Council Bluffs, IA – The No. 4 nationally ranked Indian Hills Women's Volleyball team bounced back after a season-opening loss on Friday to earn a split at the Reiver Classic. The Warriors dropped their opener 3-2 to Jefferson College (MO) before rebounding with a 3-0 sweep of Dodge City Community College (KS).

The Warriors put up a valiant effort in the opener vs. Jefferson despite the season-opening defeat. Trailing two sets to none, Indian Hills fought back to even the series and force a fifth-set tiebreaker, but the Vikings prevailed in the closing game. Jefferson took the victory 25-20, 25-23, 13-25, 21-25, 15-12.

In the nightcap, the Warriors rallied with a convincing win over the Conquistadors. Indian Hills took the opening set 25-17 before closing out the match with 25-15 and 25-20 set victories.

The Warriors, ranked No. 4 in the preseason National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Volleyball Preseason poll, were led by freshman outside hitter Sara Van Gisteren (Leuth, Netherlands/Young Talent Academy ROC Nijmegen) who combined for 43 total kills on the day. Van Gisteren tallied 24 kills in the opener vs. Jefferson, the most kills for a Warrior since Gabriela Cavalcante Oliveira tallied 26 kills on February 4, 2021. Van Gisteren finished the day with an impressive .443 hitting percentage on 79 total attempts.

Sophomore Kinga Michalska (Szówsko, Poland/ZSSCHiO), the team's kills leader last season, tallied double-digit kills in each match to finish the day with 21 finishers.

Defensively, sophomore libero Sasha Vidal (Asunción, Paraguay/Trinity School), who ranked second in the nation in digs last year, recorded 29 digs on Friday.

Sophomore Maggie Paiva (Asunción, Paraguay/Trinity School) collected five service aces to lead the Warriors from the line as the Warriors combined for 20 total aces throughout the day.

Emme Wilson (Sandy, Utah/Skyline) paced the Warrior offense with 61 assists, setting a new career-high with 34 helpers against Dodge City.

The Warriors return to action on Saturday afternoon with a pair of matchups against nationally ranked opponents on the final day of the Reiver Classic. Indian Hills will open up with No. 6 Western Nebraska Community College at 11:00 AM followed by a 1:00 PM matchup with No. 17 Butler Community College. Western Nebraska finished the day Friday with a 2-0 record, including a 3-1 win over Butler while the Grizzlies went 0-2.

Looking for Indian Hills Athletics information straight to your inbox? Subscribe to our newsletter and mobile alerts to receive news, scores, highlights, and more in real-time: INDIAN HILLS ATHLETICS NEWSLETTER