Ottumwa, IA – The Indian Hills Volleyball team picked up its third consecutive win over league foe Iowa Western Community College with a 3-1 victory Tuesday night at the Hellyer Center. With the win, the Warriors improve to 10-6 overall on the year.
Indian Hills picked up two straight set wins, 25-20 and 26-24 before dropping a thriller in set three, 29-27. The Warriors battled back in the fourth set to erase a brief deficit and pick up a 25-22 win in the finale for the team's third straight win over the Reivers (5-12) dating back to last season.
The Warriors, who re-entered the national rankings this week in the 'Others Receiving Votes' category, have now won five of their last six contests. The win gives the Warriors the 1-0 advantage in the best-of-three regular season Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) series with Iowa Western.
Sophomore Kinga Michalska (Szówsko, Poland/ZSSCHiO), this week's ICCAC DI Volleyball Athlete of the Week picked up right where she left off after being named to the Sheila Worley Invitational All-Tournament team over the weekend. The outside hitter delivered the opening point with a statement kill to kick off the night. Michalska went on to finish the match with a team-high 14 kills for the Warriors while adding three block assists.
With the 14 finishers on Tuesday night, Michalska has now eclipsed the 600-career kill mark for her career for a total of 609 through 62 career matches played.
Michalska teamed up with freshman Sara Van Gisteren (Leuth, Netherlands/Young Talent Academy ROC Nijmegen) who powered her way to 13 kills on a team-high 35 attacks on the night. The Warriors tallied six different individuals with at least five kills in the win.
Freshman Fernanda Izar (Bauru, Brazil/Prevê Objetivo Bauru) produced a strong defensive effort with nine total blocks, including three solo stops. Izar also added five kills for the Warriors. Sabrina Nogueira Da Silva (São Paulo, Brazil/Colégio Campos Salles), this week's ICCAC DI Volleyball Defensive Played of the Week, produced 18 digs while adding a pair of service aces for the Warriors.
An early lead for the Reivers in the opening set disappeared as Nogueira Da Silva took over from the service line. The Warriors pulled away down the stretch, leading by as many as seven in the opening frame.
Following a back-and-forth battle throughout the early portions of the second set, the Reivers pulled ahead to take a 24-21 lead with set point within reach. The Warriors responded and rattled off five consecutive points in large part from the service of sophomore Emme Wilson (Sandy, UT/Skyline) who delivered a momentum-shifting ace to spark the Warriors to the 2-0 match advantage.
Another thrilling battle ensued in the third frame as the Reivers used a late rally of their own to hold off the Warriors from the home sweep.
Indian Hills opened up the fourth frame with a quick 5-0 lead to set the tone early. Iowa Western responded and eventually tied the set at 18-all before freshman Ana Carolina Westerich (Blumenau, Brazil/Colégio Energia) stepped to the line and paved the way to victory for the Warriors.
Westerich provided the tempo for the Warrior offense with 37 assists in the win to go along with nine digs and three service aces.
As a team, the Warriors totaled 13 service aces in the win. Indian Hills ranks ninth in the nation with 136 service aces on the year.
Next up for Indian Hills is the Warrior Triangular Friday afternoon at the Hellyer Center. The Warriors will take on Carl Sandburg College (IL) at 1:00 PM followed by a 5:00 PM date with Kirkwood Community College at 5:00 PM. Kirkwood and Carl Sandburg will square off at 3:00 PM.
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