Norwalk outlasts Edison in five sets

NORWALK — An exhausting opener. After the junior varsity match went extra long, the two varsity programs for visiting Edison and host Norwalk followed suit in Tuesday's early-season matchup at Norwalk High School. In a non-league match filled with long rallies, it was host Norwalk outlasting the Chargers, 27-25, 23-25, 25-27, 25-21, 15-9. In the decisive fifth set, Edison (0-1) grabbed the early 5-3 lead. However, a pair of kills by Sydney Moehlman erased that deficit. Norwalk (1-2) was then unable to handle Stella Brown's lob, and Macari Harris then followed that up by dropping a ball over by the slimmest of margins of the Norwalk side to extend the Edison lead to 7-5. Sophomore Ainslee King had a pair of kills around one from Harris for an 8-8 tie, then her classmate, Maddie Gamble, took over the final set. After Gamble gave her team a 9-8 lead, King followed with a big swing near the front of the net to find the floor for a 10-8 lead. Gamble did the same in dominating fashion, and an ace from freshman Lola Schlotterer ad the Chargers reeling and down 12-8. Gamble and Harris then traded kills, then it was Gamble again finding the ball just inside the back line for a 14-9 lead. Bella Hernandez then finished off the match for the Truckers with the kill and the 15-9 win. The first set proved to be a classic back-and-forth matchup with long volleys for both teams. Edison took an 18-15 lead when Dana Prestn tipped a ball over, but the Truckers came right back with three straight points to quickly tie the match. The back-and-forth continued, with both teams trading points from 21-21 on. King and Lily Colahan combined for a block to make it 22-21 for Norwalk, but Edison's Kourtney Balde responded with a strong kill. A Norwalk hit then sailed out of bounds to give the Chargers a 23-22 lead, only for Edison to have a kill attempt go out of bounds to tie it at 23. Booth lobbed one over the Norwalk defense for a 24-23 lead, but on a potential set-clinching kill, the Chargers were whistled for a net violation to tie the score once again. However, Norwalk gave Edison the lead right back with a hitting error, but then King came up from the middle for a big kill to tie it at 25. Maddie Gamble then came up huge for Norwalk. She poked one past two Edison defenders from the left side for a 26-25 lead. The two teams then locked up in another long back-and-forth rally, but this time Gamble finished it off from nearly the same spot to find a hole on the floor for the 26-25 comeback win. In the second set, Norwalk saw a 20-14 lead get wiped out by the Chargers. Booth had a pair of kills and a block to help lead the rally. Trailing 22-20, Abby Cloud got a kill from the left side, and Macari Harris punched once across a Norwalk block to cut the deficit to 22-21. Harris was then in the middle at the front of the net and was able to find an opening to tie the set, but a Booth service ace put Edison ahead 23-22. Harris then easily put down a kill to make it 24-22, sending Norwalk into a timeout. Out of the break, King brought Norwalk to within after another strong kill in the middle. However, Harris again finished her strong set with a kill for the 25-23 Edison win. The tight play only continued from there. Edison led 20-19 in the third set, and Preston finished off yet another long rally with a kill from the left side for a 21-19 advantage. Edison served it out of bounds, however, to make it 21-20. King found a hole for the lob and a 21-21 tie for the Truckers. But the Chargers went back ahead on a Norwalk hitting error, and a mishit at the net by Norwalk made it 23-21. A net violation on the Chargers cut it to 23-22. Booth made it 24-22. But King found the floor for another kill, then she got another one over the net that Edison miscommunication couldn't handle to tie it at 24. But a Norwalk mishit gave it back, only for Gamble with another strong kill from the left side to tie it at 25. Peyton Taylor then put one down from the middle of the front row, and Preston was able to lob over the final point of a 27-25 win to give Edison a 2-1 lead. Norwalk continued to maintain a slight lead throughout much of the fourth set. An ace from Paige McFadden brought the Chargers within 19-17, then a mishit by Norwalk made it 19-18. Sydney Moehlman added a kill to make it 20-18 for Norwalk, but the Truckers had their own miscommunication on defense for a 20-19 deficit. A service error by Edison and a kill from Gamble made it 22-20. The lead grew to 24-20 after she put down another, and she later finished off the 25-21 Norwalk win in the fourth set by slipping one past two Edison defenders at the net. King and Gamble had huge performances for Norwalk. Gamble had 22 kills, 15 digs and was 16-for-17 serving with an ace. King had 19 kills and four blocks and served 23-for-23 with an ace. Emily Tyler had 52 assists and 11 digs, while Reagan Mooney served 18-for-18 with an ace and 23 digs. Sawyer Wineman led the defense with 33 digs. Moehlman had 10 kills, while Schlotterer was 18-for-19 serving with an ace and 11 digs. For Edison, Harris had 15 kills and five blocks, while Preston had five kills and eight points, and Booth finished with six kills, two blocks, nine points and eight digs. Brown had 15 digs and 13 points, while Taylor Moore had 25 digs and eight points. Peyton Bissell added 20 assists and Paige McFadden had 17. Edison will host Clyde on Thursday. Norwalk is off until next Tuesday when it entertains Huron.