Hutchinson, KS – No. 17 Indian Hills Volleyball continued its winning ways on Saturday, completing the four-match sweep at the Blue Dragon Classic. The Warriors picked up a pair of wins on the final day, a 3-0 shutout of Mineral College (MO) and a 3-1 victory over Butler Community College (KS).
Indian Hills improves to 16-6 on the year after collecting its eighth consecutive victory, and 11th win in the team's last 12 outings. The Warriors finished the two-day Blue Dragon Classic with four wins, dropping just one set along the way. During the team's eight-match win streak, the Warriors have dropped just three sets.
Sophomore Kinga Michalska (Szówsko, Poland/ZSSCHiO) led the Warriors in total kills in each match Saturday and has now led the Warriors in each of the team's eight matches during their winning streak. Michalska tallied 31 kills on the day while posting 55 total throughout the weekend. Freshman Sabrina Nogueira Da Silva (São Paulo, Brazil/Colégio Campos Salles) totaled 33 digs on Saturday to wrap up the weekend with 68 digs to pace the defensive front.
Of the six teams at the Blue Dragon Classic, the Warriors were the lone team to run through the weekend with an undefeated record. Indian Hills is 7-1 in the team's last two Classics.
A day removed from sweeping both Spartanburg Methodist College (SC) and Hutchinson Community College (KS), the Warriors returned to the Hutchinson Sports Arena on Saturday with its opening matchup vs. District foe Mineral Area College (MO). After a 25-22 opening set win, the Warriors rolled the Cardinals 25-19 in set two before finishing off the Cardinals 26-24 in the final frame. The Warriors posted hitting percentages of .400 and .433, respectively, over the final two sets.
Michalska led the attack with 14 kills on 35 attempts in the win while adding 10 digs. The double-double is Michalska's third-career match with at least 10 kills and 10 digs.
Freshman Fernanda Izar (Bauru, Brazil/Prevê Objetivo Bauru) continued her impressive stretch with 11 digs and six total blocks. Teammates Sasha Vidal (Asunción, Paraguay/Trinity School) and Nogueira Da Silva each collected double-digit dig totals with 11 and 15, respectively. Freshman Ana Carolina Westerich (Blumenau, Brazil/Colégio Energia) tallied 39 assists and eight digs for the Warriors.
Michalska followed up the opening match with 17 kills in the finale vs. Butler. Freshman Sara Van Gisteren (Leuth, Netherlands/Young Talent Academy ROC Nijmegen) put together a dominant offensive performance alongside Michalska with 16 kills on 29 attempts for a .483 hitting percentage. Van Gisteren added 15 digs, the second-most of the season for the freshman, for her third double-double of 2023. The sophomore currently ranks fifth in the nation with 271 kills on the year.
Westerich posted her third-highest assist total of her collegiate career with 49 helpers in the win over Butler.
Five different individuals collected two service aces in the win for 11 team aces. The win over Butler avenged a 3-0 loss to the Grizzlies back in August.
Michalska's dominant run has given the sophomore 700 career kills over the last two seasons, the first individual to reach the milestone since Mariana Rodrigues in 2018-19 and just the fifth in the last 10 seasons. Michalska is averaging 16.3 kills/match during the team's eight-match win streak.
Indian Hills returns home to the Hellyer Center on Monday night with a 6:00 PM match vs. Hawkeye Community College.
Fans can purchase their tickets here: INDIAN HILLS VS. HAWKEYE
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