Norwalk flips script to win district title

SHELBY — Norwalk's goal, each and every time it takes the court, is to have an absolute blast. And it doesn't get much more fun than this. "It's just so crazy," junior libero Mac Wineman said. "I just love every single girl on this team." The Truckers are D-II district champions. They knocked off top-seeded Lexington on Thursday after dropping the first set 21-25, going 25-18, 25-18 and 25-13 from there. After three consecutive losing seasons, Norwalk is back on top of the district for the 13th time in program history and advances to a regional semifinal on Thursday, Nov. 2. "It's a feeling that only a few people get to feel in their lifetime," junior Lucy Schlotterer said. "It's so rewarding. All of our hard work has paid off." The Truckers had last won a district championship in 2019, when they were, like this year, also co-league champs. The three seasons that followed were less fun — 4-18, 9-15 and 7-16. But this year's group, a mix of returners and talented underclassmen, brought Norwalk volleyball back to its conventional place as one of the best squads in their league and district. "This year, we've gotten so much closer," senior setter Ava Tyler said. "We've got a special bond that leaves me speechless." The Truckers needed that continuous buy-in when the first set Thursday night didn't start their way. Lexington was up 17-6 in quick fashion. "Our communication, the mindset that nothing hits the floor needed to be put into our heads quicker," Schlotterer said. Norwalk didn't come back to win the first set, but from that early margin, the Truckers scored 15 of the final 23 points to get a bit of their groove back. "That momentum that we took at the end of the first set led us to this victory," Schlotterer said. Despite the one-set deficit, it never really looked from that point on like Norwalk would lose. Schlotterer started the second set with a kill, and Norwalk never trailed. The Truckers went on a 7-0 run that included six service points by Mac Wineman to take a 20-12 lead. "The momentum we got in the first set was the reason we pushed so hard in the second set," Wineman said. "That's what kept us working hard. We got the jitters out a little bit, and I think that helped us." That surge included two blocks from freshman Emma Gebhardt, who paired with fellow freshman hitter Bella Hernandez to both step up big time on a big stage. Gebhardt had eight kills and three blocks, with Hernandez adding four kills and five blocks. "They haven't let us down," Tyler said. "We've built a lot of trust in them over the season." Senior setter Skyler Cassidy evened the match at one apiece with a fortunate bump kill, and Norwalk had all the momentum. "It was right there, but we knew we couldn't let up," Wineman said. "Lexington is obviously an amazing team. They deserved to be here. We knew if we gave them an inch, they'd take a mile. We just had to keep pushing." Sammi Chappell, who wasn't in the initial rotation on the night but found her way into the fray, ended a 45-second point with a kill to put Norwalk up 3-2 in the third set, and again the Truckers didn't trail from there. Chappell finished with three kills and four blocks. "Sammi came in and aw man, she just played lights out," Norwalk coach Sarah Kipp said. "We've talked all season that it can be anybody on any given night, and tonight was her night." As Norwalk took control of the match, its defense made life difficult enough on Lexington star sophomores Ava Brown (21 kills) and Tatum Stover (14 kills). Mac (17 digs) and Sawyer Wineman (nine digs) put their bodies on the line in front of some big swings and kept points alive. "Mac defensively was incredibly tough," Kipp said. Schlotterer, who had every shot in the bag working on Thursday night, put the third set to bed with four consecutive kills. She finished with 18 kills. Tyler had 18 assists, and Cassidy had 15. "Lucy's crafty, man," Kipp said. "She had the big ones. She had the rolls, the throws, the well-placed shots." Gebhardt put it down to start the fourth set, and in the biggest frame of its season, Norwalk led wire-to-wire. The freshman Gebhardt bookended proceedings, finishing the match off with her final two kills, including a lefty tip shot to win it. "(Gebhardt and Hernandez) came in swinging," Kipp said. "They had some big kills when we needed them to. Blocking-wise they did a nice job getting the block closed. It made things difficult for them." If there had been any question if it was Norwalk's night, it left the building when Sydney Moehlman picked up a massive hit with a dig that fell right onto the floor on the other side for a 12-6 lead in the fourth. "We talked right before the match that they were gonna have big swings, big kills, big blocks," Kipp said. "At the end of the night, that couldn't be a show-stopper for us. A point is a point. The scorebook doesn't care how you score, kind of like Sydney's dig-slash-kill." Norwalk had spent months and months preparing for a night like this. The Truckers showed flashes a season ago as they started to believe in themselves and each other. Then they hit the ground running this fall, starting the season with six consecutive wins. "We have worked harder than ever this season, harder than ever in the summer," Schlotterer said. "We work hard every second we're in the gym. Everyone picks each other up. No negativity, a great culture." There were some bumps in the road, with injuries and a few up-and-down matches challenging the Truckers to continue to find a way. And on Thursday night in Shelby, they found a way and then some. A first-set deficit didn't bother them. A tournament stage they'd never been on before didn't faze them. The past didn't matter any more. Their focus on celebrating each and every point win like it was a championship point led to the ultimate moment: On a district championship point, Norwalk's work on those hyped-up celebrations paid off — it was just like they'd done thousands of times, only better. "There's no little cliques on the team," Schlotterer said. "Everyone is together. It's like a family. It's amazing."