Hutchinson, KS – The No. 18 nationally ranked Indian Hills Volleyball team is set for its second consecutive trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Volleyball National Tournament appearance Wednesday night.

For just the second time in school history, the Indian Hills Volleyball team will be making consecutive trips to the national tournament after the Warriors claimed the No. 13 overall seed in this year's national tournament. Indian Hills' opening round matchup pits the Warriors against No. 4 nationally ranked and fourth-seeded Salt Lake Community College (UT).

FIRST SERVE

The Warriors head to Hutchinson, KS as the No. 13 overall seed in this year's national tournament after winning both the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) regular season title and the NJCAA Midwest A District Championship to secure an automatic berth for the second consecutive season.

• Indian Hills (28-10) makes the 439-mile trek to Hutchinson, KS to take on the NJCAA Region 18 champion Bruins of Salt Lake.
• The Warriors have won seven of its last 10 matches heading into the national tournament, including a sweep of the NJCAA Midwest A District Tournament at the Hellyer Center on November 4.
• Indian Hills has won 10 consecutive matches on the Hutchinson Sports Arena court dating back to the 2020 season, including back-to-back years of 4-0 sweeps at the annual Blue Dragon Invitational hosted by Hutchinson Community College (KS).
• The Warriors head into postseason with a bevy of accolades, including four NJCAA All-Region 11 selections in Kinga Michalska, Sabrina Nogueira Da Silva, Larissa Barreiros Scatamburlo, and Sara Van Gisteren. Michalska was also named the NJCAA Region 11 Player of the Year nad head coach Lyndsey Michel was named the NJCAA Region 11 Coach of the Year.
• Michalska (514) and Van Gisteren (447) both rank in the top-10 in the nation in total kills, the most by a set of teammates in the nation this year.
• The Warriors head into the national tournament with the second-most assists (1,658), fourth-most kills (1,699), fourth-best hitting percentage (.274), and fourth-most service aces (341).
• Indian Hills has played three teams in this year's national tournament - Mineral Area, Navarro, and Odessa.

TOURNMANET HISTORY

The Warriors are making their fifth all-time appearance at the national tournament, and third under head coach Lyndsey Michel.

• Michel has guided the Warriors to three national tournament appearances - 2023, 2022, and 2019, the most by a head coach in school history.
• Indian Hills made a thrilling run to the Final Four last year, placing fourth overall, the team's third all-time top-five finish at the national tournament.
• Indian Hills owns a 9-6 record all-time at the national tournament, winning 31 of 58 total sets.
• The Warriors will be playing as a double-digit seed for the first time in school history (#2 in 2022, #6 in 2019, #7 in 2005, #7 in 2004).
• Indian Hills' best finish in school history at the national tournament is a third-place showing in 2004, the team's first-ever appearance at the national tournament.

SCOUTING THE BRUINS

Salt Lake (25-5) is making its 13th trip to the national tournament in the team's 28-year history, and its second consecutive trip after placing fifth a year ago.

• The Bruins head to Hutchinson, KS as one of the hottest teams in the nation, riding an 18-match win streak, including a NJCAA Region 18 championship.
• Four of the teams' five losses on the year came in the first seven matches of the season back in August.
• Salt Lake ranks ninth in the nation in total service aces this year with 291.
• The Bruins saw a well-rounded offensive attack this year with six individuals eclipsing the 100-kill plateau, led by Tessa Treanor's team-high 308. Treanor also ranks eighth in the nation with 70 aces on the year.
• Brinlie Crosbie paces the offense for the Bruins, leading the way with 837 assists this season.
• Kylie Schroeder protects the net for Salt Lake with a team-high 85 blocks in 2023 for an average of 0.89 blocks/set.
• The Bruins are led by head coach Shay Goulding-Meurer who is in her ninth season at the helm of the program. Goulding-Meurer has won 263 career matches for the Bruins in two different stints as head coach.

SERIES HISTORY

The two teams that both began their volleyball program in 1996 have met just three times over the last 28 seasons with the Bruins taking all three contests. The first-ever matchup between the two came in 2004 at the NJCAA DI Volleyball National Tournament in West Plains, MO, a 3-2 ((30-20, 30-27, 25-30, 28-30, 18-16) victory for the Bruins. Salt Lake also took a 2-0 win in 2006 and a 3-0 win last season on August 27 at the Odessa Invitational in Odessa, TX.

Four sophomores on this year's squad saw action last year against the Bruins, including nine kills from Kinga Michalska and 21 digs from Sasha Vidal.

WHAT'S NEXT

A win for the Warriors would send Indian Hills to the quarterfinal round and a date with the winner of No. 5 Trinity Valley Community College (TX) and No. 12 (Daytona State College (FL) at 7:00 PM Thursday night. A loss would push the Warriors to the consolation bracket and a 1:00 PM matchup on Thursday against the loser of Trinity Valley and Daytona State.

GOHILLSTV ON SITE

In addition to the NJCAA Network's live streaming ($), GoHillsTV, the official streaming platform of Indian Hills Community College will provide a free audio-only broadcast of all Indian Hills' contests at the national tournament. Visit www.gohillstv.com/browse, www.facebook.com/gohillstv, or download the GoHillsTV Mobile App to tune in live to the Warriors.

Looking for Indian Hills Athletics information straight to your inbox? Subscribe to our newsletter and mobile alerts to receive news, scores, highlights, and more in real-time: INDIAN HILLS ATHLETICS NEWSLETTER