By Sam Parsons

The Oskaloosa Indians hit the road to Dallas Center-Grimes yesterday in search of one more conference win before the LHC tournament on Thursday, and though the Mustangs made them work for it, they got what they wanted.

The Mustangs jumped on the Indians in the first set with a convincing win. After they led 8-7 early, the Mustangs embarked on a 10-2 run to go up 18-9 and they maintained that advantage until late in the set, cruising to a 25-19 win after silencing a late comeback effort from Osky.

Set #2, however, proved to be a vastly different story, as the Indians seized control early and never let go. After leading the Mustangs 7-6, Osky scored 11 of the next 12 points, and they also wrapped up the set on a 5-1 run, with it all adding up to a dominant 25-13 win to tie it up at 1-1.

The third set was far more competitive than each of the first two. The teams battled back and forth until Osky led 23-22 late, but the Mustangs rattled off 3 straight points to take the lead 2-1. Osky would again answer the bell in the fourth set to stay alive, however, with another big run playing a key role. Down 15-13, the Indians scored 9 points in a row and traded points from there to win it 25-18.

That made things interesting entering the fifth and final set, and the match would save the best for last. Neither squad was able to establish a firm grip on it at any point, but the game was clutched out in the end by the Indians, who put the Mustangs away 15-13.

The match featured excellent attacks from Maleah Walker (24 unofficial kills) and Hannah Quang (18 unofficial kills). Hannah Nelson (7 unofficial kills) also factored into the offense significantly and the Indians got great play at the net from her as well as Pressley Blommers, Dasia Foster, Walker, and Quang. Sydney Meints led the Mustangs with 13 unofficial kills.

Oskaloosa (19-9, 4-3) will be in action tomorrow at the LHC tournament in Indianola, with their first matchup TBD. The same goes for DCG (17-14, 4-3).