As part of a 24-win season in 2022, the Norwalk volleyball team went 6-1 in Little Hawkeye Conference play and shared the regular season championship with Indianola. The Warriors lost only two of last year’s players to graduation, but some of their top rivals, including Indianola, return a large share of the roster as well. 

Norwalk coach John Fulton tells KNIA-KRLS Sports that he expects a battle every night his team takes the floor for an LHC match, but he is looking forward to the challenge.

“Indianola is definitely a talented team,” Fulton said. “DC-G is always tough to play. Oskaloosa took us to five [sets last year]. Pella returns a lot. It’s fun to play in the conference games. There’s a challenge every single night and I think our girls love to play those five-set conference games. It’s going to be a tough conference for sure this year.”

Norwalk opens the season with a non-conference match at Bondurant-Farrar on Tuesday night. The Warriors’ Little Hawkeye opener is set for Tuesday, August 29, vs. Oskaloosa and they will host Indianola for a big conference match on September 5.

Fulton believes that one of his team’s biggest improvements this season should be their ability to score better when operating out of system. “That’s kind of been a big focus for us. We want to be able to score when other teams hit the ball hard at us,” Fulton said. “I think we’re going to be better out of system. Even if [setter] Liz [Iverson] doesn’t get to it, I think we’ll still be able to score from anywhere on the floor.”

With the departure of Grinnell from the Little Hawkeye, the conference is down to seven teams this fall. Norwalk will play LHC games on six consecutive Tuesday nights from August 29 to October 3.