Over the last three seasons, Heartland volleyball has battled Region-24 and Midwest Athletic Conference foe Illinois Central College in numerous tight battles. The Hawks have faced-off with ICC in each of the last three district finals, with Heartland taking the championship in 2021 before ICC won a 3-2 match last season.
 
Much was the same this year, as the Hawks traveled to East Peoria Saturday to face-off with the Cougars for the District Championship. Despite leading 2-1 in the early going, the Cougars rallied to win the fourth and fifth sets to take home the victory.
 
The Hawks had to beat East Central College first on Saturday before getting a crack at ICC, and they did just that by sweeping the Falcons (25-9, 25-9, 25-15). 11 Hawks contributed in the victory, with Olivia Pippin leading the way with eight kills, 10 assists and seven digs. Kennedy Conrad added to her NJCAA DII leading dig total with 11. Julianne Kielion also finished with 10 assists for Heartland.
 
Heartland's focus then moved to ICC, and the Hawks gave the Cougars everything they could handle. After ICC took set one 26-24, the Hawks rallied for two straight wins in sets two and three (25-18, 25-21). The Cougars responded with a 25-21 victory in set four to set-up a match-deciding fifth set, in which ICC ultimately won 15-10. Conrad ended with a career-high 53 digs. Emma Harper and Georgi Patten each supplied 10 kills. Kielion finished with 19 assists, while Pippin contributed seven kills, 21 assists and 21 digs.
 
The Hawks will now wait for the NJCAA DII National Tournament pairings show, which will be held at 11 AM Thursday on the NJCAA Network, to determine if they will receive an at-large bid to the tournament. The NJCAA DII National Tournament will be held Nov. 16-18 at Alliant Energy PowerHouse Arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.