Norwalk put up a fight, but Clear Creek-Amana proved every bit worthy of its number-one ranking Monday at the State Volleyball Tournament.

Senior standout Bliss Beck filled up the stat sheet with 21 kills and the Clipper defense was nearly impenetrable at times as CC-A swept the eighth-seeded Warriors 25-13, 25-14, 25-20 in a Class 4A state quarterfinal at Coralville’s Xtream Arena. The Clippers improved to 46-0 and will face North Scott in the 4A semifinal round on Wednesday. The Warriors, who were making the program’s first-ever state volleyball appearance, finished 26-15 overall.

Norwalk coach John Fulton tells KNIA-KRLS Sports that Clear Creek-Amana’s defense may have been the story of the game as the Clippers tallied eight blocks and 84 digs in covering up some strong Warriors attacks. Norwalk was limited to a kill efficiency of less than one percent. “Their defense is phenomenal,” Fulton said. “Not a lot of holes out there to attack. They cover a lot of the floor and they’re scrappy and it’s hard to score points against them.”

Norwalk was led by seven kills apiece from seniors Ava Johnson and Noelle Sutcliffe, freshman Hadley Michael’s 21 assists and senior Grace Dehmer’s 20 digs. The Warriors held early 6-4 leads in the first two sets and kept the score close until the 13-point mark, when Clear Creek-Amana put together strong closing runs. Norwalk trailed 15-6 in set three, then rallied within three points but couldn’t get over the hump.

Since winning a five-set regional final thriller at North Polk last Tuesday, Fulton encouraged the Warriors to enjoy every moment of their state tournament experience. Fulton says he is proud of the team and thought they represented themselves quite well in their state debut.

“There’s 40 teams here at the state tournament and we’re lucky enough to be one of them, and we were able to really embrace that experience,” he said. “From our parents, from our school community, from our teachers, from our staff, from every sport at Norwalk – it was fantastic to just be a part of it this week.”

Norwalk will graduate seven seniors from this year’s roster in Katie Larson, Grace Dehmer, Tessa Livingston, Ava Johnson, Ava McKay, Grace Irlmeier and Noelle Sutcliffe.