West Plains, IA – No. 2 Indian Hills Volleyball is set for its first national semifinal matchup since 2004 as the Warriors take on No. 6 seeded Miami Dade College (FL) at the West Plains Civic Center Friday night.
DETAILS: NJCAA DI Volleyball National Semifinal
No. 2 Indian Hills vs. No. 6 Miami Dade
Friday, November 18 | 6:30 PM
West Plains Civic Center | West Plains, MO
WATCH LIVE: NJCAA Network
LIVE AUDIO: GoHillsTV
LIVE STATS: Indian Hills vs. Miami Dade
BRACKET: NJCAA DI Volleyball National Tournament
The second-seeded and No. 2 nationally ranked Warriors and the sixth-seeded and No. 9 nationally ranked Sharks both earned a pair of wins on Friday to advance to the national semifinal as both squads look to earn a berth in Saturday's national title match.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Indian Hills (40-2), ranked No. 2 in the nation for five weeks during the regular season rolled through No. 15 seed Monroe College (NY) in the opening round Friday with a 3-0 sweep. The Warriors followed up the opener with a thrilling five-set victory over No. 7 seed Trinity Valley Community College in the quarterfinals. The Warriors took the opening two sets before the Cardinals rallied with two wins. Indian Hills held off Trinity Valley 15-9 in the decisive fifth set.
Miami Dade (21-8) earned aThe Sharks opened up play Friday with a 3-0 sweep over No. 11 seed Seward County Community College (KS) before scoring a major upset in the quarterfinals with a 3-1 victory over No. 3 seed Salt Lake Community College, one of just two programs to beat Indian Hills this year.
WARRIORS TO WATCH
The Warriors relied on a number of individuals throughout the day on Friday, including its core group of veteran sophomores.
- Jarolin de los Santos (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Luis Munoz Rivera) became the school's all-time leader in single blocks with six total on the day. de los Santos already owns the career blocks record for the Warriors.
- Hennesys Lalane ((Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Colegio Luis Munox Rivera) put on another show form the setter position, totaling 50 assists in the thriller over Trinity Valley.
- Freshman Kinga Michalska (Szówsko, Poland/ZSSCHiO) powered the Warriors in the nightcap with 18 kills while hitting an impressive .421 in the five-set victory.
SCOUTING THE SHARKS
One of the most historic NJCAA programs, Miami Dade boasts six national titles in its program history. The Sharks are making their 21st all-time national tournament appearance, the second-most in NJCAA history.
- The Sharks own the nation's best hitting percentage with a .309 clip this year, led by sophomore Mariela Jimenez's .404 mark.
- Sophomore outside hitter Romina Cornelio produced a career-high 22 kills in the Sharks' victory over Salt Lake on Friday night.
- Miami Dade ranks eighth in the nation in blocks per set with a 2.44 mark and ninth nationally with 11.89 assists per set.
- The Sharks most recently won a national title in 2017, making it back-to-back titles.
BRACKET BREAKDOWN
Just four teams remain in the winner's bracket of the national tournament. On the opposite side of the bracket, top-seeded and No. 1 nationally ranked Florida SouthWestern State College and No. 5 seed Missouri State University – West Plains will meet in the other semifinal matchup at 6:30 PM on Friday night.
Both Florida SouthWestern and Missouri State – West Plains used a pair of sweeps to advance to the semifinal round.
WHAT'S NEXT
The winner of Friday's semifinal matchups will meet in the national title game at 7:30 PM on Saturday night at the West Plains Civic Center. The title match will be aired live on ESPN+.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Fans can listen in on all the action free of charge via GoHillsTV as Russ W. Ocker will be on-site to call Friday's matchup. Fans can tune in via the GoHillsTV Facebook Page.
Fans can also view the action live for a cost on the NJCAA Netowork.
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