The Norwalk volleyball team will look to secure a spot in the Class 4A State Tournament tonight, hosting Ballard in the Region 5 Championship.

The Warriors are coming off a three-set sweep over Bondurant-Farrar in the regional semifinals. In that matchup, sophomore Elle Hatlevig led Norwalk with 18 kills, and junior Hadley Michael recorded 34 assists. Michael officially became Norwalk’s all-time career assist leader in their last regular season performance at the Winterset Volleyball Tournament. 

Ballard is coming off a four-set victory over Nevada in their respective regional semifinal match. The Bombers went undefeated in Raccoon River Conference play this season, finishing 8-0 and leading the conference. Offensively, they are led by senior Brenna Baumgardner who recorded 21 kills in their match last week and 306 in the regular season. Also influencing the stat sheet is junior Hailey Estrem who notched 47 assists last week and 798 this season.

As the top-seed in the Region 5 bracket, Norwalk secured home court advantage for the regional final. Head coach John Fulton tells KNIA Sports the team has been striving for the regional final since the beginning of the season.

“Always good to get to play some more volleyball and keep going. At the beginning of the season, the goal is to always play in the regional finals. To get a chance to play in that game, to get a chance to play in front of our home crowd, to get a chance to play on our court is what we wanted at the beginning of the season, and we’ve accomplished that. and now we’re just gonna go play and enjoy it.”

First serve for the Class 4A Region 5 Championship is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Norwalk’s NPECC.