#5 in Class 5A Norwalk and #14 in Class 5A Indianola squared off in a volleyball matchup on Tuesday, Norwalk defeating Indianola in four sets (25-18, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19), and sweeping the season series between the two Warren County rivals. Indianola came from behind to take the third set, but couldn’t achieve the same feat in the fourth. Norwalk junior Hadley Michael surpassed 2,000 career assists during the match. She has been the team’s assist leader all season, with 589 coming into Tuesday’s matchup. Michael tells KNIA Sports she credits a big part of her achievement to her teammates.

“It feels so great, but I truly couldn’t have done it without my team. I couldn’t do it without all my hitters in the front row. Like, yes, I got my 2,000 assists, that’s like a personal record of mine, but I seriously couldn’t have done it without my team, and I think we’ve grown so much together, and I’m just truly so thankful for them because I wouldn’t be here without them.”

While the Warriors have the rest of the week off from competition, the Indians compete again on Saturday morning in the Urbandale Varsity Invitational amidst homecoming weekend. Indianola head coach Jana McGraw tells KNIA Sports it will be a challenging transition, but a very important one. 

“It’s a little challenging. This is homecoming week, so I know the girls are going to be thinking about getting their hair, makeup, and their dresses on. So we’re just talking about, at this point, every match matters because it’s all about ranking going into substate, so we’re just going to dive right into practice tomorrow. One of our sayings that we say is ‘flush the bad away and come back bigger and bolder and stronger’. So we’ll definitely give a little bit of active recovery tomorrow, and then we’re going to hit the gym pretty hard on Thursday and get after it and ready for Saturday.” 

Indianola’s first match on Saturday is set to begin at 8:00 a.m., and Norwalk will next compete at home on October 7th vs. Pella Christian.