Although the season ended one win shy of their ultimate goal – the State Tournament – the 2022 Norwalk volleyball team certainly had another year to remember.

Team highlights included a 24-11 overall record, a 6-1 conference mark that tied Indianola for the regular season Little Hawkeye title, and a second straight appearance in the Class 4A regional finals. Following a thrilling, come-from-behind, five-set regional semifinal win over Sergeant Bluff-Luton, the Warriors were swept by Sioux City Bishop Heelan in three competitive sets and denied the program’s first-ever State Volleyball Tournament berth.

Individually, junior outsider hitter Noelle Sutcliffe tied the single-season school record for kills with 363 – a mark set by Abby Brenizer just last year – and established a new school record with 3.86 kills per set. Junior libero Grace Dehmer scrambled for 431 digs, sophomore Liz Iverson set 742 assists and senior Sami Aagard led the way with 57 blocks.

First-year Norwalk head coach John Fulton says it was fun getting to know the players throughout the season and watching them come together as a team. One of the Warriors’ biggest strengths, he says, was their collective never-say-die mentality.

“There (were) a lot of times where we were maybe down in a tournament; we lost the first set and we knew we had enough firepower to come back and win the next two,” Fulton said. “Or we were down two sets to one; kind of like that first regional game where we just had that confidence to come back. These girls just never gave up. That was something that we kind of hung our hats on – that we knew we had the capability to compete with anybody, no matter what the score was.”

Fulton adds that two of the biggest wins of the year were an early-season five-set victory over Oskaloosa in conference play and a 2-1 win over eventual 4A state runner-up Clear Creek-Amana at the Nevada Tournament.

Norwalk will graduate just two seniors off this year’s team in Aagard and Kelsey Dammeier. Fulton says that both players will be missed, but he is already excited about the prospects for 2023 with a highly-experienced team. The ultimate goal remains the same: becoming the first Norwalk volleyball team to reach State.

“I left after that regional final game and was almost ready to get back in the gym again,” Fulton said. “It’s going to be exciting.”