March 28, 2024

Newton volleyball loses to Norwalk in four

The first word out of Kim Florke's mouth after Newton volleyball team's four-set loss to Norwalk sounded familiar.

Consistency.

The veteran Cardinal volleyball coach is still hoping her senior-laden squad can find consistency before the season is over.

The Cardinals continue to have moments of greatness against Little Hawkeye Conference foes but can't quite get over the hump.

"We are so close, and that's what I just told them in the locker room," Florke said. "You see we are getting better. We just aren't making the plays at the most crucial parts of the sets."

Newton bounced back from a bad opening set to win set two but ultimately fell short as Norwalk won 25-16, 22-25, 25-17, 25-23 during LHC play on Tuesday night.

The Cardinals led 20-16 in the fourth set but failed to finish it off.

"We just couldn't put the ball down when we needed to (in the fourth set)," Florke said. "We couldn't terminate the ball, and they did."

The Cardinals hung around early in the first set, but Norwalk used a 7-1 run to turn a 7-all tie into a 14-8 advantage.

An ace by senior Kynnedei Terpstra brought the home team within 14-10, but the Warriors rolled off five straight to pull away for good and scored the final five points of the frame.

Florke mixed in a few different players after the first set. Senior Lainey Hull got time in the back row and junior Alyssa Shannon saw action in the front row.

"I told them yesterday that I thought we have been stagnant lately," Florke said. "We just didn't seem to be getting better. So I am still trying to find the best lineup. If we have competition within ourselves, I think it pushes them a little more."

Newton (7-10 overall, 1-3 in conference play) and Norwalk once again got to a 7-all tie in set two. But the Cardinals gained an advantage after a Terpstra ace, a kill by senior Jerrica McGuire and a kill by freshman Kadance Ahn.

Then, McGuire delivered back-to-back aces, senior Meg Callaghan recorded a block, senior Kate Callaghan put down a kill and McGuire served up another ace to put the Cardinals up 18-9.

Meg Callaghan was superb in the set as she added three more kills and an ace to put Newton up 22-12.

Norwalk (11-7, 3-1) didn't go away quietly, closing the gap to 24-22 before a hard blast by McGuire ended the frame and evened the match.

The Warriors regained the momentum in set three. With the set tied at 5-all, Norwalk used a 16-5 run to go up 21-10. They held off a late run by Newton to win by eight.

"We had seven service errors in set three," Florke said. "The girls don't realize how close they are. If we gain consistency in every part of the game, it will help tremendously."

The Cardinals should have won set four. They jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but it was tied at 8-all. The lead went back to 11-8 before Norwalk forced another tie at 11-all.

Newton held a modest lead before scoring three straight points to go up 20-16. Then a service error by Newton and a kill by Abigail Brenizer drew the Warriors closer.

They eventually evened the score at 21, 22 and 23 before scoring the final two points.

"We should have won the fourth set," Florke said. "I am glad we played well after the first one because I didn't want Norwalk thinking that second set was a fluke. They played like it wasn't a fluke.

"It's a step in the right direction. We can build off the fact that we we didn't play well at all in set one and didn't just fold it up."

Kate Callaghan led the Cardinals with 22 assists, seven kills, four blocks, four digs and two aces.

Ahn tallied a team-best 10 kills and five digs, McGuire had five kills, six aces, three blocks and two digs and Meg Callaghan chipped in five kills, three blocks and three aces.

Terpstra finished with six kills, four digs and two aces, senior Katie McConnell had a team-best 10 digs, senior Riley Davidson had seven digs and senior Tess Brunsmann added two digs.

The Cardinals served up 14 aces but missed 11 serves, hitting 71-of-82. Ahn was 7-of-8, Kate Callaghan served 14-of-16 and Meg Callaghan was 14-of-16.

"We'll go back to practice tomorrow and get back to work," Florke said. "The Little Hawkeye Conference is tough. I'm just hoping one of these days we'll get one."

Notes: Kate Callaghan leads the Cardinals with 263 assists and 83 digs and is second on the team with 70 kills and 27 aces. ... Ahn now has a team-high 79 kills and 79 digs in her first varsity season. ... McGuire has served up a team-best 28 aces this fall and Meg Callaghan has tallied a team-high 22 blocks. ... Norwalk has won 9 of its last 12 matches.