First-year Norwalk volleyball coach John Fulton is excited to be guiding a Warrior program that is on the rise.

Fulton coached at Perry High School the last six years and also has experience coaching club volleyball around the Des Moines metro area. The 2022 season will mark his 12th overall.

Fulton takes the helm of a Norwalk program that has achieved at least 20 wins in five of the last seven years, including last year’s 23-18 overall record. The Warriors knocked off Winterset in the Class 4A regional semifinals before being swept in three games by Cedar Rapids Xavier in the regional final.

Fulton believes the Warriors are poised for another successful season and says the players are anxious to get going.

“We started with open gyms in June, went to a couple team camps this summer [and] we’ve been practicing hard these last couple weeks,” Fulton said. “These girls are ready to get out there and play somebody.

“Practice has gone well, we’ve got a good squad and it should be a really competitive team.”

Fulton describes himself as a coach that stays calm and composed on the sideline as much as possible.

“I’d like to say I’m pretty relaxed,” he said. “I want our team to feel comfortable out there and compete, so we’re just going to make sure that myself [and] the coaching staff (are) doing the best that we can on the bench. For the most part, I don’t get too hyped up.”

Fulton calls Norwalk junior outside hitter Noelle Sutcliffe one of the top players in the Little Hawkeye Conference and says junior Ava Johnson will be a really good offensive contributor as well. Sutcliffe and Johnson combined for 336 kills last season.

Senior Sami Aagard returns as the team’s block leader and Fulton also believes Norwalk boasts three of the Little Hawkeye’s top back row passers in Katie Larson, Grace Dehmer and Dakota Poen.

The Warriors will compete in a scrimmage at Johnston on Saturday and open the season Tuesday, August 23, with a home game against Bondurant-Farrar.