Norwalk responds in road win

PERKINS TWP. — The pendulum was going to swing regardless. Norwalk watched as Perkins knotted the march at a set apiece, but responded. Ranked No. 10 in this week's Division III state coaches poll, Norwalk took control in Set 3 and dominated Set 4, topping Perkins, 25-14, 22-25, 25-17, 25-13, in Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division play Tuesday. "We had a lot of momentum in the first set and it's one of those things you could see coming out in the second set that we were incredibly flat," Norwalk coach Sarah Kipp said. "Very quiet on the floor. That's things we have to work on." Norwalk (12-1, 5-0 SBC Lake) jumped on the Pirates (3-12, 1-4) early and often in Set 3. The lead was just 12-9 midway though the set, but the Truckers won points in bunches to go up 19-11 after two Perkins errors. Norwalk moved the ball seamlessly and ran the offense through multiple girls. There's no doubt that Lucy Schlotterer led the way, but the Truckers had a plethora of big hitters. Kills by Sydney Moehlman and Schlotterer gave Norwalk a 23-13 advantage. Sammi Chappell lined a kill for the Truckers and a serving error by Perkins gave Norwalk the 2-1 lead. The Truckers kept things rolling in Set 4. Norwalk won the first four points, but the Pirates fought back and actually seized a 7-6 lead after a kill by Ava Quillen. Norwalk was up to the challenge as Moehlman tallied a kill to give Mac Wineman the serve. She ran with it as the Truckers racked up eight more points in a row to go up 15-7. Norwalk controlled the pace the rest of the way. Freshmen Madeline Gamble and Ainslee King each played big for the Truckers, taking a bit of pressure off of Schlotterer. Two more kills by Schlotterer and one by Gamble aided Norwalk the rest of the way. Two errors by Perkins finished off the win for the Truckers. "It was better in the third set and we took care of it in the fourth," Kipp said. "The eye communication and ball control were better." Ferrell Coleman led Perkins with 12 kills while Avery Baker tallied 12 digs and 10 kills. Braelyn Davis registered 28 assists and 21 digs and Olivis Hartung nabbed 22 digs. Schlotterer paced Norwalk with 18 kills while Gamble had 12 digs and seven kills. King added five kills and four blocks, Moehlman finished with five kills and three blocks and Mac Wineman led the defense with 22 digs. Emily Tyler contributed 31 assists and 12 digs for the Truckers. "Emily does a nice job," Kipp said. "We're working on a couple things with her. Offensively, she does a very nice job." Now through the first half of league play, Norwalk visits Bellevue on Thursday before a big road tri-match on Saturday at Shelby (10-2) along with Lexington (12-1).