Park Hills, MO – The No. 15 nationally ranked Indian Hills Volleyball squad returns to action this weekend with four matches at the Cardinal Classic.

DETAILS: 2024 Cardinal Classic

Friday, October 11 – Saturday, October 12

Park Hills, MO  |  Mineral Area College

Riding a four-match win streak, the Indian Hills Volleyball team heads south to the Cardinal Classic for four key matchups at Mineral Area College.

ON THE BLOCK

The Warriors are coming off a 4-0 week that saw three wins at the Grizzly Invitational in West Plains, MO, including two wins over nationally ranked squads, as well as a home victory over Hawkeye Community College on Saturday.

• The Warriors have secured four wins over nationally ranked teams this year heading into the weekend.
• This weekend marks the Warriors' fifth tournament of the year, owning an 8-4 record in true neutral site matchups.
• The Warriors faced each of these four teams at last year's Cardinal Classic, going 3-1 along the way.
• Saturday's matchup vs. Vincennes (IN) will be the Warriors' 11th opponent from a different state this year.

VAN GISTEREN RACKS UP HONORS

Sophomore Sara Van Gisteren, an NJCAA and AVCA All-American as a freshman, swept a trio of weekly honors this week for the Warriors after an impressive showing in all four contests last week.

• Van Gisteren was named the ICCAC, NJCAA, and AVCA Athlete of the Week.
• Van Gisteren has now landed six career ICCAC league honors, including four this year, as well as a two-time national athlete of the week this year.
• The sophomore currently ranks third in the nation with 379 kills on the year and fifth nationally with 4.21 kills/set.

YEAR OF MILESTONES

A quartet of sophomores continue to climb the Indian Hills Volleyball record books throughout the season.

• Van Gisteren surpassed the 800-career kills total last week for the Warriors and owns 832 finishers throughout her tenure with the Warriors.
• Middle blocker Daniela De Los Santos Castillo is just seven blocks shy of 100 career blocks entering the weekend.
• Ana Carolina Westerich, who ranks second in the nation with 915 assists, surpassed 2,200 career assists last week and is now just 85 assists shy of back-to-back 1,000 assist seasons.
• Sabrina Nogueira Da Silva is just 33 digs away from moving into fourth place on the all-time digs list at Indian Hills.

SCOUTING THE BLUE DRAGONS

Indian Hills and Hutchinson will match up for the second time this year after the Warriors dropped a 3-2 thriller against the Blue Dragons on August 30 at the McCook Invitational.

• The Blue Dragons have dropped three in a row and six of their last eight contests.
• Hutchinson is 8-3 overall in neutral site matchups this year.
• The Warriors and Blue Dragons have met 13 times since 2012, with Indian Hills owning a 7-6 advantage.

SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES

For the second consecutive weekend, the two NJCAA Midwest District foes will square off as nationally ranked opponents.

• The Warriors knocked off then-No. 14 MSU-WP at the Grizzlies' home invitational last week to snap their 12-match winning streak.
• Following Thursday's loss to Indian Hills, MSU-WP closed out the weekend with three straight wins, dropping just two sets.
• MSU-WP ranks in the top-10 in the NJCAA in seven different categories including kills and points.
• The Grizzlies jumped one spot to No. 13 in this week's NJCAA national poll.

SCOUTING THE TRAILBLZERS

Indian Hills and Vincennes will meet for the first time since the Warriors dropped the Trailblazers in last year's District championship to advance to the national tournament. 

• Vincennes heads to Missouri with a 20-8 record in tow, having won three in a row and six of its last seven.
• The Trailblazers currently boast the third-most kills in the nation with 1,211 on the year.
• The Warriors are 6-0 all-time vs. the Trailblazers, dating back to 2016.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS

The Warriors will wrap up play in Missouri against host Mineral Area in the weekend finale.

• The Cardinals are 13-6 on the year, going 3-3 in the team's last six outings.
• Mineral Area is 4-4 vs. common opponents with the Warriors.
• The Cardinals boast the fourth-best hitting percentage in the nation at .294.
• Dating back to 2012, Indian Hills is 13-4 all-time vs. Mineral Area.

WHAT'S NEXT 

Indian Hills returns home next week for a pair of matches at the Hellyer Center. The Warriors will host Jefferson College (MO) at 5:00 PM on Tuesday before a conference showdown with Iowa Western Community College at 7:00 PM on Thursday. Purchase tickets in advance to next week's contests:

Indian Hills vs. Jefferson     |     Indian Hills vs. Iowa Western

HOW TO WATCH

As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of Indian Hills Volleyball matches. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:

• Facebook: visit www.facebook.com/gohillstv
• GoHillsTV App: Download the GoHillsTV app on your android or ios device
• Website: https://www.gohillstv.com/browse to catch all live and archived information
• Roku Streaming Device:  Have a Roku TV or streaming stick? Download the GoHillsTV app to start streaming today!

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