Norwalk tops Bellevue in four sets

NORWALK — Rested and refreshed. The Norwalk volleyball team opened the season with seven matches in a 13-day span. It came out of the challenging stretch with a 4-3 record. But with seven days off, the Truckers looked better in several key areas in Tuesday's non-league match against Bellevue. Senior defensive anchor Sawyer Wineman called it the best match of the season in terms of improvement. Head coach Sarah Kipp saw the same in her search for consistency from her team. After a 25-20 win in the first set, the Truckers dropped the second set to the Lady Red (7-3) by a 25-19 score. But from there, Norwalk (5-3) used a late rally in the third set to take control, winning the final two sets, 25-18 and 25-16, for the win at NHS. "I think tonight was the best we've played from the aspect of we finally started to change things that weren't working for us," Wineman said. "I feel like that's been an issue. We kind of kept doing the same thing, but tonight we made the changes, and it worked out really well." After each team claimed a split over the first two sets, the third set was tied at 15 before Bellevue grabbed an 18-16 lead after a kill by Mazie Gracemyer. But Norwalk got a side out, and Wineman served up an ace, followed by a big kill from Ainslee King to retake the lead at 19-18. Another ace from Wineman made it 20-18, and a lob from Amanda Romell helped keep the momentum. King and Lindy Winkleman put down two blocks at the net, and Bellevue was unable to return another serve by Wineman to close out a 25-18 win with a 9-0 run. "When we can get better passes, we can run so much more in system," Wineman said. "When we're passing behind the 10-foot line, it's not that fast of an offense, and it's easier for their defense to set up. "It starts with the pass, and the more consistent we can get our offense to run for us, the more we can get the other team to scramble more on defense." Norwalk got out to a quick start in the fourth set. Leading 8-4, Maddie Gamble put down a kill from the left side of the net, and then she teamed with Bella Hernandez for a block. An unforced error by Bellevue quickly put Norwalk in control at 11-4. Things only improved from there. With Lola Schlotterer at the service line, the Lady Red were on their heels as Hernandez and Romell helped control the action at the net, along with senior Lily Colahan. Norwalk led 18-10 after a kill by Romell. After Bellevue scored two straight points (18-12), King came right back with some big swings to put Norwalk in control again at 21-13. Setter Emily Tyler then lobbed over a point, and the set and match ended when a hit and block attempt by the Lady Red both went out of bounds. "It's hard to have that consistency when you're in the gym for a match, then you're not with coming off a holiday weekend," Kipp said. "But the kids found a way, and that's really what we're asking. "By the time we hit the fourth set, it felt like we were better in stride. Bellevue is incredibly scrappy on defense. They picked up a lot tonight. Our kids had to work for it." Kipp is looking for her team to string together more scoring runs and limit opponents from doing the same. That was the script in Tuesday's win. "But that got a little quiet in the second set on our side of the net, so we'll push for them to have a more vocal court and control our side more better down the road," she said. Wineman finished 14 for 14 serving with four aces. She also had a team-high 24 digs and set 13 assists. Tyler led the way with 30 assists and 13 digs, while King was 20 for 20 serving with two aces and led at the net with 16 kills. Also for Norwalk, Gamble had 12 kills and 16 digs, and Hernandez added six kills and five blocks. Sophia Ames added 16 digs, and Schlotterer had 11. Norwalk opens Northern Ohio Conference Lake Division play on Thursday at Clyde before hosting Perkins next Tuesday. "We're excited to get into league play," Kipp said. "This was a good win at home to roll into Clyde, which is always a challenging place to play with the lower ceiling and backboards that hang down. "We're looking for more ball control, but we're ready to open conference play. It feels like it's been a long lead-up to get here." Wineman said Tuesday's win has a chance to be a big confidence boost. "We needed a win like that," she said. "We haven't been doing bad, but it's been a little rocky. We can be proud of how we played, and that's big for our confidence going into league play."