The Lady Indians, who came onto the court ready to play, defeated Valparaiso at home on Sept. 19.

Key performances by Victoria Gardenhire (10) and Megan Malatestinic (12) put the Indians over the top, although Valpo fought back throughout the game.

“The hardest thing about playing Valpo is just their blocking. All of their front row players are tall and really know how to block. That makes it a little more difficult to get a kill when you have a big block up there. We made some adjustments, and we were able to hit around the block and use our offense efficiently,” Gardenhire said.

The Indians stayed neck-and-neck with the Vikings, but came in clutch when it mattered most.

“I think everything is coming together on our team skill-wise. Our blocking struggled a little at the beginning of the season, and we’ve really worked on improving that. I think it shown through tonight,” Gardenhire said

The LC varsity girls won 25-19 first set, 25-18 second set, and 25-16 third set, shutting out the Vikings for a big win at home.

“We played great. We came out strong and played at a high level the whole time. There was lots of adrenaline being out on the court tonight. We knew how important of a game it was, and we wanted that win so bad,” Malatestinic said.

The varsity girls play Lowell Monday, Sept. 23 at Lowell.