Truckers dig deep to turn back Shelby

ATTICA — Norwalk hit the wall in the middle of the third set, and it left some bruises. But the Truckers bounced back strong for a 25-21, 31-29, 20-25, 25-20 win over Shelby in a Division II district semifinal at Seneca East High School. Norwalk trailed 19-16 in the fourth set before staging a dominant rally, going on a 9-1 run to close out the match. The Truckers let Shelby back in the match with a string of hitting errors in the middle of the third set, but a two-set cushion helped. "We tell the girls all the time, 'next-ball mentality,' " Norwalk coach Sarah Kipp said. "These kids are going resilient. They're going to make errors — they're kids. But I'm not going to tell them not to go for those big swings." Norwalk's Lucy Schlotterer dominated from the start with 25 kills, going past 1,000 for her career on the day she was named MVP in the SBC Lake Division. Addie Foster, who exited in the second set to get her ankle taped, added eight kills and Emma Gebhardt finished with seven. Ava Tyler and Skyler Cassidy each had 26 assists. Tyler pushed the ball over the net with Norwalk leading 24-20 in the fourth set and it dropped to end the match. With third-seeded Shelby (16-8) leading 19-16, Sydney Moehlman had two blocks to tie the set and later a kill to give the Truckers a 24-20 lead. Second-seeded Norwalk (18-6) advances to the district championship match against top-seeded Lexington on Thursday. It will be the Truckers' first district finals appearance since 2019. The Truckers lost in two sets to Lexington during the regular season. Lex advanced with a five-set win over Ontario. The first set was tied 19-19 when three straight Schlotterer kills and an ace made it 23-20. Another Schlotterer kill from the 10-foot line and a Mac Wineman ace gave the Truckers a 25-21 win. In Set 2, Shelby thought it won 28-26, but an official changed a call to give the Truckers new life. A couple Whippet errors and a huge Schlotterer kill ended the set at 31-29. The third set went Shelby's way as Madison Henkel (15 kills) picked up steam. The Whippets clinched a 25-20 set win on Norwalk's 15th error of the set. Norwalk regrouped late in the fourth set. Leading 21-20, Wineman made a terrific dig and a Shelby player slipped to give the Truckers a 22-20 lead. Three more Norwalk points ended the match.