Norwalk not changing mindset after 2023

SANDUSKY — The outside expectations on Norwalk's volleyball team might be different, but the Truckers don't plan on changing anything about their approach. They reached league and district championships last fall by thoroughly enjoying each point, each match, each day. And that's how they aim to run it back. "I really think one of the best things I learned last year was to enjoy every day for what it is," Norwalk coach Sarah Kipp said. "They laugh a lot. They have a lot of fun together. They're goofy kids. It's fun to watch them interact. They tease. That part is fun." Norwalk's electric, energetic approach to the game stood out about a year ago at this time, at the Cedar Point Sports Center's Summer Spiketacular. Back in the CPSC gym this week, it looks a heck of a lot like that special group back for more. The Truckers graduated both their setters from last fall but bring back almost the entirety of their hitting and defensive talent. "It's fun to be in the gym," Kipp said. "We don't do anything but lift in the spring… so then we hit July, and it's like, OK, it's time to get in the gym. It's time to work. It's time to work together. It's fun." This is much of the same group that ended a stretch of three-straight losing seasons in resounding fashion. They won their first six games of the 2023 season, ended up sharing the SBC Lake crown with Tiffin Columbian and then took down high-powered Lexington in a Division II district final. The Truckers are now in Div. III in the new seven-division volleyball postseason format. That's the same enrollment level as the Tornadoes, although the Lady Lex are down in D-IV. "Every time you graduate kids and bring new kids in, it's not the same," Kipp said. "This isn't the same group of kids. We have goals, but we're just focused on one day at a time, having fun when we play." Ashland University-commit Lucy Schlotterer is back for her senior season after a remarkable 455 kills and 232 digs as a junior. Libero extraordinaire Mac Wineman is part of the senior class, too, after 473 digs last fall. Sammi Chappell rounds out the seniors as a hitter that Kipp can use anywhere along the front line. "I have three great seniors who I've coached since they were 13," Kipp said. "I'm excited to have them in the gym again, and they're doing a great job with leadership." The biggest change comes at setter, where Emily Tyler steps in. But a Tyler setting is pretty familiar for Norwalk after older sisters Jaylee and Ava both did the same. "All the Tylers set," Kipp said. "... It's fun to have legacy kids like that." Both the front and back lines will feature plenty more returning talent, from the likes of Sydney Moehlman and Emma Gebhardt up front to Mac's younger sister Sawyer Wineman in the back. During Monday's action at CPSC, Moehlman's consistency looked particularly improved as she impacted most of the points that she spent in the front row. Norwalk also gave ample time to freshman middle hitter Ainsley King during the Summer Spiketacular as one of a handful of other potential impact blockers. "We're excited to get (King) in the gym and see what she can do," Kipp said. The Truckers' season gets underway at home on Saturday, Aug. 17, with the annual tri-match against Wellington and Western Reserve. In some ways, that's just a stepping stone to what's to come after, but Kipp doesn't see it that way. She knows Norwalk can't go anywhere without first beginning at the start. "A lot of it comes down to the respect they have for each other, and the culture that they are building to leave behind," Kipp said. "That's where it starts and what it comes down to." So if Norwalk finds itself reaching similar heights in a few month's time, it'll all be a byproduct of what came before — those losing seasons and lessons learned, and a magical fall of 2023, and the offseason hard work, and each and every match that intersperses with all of it. Norwalk knows its identity. It shone through brightly last fall. But it's a new dawn now, and the Truckers hope to let their light rise again.