CORALVILLE — Norwalk wasn’t in danger, but was making its way into danger’s neighborhood.Down 10 points in a pivotal third set, that’s a precarious spot.“I wouldn’t say I was getting nervous, but we all knew we were a better team than we were playing,” junior star Elle Haltevig said.Trailing 17-7, the top-ranked Warriors stormed back to win it, then carried that momentum into the fourth set to defeat No. 8 Ballard in a Class 4A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Mond...
CORALVILLE — Norwalk wasn’t in danger, but was making its way into danger’s neighborhood.
Down 10 points in a pivotal third set, that’s a precarious spot.
“I wouldn’t say I was getting nervous, but we all knew we were a better team than we were playing,” junior star Elle Haltevig said.
Trailing 17-7, the top-ranked Warriors stormed back to win it, then carried that momentum into the fourth set to defeat No. 8 Ballard in a Class 4A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Monday night at Xtream Arena.
Set scores were 25-16, 26-28, 28-26 and 25-12.
“I think we realized we were the No. 1 team for a reason,” setter Hadley Michael said after the Warriors (31-6) marched in the semifinal round; they’ll face No. 4 Western Dubuque (33-6) at noon Wednesday.
“We think we can come back even when it feels like we can’t.”
Committed to Michigan State University, Haltevig collected 32 kills and posted a lofty .528 kill efficiency.
“She’s Elle Haltevig,” Michael said. “She’s an absolute stud. You can’t stop her; she’s the beast of our team.”
Ballard (29-11) was making its first state-tournament appearance in school history, but the Bombers didn’t resemble rookies through the middle part of the match.
They built a 16-10 lead in the second set, lost it, erased set point and then capitalized on a Norwalk mistake to tie the match.
Ballard carried that momentum through the opening stages of Game 3, building a 17-7 lead. The Bombers had four set-point opportunities at 24-20, but Norwalk stuffed them all. Haltevig had four kills in the late stages, and the Warriors claimed the set and eventually the match.
Delaynee Steele added 17 kills for the Warriors. Michael contributed 38 assists.
Norah Mudd led Ballard with 14 kills.