Council Bluffs, IA – No. 19 Indian Hills Volleyball locked up the regular season Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Championship with a thrilling 3-2 win on the road at league foe Iowa Western Community College Tuesday night. The Warriors improve to 16-5 overall on the year.
After dropping the opening set 25-14, the Warriors rallied for back-to-back wins, 25-18 and 25-14. The Reivers responded with a hard-fought 25-21 victory in set four, but the Warriors battled their way to a 15-10 victory in the final frame to take the first two regular season matches from Iowa Western.
With the win, the Warriors earn the top overall seed in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Volleyball Midwest District A Tournament in November. Indian Hills has now won four consecutive regular season ICCAC titles over the Reivers.
The Warriors saw standout performances from freshman Farah Sherif (Alexandria, Egpyt/EGC) with 18 kills and sophomore Piper Nelson (Atkins, IA/Benton) with 14 finishers. As a team, the Warriors tied a season-high with 58 kills to go along with a .281 hitting percentage.
After a slow start in the opening frame, the Warriors jumped all over the Reivers in each of the next two sets to take a commanding lead. Iowa Western responded with a late push in set four, but the Warriors took control early in set five, scoring the first five points. Indian Hills held off a late surge from the Reivers to hold on for the win.
The Warriors have now won four of their last five contests in Council Bluffs and have won eight of the last 10 matchups with the Reivers overall.
Sherif finished the night with 18 kills, her second-most of the season while posting a .469 hitting percentage on 32 attacks. Sophomore Luana Silva Ferreira (Guimaraes, Portgual/Martins Sarmento) added 12 kills on 17 attempts while fellow upperclassmen Joanna Pawlik (Lublin, Poland/Nauczycieli Tajnego Nauczania) added nine kills.
Pawlik put together one of her top defensive performances over the past two seasons with 20 digs while Sherif recorded her fourth double-double of the year with 18 digs. Sophomore Aleksandra Oles (Tomaszów Lubelski, Poland/1 LO Tomaszów Lubelski) recorded four service aces on the night and now ranks 10th nationally with 46 aces on the year.
Sophomore Ana Luiza Caminha Matos (Betim, Brazil/Augusto de Lima) paced the offense from the setter position with 53 assists. Luiza ranks ninth in the NJCAA with 671 assists on the year while her 10.32 assists/set are third-best in the nation.
With one regular season contest remaining vs. the Reivers, the Warriors have already secured the top spot in the NJCAA Midwest A District Tournament, set for November 7-8, hosted by the NJCAA Region 24A (Illinois) champion.
The Warriors return to action this weekend at the Cardinal Classic in Park Hills, MO. Indian Hills will take on three nationally ranked foes the Mineral Area College (MO) hosted event. The Warriors open up play Thursday afternoon vs. No. 7 nationally ranked Trinty Valley Community College (TX) at 2:00 PM.
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:
- Facebook: visit www.facebook.com/gohillstv
- 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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