Mattoon, IL – No. 17 nationally ranked Indian Hills Volleyball is set to open up postseason play Friday night with the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Volleyball Midwest A District Tournament.
DETAILS: NJCAA DI Volleyball Midwest A District Tournament
November 7-8
Mattoon, IL | Laker Field House (Lake Land College)
No. 17 Indian Hills vs. Winner of Jefferson / John A. Logan (6:30 PM Friday)
WATCH LIVE: Indian Hills vs. TBD
BRACKET: NJCAA DI Volleyball Midwest A District Tournament
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: NJCAA DI Volleyball Midwest A District Tournament
The Indian Hills Volleyball squad will look to punch its ticket to the NJCAA DI Volleyball National Championship for the fourth consecutive year as the Warriors are set to open up the NJCAA DI Volleyball Midwest A District Tournament Friday night.
HOW WE GOT HERE
The Warriors captured their fourth consecutive Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) regular season title by sweeping all three matchups with conference foe Iowa Western Community College to earn an opening round bye in the District tournament.
- The Warriors enter postseason play with a 23-8 overall record, the 11th time head coach Lyndsey Michel has led the Warriors to at least 20 wins in 14 seasons.
- Indian Hills is 10-6 overall in neutral site matchups this year and sport a 6-2 record in true road contests.
- The Warriors won five of six matchups to close out the regular season.
- Indian Hills wrapped up the regular season ranked No. 17 in the final NJCAA DI Volleyball Poll.
WARRIORS TO WATCH
The Warriors have relied on sophomore leadership along with a number of newcomers throughout the year heading into postseason competition.
- Sophomore Asialin Powell has powered the Indian Hills defense, ranking in the top-10 in the nation in total digs (585) and digs/set (5.42). Powell recently hit 900 career digs for her Indian Hills career.
- Sophomore Piper Nelson will look for a return trip to the national tournament after leading the Warriors with 299 kills so far this season.
- Sophomore Ana Luiza Caminha Matos has paced the offense with 1,034 assists this season and ranks second in the NJCAA with 10.77 assists/set.
- The Warriors will look to fellow returners Luana Silva Ferreira, Aleksandra Oles, and Joanna Pawlik for veteran leadership entering postseason play.
- Freshman Farah Sherif, this week's ICCAC Athlete of the Week, ranks second on the team with 292 kills on the year.
MICHEL'S NOTES
"We've put together a solid week of practice heading into postseason play and we're excited to get back into action," stated head coach Lyndsey Michel. "We've been fine tuning the small details and look forward to putting our gameplan into place Friday night. This group brings a lot of experience to the tournament and I know they're ready to face the challenge head on."
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Warriors will take on the winner of Jefferson College (MO) and John A. Logan College (IL) who are set to square off at 1:30 PM Friday afternoon.
- Jefferson, the No. 3 seed out of NJCAA Region 16 (MO) boasts an 11.15 overall record on the year, having won three of its last five contests to close out the regular season.
- Indian Hills has won five consecutive matchups vs. Jefferson, including two wins during the 2025 season.
- The Vikings are 2-6 against common opponents with the Warriors this season.
- John A. Logan, the No. 3 seed out of NJCAA Region 24 (IL), heads into postseason play with a 21-11 overall record on the year.
- The Warriors are 5-1 vs. the Volunteers dating back to the 2013 season, having won five in a row, including a 3-0 sweep back on October 10.
- Indian Hills has won four consecutive matchups vs. the Volunteers in the NJCAA District Tournament, including a 3-0 sweep in 2022 to advance to the national tournament.
- The Volunteers are 7-7 vs. common opponents with the Warriors this year.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
The other side of the Midwest A District Tournament bracket features top seed and tournament host Lake Land College (IL) who earned the top spot out of NJCAA Region 24 (IL). Missouri State University - West Plains, the NJCAA Region 16 (MO) runner-up and Kaskaskia College (IL), the No. 5 seed out of NJCAA Region 24 (IL) will matchup in the opener at 11:00 AM on Friday morning.
- Lake Land earned the right to host as the top overall seed out of Illinois with a 21-11 overall record, including a 16-3 mark in conference play. The Lakers earned votes in the final NJCAA DI Volleyball Poll.
- Indian Hills defeated the Lakers 3-2 in Mattoon, IL back on September 12.
- The preseason No. 8 team in the nation, Missouri State - West Plains heads into the national tournament with a 13-19 record.
- Kaskaskia heads to Mattoon with a 20-11 overall record, having lost its last three matchups entering postseason.
- Indian Hills is 7-0 all-time vs. the Blue Devils.
WHAT'S NEXT
A win for the Warriors on Friday night will secure a spot in the NJCAA District Championship match for the seventh consecutive year. Indian Hills has won four District tournaments since 2019 (2024, 2023, 2022, and 2019). The District title match is set for 11:00 AM in Mattoon, IL vs. the winner of the Lake Land and Missouri State-West Plains/Kaskaskia matchup.
NEW YEAR - WHAT TO KNOW
Fans can keep up the Indian Hills Volleyball squad all year long through a number of ways:
- X (formerly Twitter): @IHCCAthletics
- Facebook: Indian Hills Athletics | Indian Hills Volleyball
- Instagram: @IHCC_Volleyball | @IHCCAthletics
- Youtube: Indian Hills Athletics
- Website: www.indianhillsathletics.com
- Catch up with the history of Indian Hills Volleyball: Indian Hills Volleyball Record Book | Indian Hills Volleyball All-Time Awards
- Keep up with former Indian Hills Volleyball standouts and where they are now | Next Level Warriors - Indian Hills Volleyball
- All home games are played at the Hellyer Center on the Indian Hills Ottumwa campus
HOW TO WATCH
As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of all Indian Hills home volleyball games. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:
- GoHillsTV App: Download the Iowa Media Network app on your android or ios device and navigate to the GoHillsTV section
- Website: https://www.iowamedianetwork.com/gohillstv to catch all live and archived information
- Roku Streaming Device (new): Have a Roku TV or streaming stick? Download the GoHillsTV app to start streaming today!
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