 14 kills while Kinga Michalska (Szówsko, Poland/ZSSCHiO), this week's ICCAC Athlete of the Week, tallied 12 kills.
The Warriors own 16 of the last 25 matchups between the two clubs.
SIZING UP THE CARDINALS
Perennial contenders, the Cardinals are back in the mix as one of the top team's in the nation. Trinity Valley has won at least 20 matches in each of the last six seasons with a trip to the NJCAA National Championship included.
In its last 10 matchups against teams from the Lone Star state, the Warriors hold a 6-4 edge, but have not met up with Trinity Valley dating back to the 2010 season. After going 3-10 against nationally ranked foes last season, the Warriors are 9-1 against teams that have appeared in the national rankings this year.
SIZING UP THE THUNDERBIRDS
The Warriors and Cloud County will meet for the first time since the 2011 season, a year that saw the Warriors pick up two sweeps over the Thunderbirds. Indian Hills has won all three contests dating back to the 2010 season.
After starting the year 3-0, the Thunderbirds are just 2-7 over its last nine matchups with all seven losses coming by way of a sweep. Cloud County is powered by sophomore Kenzie Cooper's team-high 72 kills and Doga ESki's 70 kills.
SIZING UP THE GRIZZLIES
The Warriors will match up with Butler for the second-time this season. Indian Hills knocked off then-No. 5 Butler 3-1 at the Reiver Classic on August 20 after the Grizzlies started the year 0-4. Butler has since won 10 of its last 11 matches, including a 10-game winning streak. The Grizzlies suffered a 3-2 loss on the road Wednesday night to snap its streak.
Butler has found success from the service line to help jumpstart the team's winning ways. The Grizzlies rank 12th in the nation with 147 service aces and ninth overall with 2.63 aces per set. Sophomore Kennedy Kelly has paced the Grizzlies with a team-high 36 aces to go along with a .348 hitting percentage, the fifth-best mark in the NJCAA.
WHAT'S NEXT
Following the weekend trip to Hutchinson, the Warriors return to ICCAC action with a road date at Marshalltown Community College at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, September 28 before the annual Iowa-Missouri Challenge kicks off on September 30 in Hillsboro, MO.
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