In a matchup of top 5 Little Hawkeye volleyball rivals, Indianola stayed on the offensive for much of the way Tuesday night and left Norwalk with an impressive 3-1 victory. The Class 4A 2nd-ranked Indians survived six service errors to win set one 26-24 and took set two 25-14. The 4A 5th-ranked Warriors finished strong to win the third set 25-20, but the fourth was all Indianola as they finished the match with a 25-10 win.

Unofficially, junior hitters Camryn Overton and Aspen Nelsen had nearly 20 kills apiece for the Indians, who improved to 12-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play. Norwalk, which tied Indianola for the Little Hawkeye regular season title last year, dropped to 10-7 overall and 1-1 in the LHC.

Nelsen and Overton were at their best to start set four, combining for the team’s first six points on four kills and two ace serves as the Indians rolled to an insurmountable 12-2 advantage. Overton tells KNIA-KRLS Sports that winning on Norwalk’s home court is a big confidence builder.

“We knew it would be a tough game. Norwalk’s a very good team,” Overton said. “They always seem to play really good against us and we knew we’d have to play some of our best volleyball throughout a whole game, no matter how long that was. But coming in [here] and getting that win really means a lot to us as a team.”

Indianola coach Kent Halstead noted that the team’s hard work on serve receive passing and defensive coverage set the stage for the Indians to stay on the attack at the net. He added that his team’s body language told the story on Tuesday. “Our body language I thought was good all night except in the third set when we lost,” he said. “But it was so much fun in the fourth set to watch our body language.”

Senior outside hitter Noelle Sutcliffe tallied about a dozen kills, unofficially, for Norwalk, which hurt their cause with too many errors in the second and fourth sets. The Warriors will have a week off before playing a conference match at Newton on Tuesday, September 12.

Indianola returns to action Saturday at the Southeast Polk Invitational.