Columbian sweeps Norwalk for Lake win

TIFFIN — Every time a team steps on the floor, it's an opportunity to learn. That's what the young Norwalk volleyball team walked away with from Thursday's big Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division match against host Columbian. The Tornadoes won in three sets, 25-21, 25-15 and 25-20 to improve to 6-4 overall and 2-1 in the Lake. Norwalk fell to 5-5 and 2-2. Last season, the two teams split during the regular season to share the league title, then the Tornadoes won in the district championship. All three of those matches went five sets. "My team is still young," Norwalk coach Sarah Kipp said. "They (Columbian) are a good team. They are disciplined, they keep the ball in play. We struggled to do just that." In the first set, Columbian took the lead until the ball hit the ceiling beam, making it tied 2-2. From there, TC added three more points until Norwalk's Maddy Gamble and Ainslee King hit the ball over Kaela Jenkins. The teams kept even of two to three points between them, until Columbian's Gabby Shock had a spike in bounds. "We played well as a team tonight," Columbian coach Hope Boes said. "Everybody contributed, passing was on, hitting was on. We did well against a tough Norwalk team." It turned into a race of points from there. Between Lexi Beaston blocking an attempt from Bella Hernandez, to Hernandez hitting the ball into center space, or Avary Brown setting over the middle, it was a 23-19 lead for the Tornadoes. A spike from King was good after TC's libero Emma Daugherty had the ball bounce off the tips of her fingers, to Beaston's spike off of King's fingers the next play to make it 24-20. The final point the Truckers got in the set was on a spike from Reagan Mooney. Jenkins answered back with a spike to the back court to end the set 25-21. "Realistically, they were going to take what we weren't successful at," Kipp said. "And we will take it back to the gym with us and work harder at it." The second set, Norwalk put the first two points on the board when Jenkins's spike went out of bounds and Sydney Moehlman had a hit over that was good. "Sydney played a very good game for us tonight," said Kipp of the senior. "The senior leadership from that kid is incredible and she did some very nice things for us. Maddie Gamble is another one that is all over place, and competing well as a sophomore and gets the job done." The second set was tied at 2-2, but TC broke the tie and kept digging Norwalk into a hole. Later on in the set, it became a 15-7 deficit as Beaston spiked the ball at angle into the left side of the court. After Josie Kancler attempted to get the ball over, it added a point for the Truckers. Gamble had an ace, and two Columbian errors allowed Norwalk to close the gap to 15-11. But TC put the set away as Jenkins' spike fell in front of Emily Tyler, and King attempted to spike but was met with an Abby Lewis block. It was 22-14, and the last point that the Truckers got was when Madi Shriver's serve went out of bounds. In the third set, it started the same way with Norwalk taking the early lead. The teams at 3-3 with the Columbian defense. Norwalk caught back up to tie again at 6-6 when Lewis's spike went over. Norwalk broke the tie for two points before a block from TC was ruled good and a Caroline Lewis blocks was good that made Tyler and Hernandez scramble. Ultimately, the Tornadoes pulled ahead when a serve from the Truckers hit the net, making it 12-10. Norwalk kept pace, but the closest it got was late in the match on a Romell hit that caused the back line defense of the Tornadoes to hit the ball into the wall. The score was 20-19 with TC ahead, but Norwalk only scored once more. That came from the offense in the front, hitting the ball over into the center, but Beaston's spike in the back corner was good. Norwalk will get tested again next Wednesday when it visits Monroeville (9-2). "We will learn and grow from this," Kipp said. "That's what you do every time you take a step on the floor. We will take this and keep moving forward."