Ottumwa -- Indian Hills volleyball coach Lyndsey Lyon-Michel couldn't have asked for a better start to her season than what her team provided during a weekend trip to the Wisconsin Dells. The third-year head coach saw her squad win all four matches over a two-day period, including two wins against teams that were ranked in the preseason.

The Warriors opened on Friday with straight-set wins against Highland (Ill.) and Oakland (Mich.), ranked 6th in the NJCAA Division II poll. On Saturday, Indian Hills polished off DI-18th-rated Wallace State (Ala.) in a five-set match and ended the weekend with a 3-0 victory against Rock Valley (Ill.).

"It was a great weekend with a lot of team bonding," Lyon-Michel said about the fast start to the campaign. "It set a great tone for what we hope will be a very exciting season."

With a lot of new faces in the lineup, it was one of the returners from last year that helped get the IHCC offense going. Sophomore setter Katie Soddy had 148 assists for the tourney, including 58 in the win against Wallace State. The Warriors won the first two sets against Wallace State, then dropped two, before regrouping for a 15-10 win in the deciding set.

Freshmen Nora Buvarp and Tamera Merseli each had seven kills in the opening match against Highland while two more frosh, Jessica Eekhoff and Lauren Streets had six apiece. Buvarp and freshman Kameo Pope had four blocks. Another freshman, Sarah Ryder had a team-high 12 digs.

The statistical leaders in the Oakland match were Pope with six blocks, Merseli and Pope with 10 kills and Soddy with 17 digs.

Streets stepped up in the match against Wallace State with some strong net play, garnering 20 kills and Pope chipped in 14. Pope also led with 10 blocks and Merseli recorded 33 digs.

IHCC finished off the 4-0 start to the season with Merseli slamming a team-high nine kills against Rock Valley. Ryder supplied 12 digs and Eekhoff six blocks.

The home opener is up next for the Warriors who host Southwestern CC on Tuesday night at the Net Center.