Roswell, NM – The No. 9 nationally ranked Indian Hills Volleyball team rolled to a 3-0 sweep in its season opener against Eastern Arizona College at the NMMI Classic on Thursday night.

The Warriors took all three sets from the Gila Monsters by set scores of 29-27, 25-20, and 27-25. The Warriors are now 8-3 over the team's last 11 season-openers while Thursday's sweep proved to be the program's first 3-0 victory in a season opener since 2019.

The Warriors were led by sophomore All-American Sara Van Gisteren (Leuth, Netherlands/Young Talent Academy ROC Nijmegen) who tallied a team-high 14 kills to go along with nine digs. Freshman Joanna Pawlik (Lublin, Poland/Nauczycieli Tajnego Nauczania) added eight kills in 21 attempts while fellow freshman Piper Nelson (Atkins, IA/Benton) put home six kills.

Returning National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-Region 11 performer Sabrina Nogueira Da Silva (São Paulo, Brazil/Colégio Campos Salles) led the defensive front with 13 digs. Nelson and freshman Asialin Powell (Des Moines, IA/Roosevelt) each added 10 digs for the Warriors.

Sophomore Ana Carolina Westerich (Blumenau, Brazil/Colégio Energia), who ranked fourth in the nation last year in total assists as a freshman, paced the offense with 34 helpers to lead the Warriors past Eastern Arizona in just the second all-time meeting between the clubs.

The Warriors return to action at the NMMI Classic, hosted by New Mexico Military Institute on Friday afternoon for a pair of contests. Indian Hills will take on Dodge City Community College (KS) at 12:00 PM followed by a matchup with No. 7 nationally ranked Weatherford College (TX) at 4:00 PM (both times central).

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