Gilmour ends Norwalk's season

LEXINGTON — The fight never stopped. Even after getting blasted off the court in Set 1, Norwalk had leads in Sets 2 and 3. In the end, Gates Mills Gilmour Academy — the No. 2-ranked team in the final state coaches poll — was too much. The Lancers topped the Truckers, 25-7, 25-23, 25-14, in a Division II regional semifinal on Thursday at Lexington High School. Norwalk finished the season 19-7 overall. The Truckers were co-champions of the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division and district champions for a 13th time in program history. "The heart and fire and dedication from the kids that I have in my program is 100 percent unrivaled," Norwalk coach Sarah Kipp said. "Those kids worked hard from the beginning of June to Nov. 2. They were dedicated every single moment they came in the gym and weight room." Not much went right for Norwalk in Set 1, but the Truckers gave Gilmour (16-10) all it wanted in Set 2. Norwalk had a decent start in Set 1 before falling apart, but got to cooking early in Set 2. After the teams split the first eight points, kills by Lucy Schlotterer and Sydney Moehlman and an ace by Schlotterer helped the Truckers open a 9-4 lead. The Lancers used balanced hitting to come back and tie the set at 9. But, Norwalk kept pushing, using a 7-1 run to go up 16-10. Moehlman tallied three kills in the run to balance the Truckers offense around Schlotterer. "I am incredibly excited to see where Sydney goes from here," Kipp said. "She's really new to the game of volleyball in just her third year playing the sport. She's gaining confidence every time she steps on the floor." Gilmour plays one of the toughest schedules in the state and that allowed the Lancers to stay cool under pressure. Norwalk's lead slowly dwindled, but even when Gilmour drew back within a point, the Truckers had the answer. First, Schlotterer hammered a kill to keep Norwalk up 20-18. After a kill by Gilmour, an error by the Lancers kept it 21-19. But, the Truckers didn't have enough at the end. Gilmour went up 22-21 before a hitting error tied the set at 22. The Lancers surged and went up 24-22. A service error kept Norwalk in the set, but a kill from Marlie Davis seized the 2-0 lead for the Lancers. "I think in those points, we gained some confidence and were taking big swings," said Kipp of leading most of the set. "We were reading well in those moments where we were getting hands on the block. We were aggressive." Despite the heartbreak and huge hole, the Truckers came out firing in Set 3. Norwalk raced out to a 7-3 lead after kills by Bella Hernandez and Moehlman. The lead was still 9-5 and 10-6 later on another Moehlman kill. But that was the extent of the joy in the third set for the Truckers. Kayla Channell bludgeoned a block and Davis smacked a kill as Gilmour ripped off the next eight points. Emma Gebhardt lined a kill to stop the bleeding, but it was only momentarily. Kills from Maria Flynn, Davis, Aubrey Anders, and Ella Jackson allowed the Lancers to breeze through the rest of the set and finish off the win. "Take the first set out and I don't feel like there were points where we just didn't compete," Kipp said. "We competed point after point. When you're looking at that kind of attack coming at you repeatedly, they're going to find a hole somewhere." It was all Gilmour early on. It was 3-all early in the set, but the Lancers scored the next nine points to seize momentum early. Gilmour got its serving game going early, using seven aces in the first set to run away with the lead. Consecutive aces by Brie Habeeb won the set with ease. Despite the tough serve receive in the first set, Norwalk allowed just one ace — late in Set 3 — the rest of the way. "They definitely use their serving as an offensive weapon," Kipp said. "They serve the ball incredibly well. We struggled with it. I don't know that we've seen anybody serve that flat, aggressive float like that all season." Davis topped the Lancers with 11 kills while Flynn added nine kills and two blocks, Anders tallied seven kills and three blocks, and D'aira Whitner registered five kills and four blocks. "I don't think we've seen such an incredibly balanced offense," Kipp said. "The youthfulness of my blockers found it difficult to key in on one or two hitters because there's that third or you have an active setter." Schlotterer paced Norwalk with nine kills and two blocks. Skyler Cassidy added 10 assists, Ava Tyler registered nine assists, Moehlman smacked seven kills, and Hernandez and Gebhardt each had three kills for the Truckers. "I think we probably could have competed a little better," Kipp said. "When you look at the roster out on the floor for Gilmour, it's incredibly seasoned. Whereas we play three freshmen, a sophomore, two juniors, and two seniors. We're not incredibly seasoned." Norwalk graduates four seniors — Cassidy, Tyler, Jill Nash, and McKenna Ames. The Truckers totaled just 20 wins over the last three seasons combined. While tough to swallow now, the future is bright with hitters like Schlotterer, Moehlman, Hernandez, and Gebhart, and defensive players like Mac Wineman and Sawyer Wineman back next season. "I'm excited for what's to come," Kipp said. "You can't replace two senior setters. We had a senior defensive specialist and we had another senior who's leadership on the bench was incredible. "I think those seniors did a tremendous job changing the culture and helping to build the program."