West Plains, MO – No. 19 Indian Hills Volleyball closed out the 2024 Grizzly Invitational Tournament with two wins on Friday, dropping both No. 12 ranked Trinity Valley Community College (TX) and Panola College (TX) in five sets.
One night following a convincing win over No. 14 Missouri State University – West Plains, the Warriors responded with a thrilling win over the 12th ranked Cardinals of Trinity Valley. Indian Hills knocked off the Cardinals by set scores of 25-13, 16-25, 26-24, 20-25, and 15-13. The Warriors followed up with a five-set win over the Panola Ponies, 25-21, 14-25, 22-25, 25-21, and 15-6.
The Warriors secured their fourth win over a nationally ranked opponent this year with the five-set victory over Trinity Valley. Indian Hills moves to 3-0 all-time vs. the Cardinals.
In the opener vs. Trinity Valley, the Warrior offense was powered by sophomore All-American Sara Van Gisteren (Leuth, Netherlands/Young Talent Academy ROC Nijmegen) who produced 23 kills on 48 attempts. Freshman Joanna Pawlik (Lublin, Poland/Nauczycieli Tajnego Nauczania) aided the Warrior offense with 14 kills and a .357 hitting percentage while sophomore Daniela De Los Santos Castillo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Colegio los Clavelines) added 11 finishers.
Aleksandra Oles (Tomaszów Lubelski, Poland/1 LO Tomaszów Lubelski) provided a spark off the bench for Indian Hills with a personal-best five service aces to go along with six digs on the defensive front. Freshman Asialin Powell (Des Moines, IA/Roosevelt) continued to be a consistent presence for the Warriors and tallied a career-high 19 digs.
In the weekend finale against Panola, Van Gisteren once again put up a stellar line in the box score as the Warriors closed out the morning sweep. The sophomore, who recorded a double-double in Thursday night's victory, posted 25 kills and 11 digs vs. the Ponies on Saturday. Van Gisteren, who tallied 72 kills in the three matches in West Plains, posted a .429 hitting percentage in the win. In the victory over Panola, Van Gisteren surpassed 800-career kills for the Warriors over the past two seasons.
Sophomore Ana Carolina Westerich (Blumenau, Brazil/Colégio Energia), who recorded 56 assists in Friday's opener, added 53 more helpers in the win over Panola to eclipse 800 assists on the year. Westerich added four service aces in the win. The sophomore, who leads the nation in assists, is one of just two players in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) with at least 800 assists and 40 aces on the year.
Pawlik was once again solid on the attack with 13 kills for the Warriors. Sophomore Sabrina Nogueira Da Silva (São Paulo, Brazil/Colégio Campos Salles) produced a career night with a personal-best seven service aces. As a team, Indian Hills went for a season-high 16 aces in the victory.
The Warriors return home on Saturday afternoon to take on Hawkeye Community College at 3:00 PM at the Hellyer Center.
To purchase tickets in advance for Saturday's match, visit: INDIAN HILLS VS. HAWKEYE TICKETS
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