Ottumwa, IA – In a five-set thriller, No. 19 Indian Hills Volleyball knocked off Iowa Western in an Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) showdown at the Hellyer Center. The Warriors move to 19-9 overall on the year and 1-1 in league play.

The Warriors evened the regular season series with the Reivers in another memorable battle between the two programs. Indian Hills dropped the opening set 25-14 before rallying to take the next two, 25-14, and 25-22. Iowa Western, who checked into the receiving votes category of this week's national poll, clawed back for a 25-23 fourth-set victory to even the contest. In the decisive fifth-set tiebreaker, Indian Hills pulled away down the stretch for a 15-12 victory.

Sophomore Sara Van Gisteren (Leuth, Netherlands/Young Talent Academy ROC Nijmegen) put together one of the most dominant individual performances in school history. Van Gisteren, who ranks second in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) with 488 kills on the year, tallied a career-high 31 kills to lead the Warrior offense. Van Gisteren's 31 kills are the most in a single match in school history dating back to the 2009 season.

Van Gisteren eclipsed the 30-kill mark for the first time in her Indian Hills career while adding three service aces and 12 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. The sophomore's 31 kills came on a career-high 66 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage. Van Gisteren has now posted a hitting percentage of .300 or better in eight of the team's last nine contests.

Freshman Piper Nelson (Atkins, IA/Benton) produced nine kills for the Warrior offense while sophomore Daniela De Los Santos Castillo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Colegio los Clavelines) added seven finishers.

The Warriors earned 12 service aces on the night, including three from Ana Carolina Westerich (Blumenau, Brazil/Colégio Energia), three from Castillo, and a pair from Aleksandra Oles (Tomaszów Lubelski, Poland/1 LO Tomaszów Lubelski).

Castillo, this week's ICCAC DI Volleyball Athlete of the Week, came up big on the defensive front with six total blocks, including three solo stops on the night. Sabrina Nogueira Da Silva (São Paulo, Brazil/Colégio Campos Salles) racked up 22 digs for the Indian Hills defense. Da Silva, who ranks fourth in school history with 1,168 digs in her career, is just the second player in school history with back-to-back 500-plus dig seasons.

The Warriors fell behind early in the opening set as the Reivers built a marginal lead to take the early 1-0 match lead. Set two saw the Warriors flip the script with a dominant start to the frame. The Warriors saw five consecutive service points from Oles to build a 11-4 advantage, a lead Indian Hills maintained to even the match at one.

Set three proved to be a back-and-forth battle until Iowa Western took an 18-14 lead late in the frame. Coming out of an Indian Hills timeout, Van Gisteren took over to spark a Warrior rally. Indian Hills scored seven of the next eight points to take a commanding 2-1 lead.

The Warriors were in the driver's seat late in set four with a chance to close out the match, but the Reivers stormed back, scoring five of the final six points to force the winner-take-all fifth set.

In the final frame, Van Gisteren took charge, recording all three of her service aces to go along with six kills to power the Warriors to victory.

Van Gisteren, who is the only player in the nation with 400 kills and 40 service aces on the year, continues to climb the Indian Hills record books. The sophomore is just 59 kills shy of becoming the sixth player in program history with at least 1,000 kills.

Indian Hills returns to action this Saturday in Waterloo, IA with a 3:00 PM match vs. Illinois Central Community College before matching up with the Reivers once again on October 23 in Council Bluffs, IA. The winner of the third matchup between Indian Hills and Iowa Western will determine the top overall seed from the ICCAC heading into the NJCAA Midwest District Tournament.

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