Newton volleyball falls to sixth-ranked Norwalk

Newton head volleyball coach Heidi Woollums loved how her team played in the first two sets against Class 4A No. 6 Norwalk on Tuesday.

But the third-set result was unacceptable.

“I was really happy with the first two sets. And if we lost the third set like we lost the first two, I could have accepted that,” Woollums said. “That third set was just not good. We are too good of a team to just drop off like that.”

The Cardinals played the Warriors about as close as they could have without winning a set in the first two games.

Unfortunately, the third set did not reach expectations and the Warriors left town with a 25-23, 25-22, 25-12 road win during Little Hawkeye Conference play.

Newton fell behind 8-1 in the opening set and rallied from a smaller deficit early in the second. The third set was close early, but the Warriors used a 12-0 run to pull away for good.

“I thought we would come out and do what we normally do in the third set, but we did exactly the opposite,” Woollums said. “That was the first time this season that I was disappointed in how they played.”

The Warriors led 4-0 and then 8-1 in the first set, but the Cardinals got closer with a kill and an ace from Kadance Ahn and kills from Gracie Clayton and Delaney Woollums.

Norwalk answered that run with five in a row, including three straight aces from Noelle Sutcliffe. The Warriors served up 11 aces in the win.

But the Cardinals didn’t go away. Trailing 15-7, the hosts trimmed their margin to one thanks in part to three kills from Ahn.

Newton stayed within at least three the rest of the way. A kill by Delaney Woollums helped the Cardinals close the gap to 21-19 and they eventually tied it at 21-all.

After Norwalk went back in front by a pair two different times, Ahn made it 24-23 with another kill. The Warriors won the set on the next point though.

Delaney Woollums’ hard attack at the net a few points earlier just missed the back line to put Norwalk in front 24-22.

“Down 8-1 and then lost by two,” Coach Woollums said. “So what would have happened if we wouldn’t have gotten down by so much? I’m happy that we came back, but why dig ourselves a hole?”

The Cardinals trailed 4-1 in the second set, but kills by Chloe Rorabaugh and Delaney Woollums and back-to-back aces by Ahn pushed them in front 6-4.

A Clayton kill kept the lead at two, but Norwalk (11-7 overall, 2-1 in the conference) slid back in front following back-to-back kills by Sutcliffe.

The two teams were tied at 9- and 10-all before a push to the back line and an ace from Macy Lampe moved the hosts back in front.

It was back and forth from there as neither team led by more than two until Norwalk went in front 23-20. Blasts from Ahn and Delaney Woollums made it 24-22, but Sutcliffe ended the set one point later.

The third set was not competitive after Norwalk’s 12-0 run. Newton (8-3, 1-2) called two timeouts during that stretch, but the Warriors went up by as many as 14.

“I think they believed they could compete tonight. That’s why the third set was hard to take,” Coach Woollums said. “We are better than that. That can’t happen. They got more tense playing at home than they ever should have been.”

Ahn led the Cardinals with 12 kills, 16 digs and three aces, while Lampe registered 23 assists, six digs and two aces.

Delaney Woollums tallied seven kills and eight digs, Chloe Swank chipped in nine digs and two assists and Hailey Sumpter collected six digs.

Clayton put down three kills, Rorabaugh had two digs and Addison White was 9-of-9 in serves. The Cardinals served 57-of-61 with six aces.

“They did some great things this evening and played some competitive volleyball,” Coach Woollums said. “That third set just stung.”

Notes: Ahn now has 126 kills this season. Her 28 aces rank tied for fourth in Class 4A. … Norwalk was led by Noelle Sutcliffe’s 10 kills and seven aces. She ranks second in 4A with 183 kills. Grace Dehmer added 17 digs and is now seventh in 4A with 181 this fall.