The #3 Pella volleyball team is hopeful for a long week in Coralville, and in order to do so, they’ll have to start by toppling a long-time Little Hawkeye Conference rival on Monday.

The 31-10 Dutch take on #6 Norwalk (29-11) to begin the 2025 state tournament. Pella has had a recent stretch of success against the Warriors, which includes three consecutive 3-0 wins dating back to last fall, including a 25-22, 25-23, 25-19 win at home on September 2nd to open the conference season.

Head Coach Joel Allman says they can’t take that for granted, and notes Norwalk will be plenty motivated and talented to upset Pella’s hopes of a title run, as the Dutch ended the Warriors season last year to get to the state tournament.

“I think both ourselves and Norwalk are really excited about this, as far as, we personally want to have a great match — we had that with Clear Creek-Amana last year, it was just a dogfight,” he says. “We talked about the first time we played Norwalk, how it was probably going to be a dogfight. I think we’re excited for that, and this group is a bunch of competitors ready for that.”

The Warriors swept their way through the Class 4A Region 5 bracket, with 3-0 wins over Ballard and Bondurant-Farrar. Sophomore Elle Hatlevig remains the top kill-getter in Class 4A this fall with 446, and Junior Teammate Hadley Michael ranks 4th in 4A in assists.

Live radio coverage of Pella state tournament volleyball begins at approximately 6 p.m. Monday on 92.1 KRLS. Norwalk fans will want to tune in at the conclusion of Simpson Storm Surge on 94.3 KNIA and the KNIA3 stream.