Norwalk sweeps Madison for district win

WILLARD — The sentence sounded funny to say. But Norwalk volleyball head coach Sarah Kipp certainly wasn't upset at the idea. The No. 1 seed in the Division III Willard district, the state-ranked Truckers cruised past No. 5 Mansfield Madison in a three-set sweep on Monday in a district semifinal. Norwalk (20-3) posted scores of 25-14, 25-10 and 25-15. With an expanded state tournament from four to seven divisions, it meant the Willard district had just seven teams in the field. That allowed the top-seeded Truckers — ranked No. 10 in the final state coaches poll — to take a bye through the sectional round. It needed just Monday's win over the Rams (5-19) to advance to a district title match, set for 6 p.m. Wednesday back in Willard against Tiffin Columbian (18-6) in a rematch from the regular season. "We're excited," Kipp said. "We have been off since the 12th, so with the eight-day layoff, that's always a wild card factor. You never know how kids will respond to being off for that amount of time." Turns out there was little concern. Norwalk jumped ahead 5-1 in the first set as kills from freshmen Ainslee King and Maddie Gamble helped set the tone. The Rams did trim the deficit to 10-8 after serving an ace, but it was all Norwalk from there. Emily Tyler lobbed over a ball for a point, then Lucy Schlotterer put down a kill and went back and served an ace. Those three points were part of seven straight points, then a lob by Schlotterer gave Norwalk a commanding 20-9 lead. Leading 16-8, the set was highlighted by a long rally that at one point saw Tyler and Schlotterer hit the ball back and forth to each other after Madison kept blocking it back to them. Eventually, they got the point to keep the momentum. Madison staved off the inevitable with three straight points to pull within 23-14, but a net error and an out of bounds hit by the Rams sealed the 25-14 win for Norwalk. Norwalk didn't let up in the second set. It raced out to a 13-5 lead. Back-to-back kills by Schlotterer made it 20-10, then three straight errors by the Rams set up Norwalk to finish off the set with hits from Sydney Moehlman and Gamble in the 25-10 win. "We did settle in nicely," Kipp said. "They came out and shook the rust off real quick, and got after it mid-first set, all of the second set — and beginning of the third set." It was much of the same in the third set. Norwalk raced out to a big lead, only for the Rams to fend off points near the end before ultimately falling. Gamble had an ace to put Norwalk up 12-4, then senior Sammi Chappell made a nice save on a hit back over the net that ended up fighting the right side of the floor for a point and a 13-4 lead. Senior Mac Wineman then put Norwalk on a service run, with King blocking at the net for a 23-12 lead. It was 24-12 when the Rams reeled off three straight points, only for an out of bounds hit to again seal the 25-15 final. Schlotterer finished with 12 kills, 14 digs and was 11-of-14 serving with three aces. Tyler was 10 for 10 serving and had 23 assists, while Gamble had four kills and 14 digs and King added four kills and two blocks. Mac Wineman was 12 for 12 serving and had 12 digs, while Sawyer Wineman added eight digs and Chappell had three blocks. During the regular season, the Truckers and Tornadoes split two incredible five-set matches that resulted in an SBC Lake Division co-title. Each team won in five at home, with Norwalk scoring the last four points in the fifth set (15-12) at home on Sept. 19. The Tornadoes rallied from 2-0 down to win in Tiffin on Oct. 8, highlighted by a 36-34 win in the third set. Now 15 days later, the teams play for a spot in the regional semifinals at Hebron Lakewood next Thursday (Oct. 31). "That's part of the conference scheduling obviously and we like to play Ashland (on Oc.t 5), they always bring a challenge so we like having them on the schedule at the end of the season in preparation for tournament time," Kipp said. "We're excited and honored to be where we are and taking one step at a time. "We're going to continue to hammer at defense and some blocking things. Really everything, but those are two areas that jump out that we want to really continue to work hard on."