Hutchinson, KS – Make it 16 in a row for the second-ranked Indian Hills Volleyball squad after the Warriors picked up two wins on the opening day of the Blue Dragon Classic on Friday. The Warriors topped Jefferson College (MO) 3-2 before sweeping No. 8 Trinity Valley Community College in the nightcap.
The Warriors held off the Vikings in the opening match of the day to win in five by set scores of 25-22, 25-21, 21-25, 22-25, and 15-11. Indian Hills responded in its second match of the day to sweep Trinity Valley in straight sets 25-15, 26-24, and 26-24. The Warriors improve to 23-1 overall on the year and have now won 16 matches in a row. The win over Trinity Valley moves the Warriors to 10-1 vs. teams that have appeared in the national rankings this year.
"Jenna (Vallee) and Kinga (Michalska) were lights out for us in the second match," stated head coach Lyndsey Michel. "In the first match, we didn't serve very aggressive and it took us out of our system. We got back on track with serving a little more sauce and were able to run the court our style and pace in the second match. We stuck to our game plan playing to defend their middles and it paid off for us."
Taking on Jefferson for the second time this season, the Warriors jumped out to a commanding 2-0 lead before the Vikings rallied over the next two frames to force Indian Hills into its sixth fifth-set match of the year. The two sides battled back-and-forth early on in the decisive frame before Jefferson took an 11-9 lead and forced Indian Hills to play from behind. The Warriors went to sophomore Jenna Vallée (Pornichet, France/Lycee Aristide Briand) who powered the offense to six consecutive points, including the final kill of the match, to close out the come-from-behind victory for Indian Hills.
Vallee posted a team-high 13 kills in 40 attempts in the win to go along with 12 digs. Freshman Larissa Barreiros Scatamburlo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colégio Liceu Franco-Brasileiro) was once again in the mix with 12 kills on 40 attempts. Kinga Michalska (Szówsko, Poland/ZSSCHiO) added 10 kills for the Warriors.
On the defensive front, freshman Sasha Vidal (Asunción, Paraguay/Trinity School) was once again superb for the Warriors. The libero posted a career-high 37 digs in the win. The two-time reigning Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Defensive Player of the Week, Jarolin de los Santos (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Luis Munoz Rivera) posted a career-high eight solo blocks and finished the match with 12 total blocks to up her nation-leading total to 120.
The Warriors showed no signs of exhaustion in the nightcap vs. the nationally ranked Trinity Valley Cardinals as Indian Hills cruised to an opening set victory. The Warriors prevailed over the next two sets in a pair of thrilling games. The sweep is the 12th of the year for the Warriors.
Vallee once again led the Warriors with 12 kills and 12 digs. The sophomore has now posted five double-doubles on the year, including three in the team's last three matches.
Michalska added 11 kills for the Warriors while de los Santos impacted the nightcap on the offensive end this time, posting eight kills in 11 attempts for a .545 hitting percentage.
Vidal added 22 digs to up her total to 524 on the year. The freshman ranks second in the nation and has now posted the second-most digs in a season for the Warriors dating back to the 2014 season with at least 15 matches still to play.
Sophomore Hennesys Lalane (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Colegio Luis Munox Rivera) posted 43 assists in the opening match and followed up with 44 in the win over Trinity Valley. The setter has now posted 10 matches this year with at least 40 assists, including each of the team's previous three matches.
The Warriors are back in action for the final day of the Blue Dragon Classic on Saturday. Indian Hills will take on Cloud County Community College (KS) at 3:00 PM followed by a matchup with Butler Community College (KS) at 5:00 PM.