Any great volleyball coach will agree: it all starts with a pass. Second-year Norwalk head coach John Fulton is confident that his back row of defensive specialists will once again be a strength this fall as the Warriors look to challenge for another Little Hawkeye Conference title.

Norwalk finished 24-11 overall last season, tied Indianola for the regular season conference crown and advanced to a second consecutive Class 4A regional final. The Warriors return a talented trio of hitters in Noelle Sutcliffe, Ava McKay and Ava Johnson, as well as a steady setter in Liz Iverson. 

But to make it all come together, Coach Fulton stresses the importance of a solid back line. With senior libero Grace Dehmer, senior Katie Larson and juniors Dakota Poen and Avery Thomas, Fulton feels very good about getting that important, on-target pass to transition defense to offense.

“Those four… are very good at getting the ball to Liz to run our offense,” he said. “I think our strength is going to be our back row, and I think I said that all of last year too was that our back row is something we’re going to take pride in.”

Dehmer led the team with 431 digs last season and Sutcliffe, who played all the way around, added 284. Poen had 205 digs, Iverson added 182 digs to go along with her 742 set assists, and Larson had 180 digs.

The Warriors hosted a scrimmage on Tuesday and will travel to Johnston for another scrimmage on Saturday. They open the season Tuesday night at Bondurant-Farrar.