Truckers sweep path to district semis

NORWALK — In the biggest match of their Norwalk volleyball careers, in the loudest gym they've ever played in, the Truckers painted a masterpiece. The best part — it means they get to do it all again next week. "It's always a joy when you're still playing," Norwalk coach Sarah Kipp said. Norwalk, the 2-seed in the Division II Seneca East District, hosted 5-seed Clyde in a sectional final and swept the Fliers 26-24, 25-19, 25-19 on Thursday night. The win pushes the Truckers (17-6) on to a district semifinal Tuesday night in Attica against 3-seed Shelby. "That was exhilarating," Norwalk junior Lucy Schlotterer said. "That was so fun." Schlotterer had a massive night, tallying 22 kills in the three set win to move to 980 in her career. She also had 19 digs. "We know Lucy's a really good hitter," Clyde coach Shelley Rogers said. "... She's a good baller." Junior libero Mac picked up 37 digs, with her freshman sister Sawyer adding 14. "Oh my gosh, that was insane, they're great," Schlotterer said. It was exactly two weeks ago that Norwalk went to Clyde with a chance to clinch the SBC Lake Division title. The Fliers won in four, though, making the Truckers wait a week just to be co-champions. "We needed to do this," Schlotterer said. "We knew what we needed to do and came in and did it." That night, Norwalk's block hadn't been good enough. There was a hole on the outside. This time around, there wasn't a gap. Addie Foster, Bella Hernandez, Emma Gebhardt and Ava Tyler got their hands on hits over and over again. "Man, they took care of business," Kipp said. "We have worked a lot on that block in the last few weeks, and they really did a nice job." Even then, it was a noisy, full house that turned into a brilliant night for volleyball. "It was insane," Schlotterer said. "The last time I felt that was our basketball regional games." "That is one of the most fun things about Norwalk in general," Kipp added. "Man, they showed up tonight. Our student section was fantastic. That's part of being part of a special community like Norwalk." Clyde led most of the first set as middle hitter Brenna Caudill set the tone with three early kills. Norwalk surged ahead 16-14 on kills from Skyler Cassidy and Sydney Moehlman, but then Clyde rattled off six of the next eight points. Schlotterer stopped the run with a kill, then the teams traded errors until Moehlman and Brooklyn Hemminger traded kills for 24-24. Schlotterer finished the next point from the back row, and a long hit gave Norwalk the first set. "We talked a lot about momentum and keeping it on our side," Kipp said. "The energy, the joy and the excitement they get from watching their teammate be successful, that's where it's at." Clyde again took the lead in the second, up 14-12 at one point, but then Schlotterer took over. Norwalk went on a 5-0 run with four kills from the junior. "She took care of the ball, she put balls away when I asked her to," Kipp said. "She was very smart all night long. Mac is back there talking to her about where to go and what to do." The last, to go up 17-14, including an awesome dig by the freshman middle blocker Gebhardt before Schlotterer put it down. Sawyer Wineman picked up another key dig on the next point to set up Bella Hernandez. Norwalk rattled off eight of the last 12 points of the set, mostly on miscues but including kills by Moehlman and Gebhardt, to take a commanding 2-0 lead. "Our consistency picked up over these last two weeks," Schlotterer said. "We've worked on finding the floor, having good serve receive passes and just getting it over the net." Norwalk again came from behind midway through the third, trailing 7-10 before working back into it. A Schlotterer kill and monster block from Foster made it 16-14, and the Truckers didn't trail again. Hernandez followed with a kill, then Schlotterer, then Foster for 19-14. Schlotterer and Foster each had another kill in the finishing spurt. Reagan Mooney served an ace for the penultimate point, and as a final hit sailed long, Norwalk broke into big celebrations with its student section soon joining the party. It's the first time anyone on this Norwalk roster has made it to a district match. They've had a special season already, but it's the kind that would've felt incomplete without a trip next week to Attica. And with the way they delivered on a big stage Thursday night, there's no reason to believe that they can't keep this run going. "We have lots of energy," Schlotterer said. "We have good energy from our bench to our floor, so I have no worries about it."