Sterling, CO – No. 4 Indian Hills Volleyball went the distance in a pair of nationally ranked matchups at the Sheila Worley Tournament on Friday and came out on top in both. The Warriors upended No. 5 Western Nebraska Community College and No. 19 Northeastern Junior College (CO) each in five sets.
Just three days after receiving the team's highest national rank since 2015, the Warriors were put to the test against two quality opponents. In the opener against Western Nebraska, the Warriors traded sets, 25-19, 20-25, 19-25, and 25-19 before holding off the Cougars in the final frame 15-13. Indian Hills battled back from an early deficit against Northeastern to win in five by set scores of 26-24, 25-20, 25-27, 25-27, and 15-11.
"We were a little predictable and got flat on defense today, but we really got aggressive and pulled through in both matches" stated head coach Lyndsey Michel. "Jarolin (de los Santos) was very effective for us today. She was a solid block in the middle along with Erica (Calderon Rosario)."
Taking on its seventh ranked opponent of the season, the Warriors squared off with Western Nebraska in the team's opener in Colorado. The Warriors came out strong with a .448 hitting percentage to take the opening set before struggling to build off their momentum over the next two frames.
Indian Hills picked up its pace in the fourth set and limited its hitting errors before finishing off the Cougars in the final frame with just three hitting errors to improve to 6-1 against nationally ranked foes this year.
Freshman Larissa Barreiros Scatamburlo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colégio Liceu Franco-Brasileiro) led the team with 16 kills on the day while also posting 10 digs for the double-double. Jenna Vallée (Pornichet, France / Lycee Aristide Briand) added 11 kills in 31 attempts.
Jarolin de los Santos (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Luis Munoz Rivera) and Erica Calderon Rosario (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Salome Urena de Henriquez) were key at the net in the opening win for the Warriors, combining for 18 total blocks, including nine solo stops between the two upperclassmen. Sasha Vidal (Asunción, Paraguay/Trinity School), this week's national defensive player of the week, recorded 29 digs in the victory.
After sweeping its last seven opponents before Friday, the Warriors found themselves in a second consecutive battle in Colorado. Indian Hills stole the opening two sets thanks to a combined 26 kills against just nine hitting errors before committing seven hitting errors in each of the next two sets to even the match at two.
Scatamburlo came up big for the Warriors in the final set with a team-high five kills as the Warriors hit .368 in the frame to finish the day with a 2-0 record.
Scatamburlo once again led the Warriors with a team-high 17 kills along with 13 digs. Vidal totaled 22 digs in the win.
Both de los Santos and Rosario put together another dominant effort at the net, combining for 17 total blocks, including 13 alone from de los Santos.
The team's catalyst throughout the year, sophomore Hennesys Lalane (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Colegio Luis Munox Rivera) guided the team offensively in each of the two wins. Lalane posted 93 total assists in the win and put together an impressive showing at the service line with a career-high eight in the win over Northeastern. Lalane also added 12 digs against Western Nebraska and totaled seven kills with no hitting errors in 14 attempts against Northeastern for an all-around solid performance.
The Warriors wrap up play at the Sheila Worley Tournament on Saturday with a matchup against Casper College (WY) at 11:00 AM followed by the finale against Hutchinson Community College (KS) at 12;30 PM.
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