JUCO volleyball: Warriors clinch regular-season regional title
Oct. 12—COUNCIL BLUFFS — The first weekend in November is going to be quite a busy one around the Indian Hills Ottumwa campus.
The 16th-ranked Indian Hills volleyball team secured home-court advantage for the postseason, clinching the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) regular-season title on Wednesday with a three-game sweep at Iowa Western. The Warriors will now host the upcoming National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I volleyball Midwest 'A' Tournament at the Hellyer Student Life Center on Saturday, Nov. 4, the day between the semifinals and finals of the NJCAA Midwest District men's soccer tournament that IHCC will be hosting Nov. 3-5.
The Warriors move to 20-7 overall on the year, the eighth time head coach Lyndsey Michel has reached the 20-win milestone throughout her tenure in Ottumwa. The Warriors have now won four consecutive matches against Iowa Western, the longest streak since the 2004 season.
After defeating the Reivers 3-1 in Ottumwa back on Sept. 12, the Warriors wasted no time downing the longtime cross-state title contender Wednesday night. Indian Hills took the match by set scores of 25-20, 25-17 and 25-17.
The Warriors' top two attackers on the year, Sara Van Gisteren and Kinga Michalska led the offense with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. The tandem now leads the nation with a combined 650 kills on the year, the most by a pair of teammates among the 88 NJCAA Division I volleyball programs across the nation.
Ana Carolina Westerich tallied 25 assists along with 14 digs, the freshman's fourth double-double of the year. Sabrina Nogueira Da Silva tied Westerich for the team-lead with 14 digs on the night.
Fernanda Izar led the charge at the net for the Warrior defense with seven total blocks on the night, including a pair of solo stops.
Prior to hosting the postseason, the Warriors still have a lengthy slate of contests throughout the next three weeks, including five more home matches. Next up for Indian Hills is a trip to the Mineral Area College Tournament Friday and Saturday in Park Hills, Missouri. The Warriors will take on the likes of Vincennes University, Hutchinson Community College, Missouri State University-West Plains and Mineral Area.
