That trend continued last night as the Eagles hosted NJCAA Division I and sixth-ranked Indian Hills at Johnson Hall.
Indian Hills ultimately escaped with the win in five sets by scores of 23-25, 25-20, 29-27, 22-25, 15-12, but not after getting everything they could handle from the young Eagles.
Kirkwood came out strong early taking the first set 25-23 only to see the Warriors of Indian Hills take the next two sets 25-20 and 29-27.
With their backs against the wall, Kirkwood was able to bounce back to force a decisive fifth set with a 25-22 win in the fourth.
In the fifth, the Eagles took an early 4-0 lead before Indian Hills stormed back to tie it at 5, forcing a Kirkwood timeout. Following the timeout, Indian Hills never trailed again, eventually opening up a 14-11 advantage before claiming the final set, 15-12, and the win.
Margaret Micka recorded a double-double for the Eagles with 15 digs and a team-high 12 kills. McKenzie Petersen had a team-high eight blocks while Haleigh Durnin recorded seven. Abbi Tunis and Ady Wintermote contributed 10 kills and 9 kills, respectively. Brianna Eberhardt notched a team-high 25 digs while Lauren Keane dished out 17 assists to lead the Eagles.
The Eagles are back in action at home tonight vs. Southeastern (10-8) at 6:30 p.m. in Johnson Hall.
