Indians end season with win

HINU sweeps Tigers

Haskell Indian Nations University freshman Takara Bighorse (14) rises for a spike against Central Christian College. HINU swept the Tigers Tuesday at Coffin Sports Complex.

Last year, Haskell Indian Nations University’s volleyball squad was in the exact same place Tuesday’s opponent, Central Christian, was: winless in the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference.

The Indians (5-17 overall, 3-11 in conference) made quick work of the Tigers at Coffin Sports Complex to keep Central without a conference victory with a sweep, 30-24, 30-19, 30-14, to close out the season with their only conference victory at home.

“It felt good. It felt really good to finish with a win,” freshman Takara Bighorse said. “We could have done it all season. But tonight we did show that we can play this game.”

First-year coach Melissa Peterson said she was proud of the way the young team finished out the year, but says the MCAC tournament will be the team’s goal next year.

“We’re excited to get this win because it gives us five wins for the season, compared to last year’s no wins. Everybody calls it a miracle, I guess,” Peterson said. “We thought we could try to turn it around in a year, but it’s going to take more than a year.”

With the team being led mostly by freshmen, her squad could be making that next step.

Against the Tigers, a pair of freshmen led to the Indians’ dominance at the net.

HINU had a a 49-23 advantage in kills behind Bighorse’s team-high 14 kills and Holly Tanner’s 12 kills. In the third and decisive game, Haskell held Central to just two kills.

“I think a lot of that came with winning our last match (against Central), and our hitters were more confident and knew that they could get around the blocks,” Peterson said. “Everybody came out tonight and played well. There was not just one person who did everything. It was everybody helping each other out, so they did very well at the net because of that. They were also more aggressive than we usually are.”

The Indians were also more aggressive at the service line against Central Christian.

After struggling with serving throughout the season, the Indians seemed to find a groove to finish off the year.

Haskell accumulated 12 aces in the match – as opposed to just one ace by Central – and limited its serving errors to just three. Tanner led the squad with four aces.

“We could have done this all season, but a couple of times we got nervous at the line, and we weren’t as confident as we were tonight,” Bighorse said. “Those other games we were really being careful, but tonight we just played our game and had fun.”