Ottumwa -- Indian Hills showed the early-season success that had the Warriors winning 11 of their first 12 matches was no fluke as the No. 11-rated Warriors defeated third-ranked Iowa Western, 3-1, in action at the Tom Arnold Net Center Wednesday night.

Having dropped the last 19 matches to the Reivers -- a streak dating back to an IHCC win in the District Tournament in Nov. 2008 -- Indian Hills showed this night could have a different result when they won the first two sets, 25-16 and 25-22. Iowa Western (9-6) regrouped to win set three, 25-18, but the Warriors got a big block from sophomore Jessica Eekhoff (pictured above)-- her team-leading 10th of the night -- to finish off the win, 25-20, in the fourth set.

To beat a team like Iowa Western -- which had lost only four sets to the Warriors in their 19-match winning streak against IHCC -- Indian Hills needed to get contributions from up and down the lineup, and that's exactly what they got. In the first set alone, five different Warrior attackers got kills, setting the tone for what would be a good match at the net for the home squad.

Indian Hills got off to a quick 6-2 lead in the first set and won the most lopsided set of the night.

Iowa Western came back to score the first six points of set two, but the Warriors recovered to go on top for the first time at 9-8 and it was a tight set that IHCC pulled out thanks to three late kills by sophomore Tamara Merseli, who had a match-high 17 kills.

After the Reivers fought their way to a win in the third set, the Warriors pulled out another tense set, coming from behind late, to finish off Iowa Western. The Warriors had five match points after an Iowa Western error, an ace serve by freshman Bailey Darnall and a kill by Eekhoff put the score at 24-19. Eekhoff and Yanjiao Zhao combined on a match-ending block to seal the win.

Indian Hills is idle until hosting Iowa Central on Sept. 22. The return engagement with Iowa Western will be Oct. 13 in Council Bluffs.