By Sam Parsons

The Oskaloosa Indians volleyball team was in action last night for their first home game of the 2024 season, which doubled as their conference opener. It was a tough draw: the preseason #10 ranked Norwalk Warriors were in town, and they did not make the night easy for the Indians.

The first two sets were controlled by the Warriors from start to finish. They jumped out to 9-3 leads in each of the first two sets and never looked back: in the first set, Osky was able to pull within 5 points near the end to make it 21-16 before the Warriors finished on a 4-1 run, and in the second set, the Warriors went on a 10-3 run midway through and cruised to a 25-13 set victory. With Norwalk up 2-0 in convincing fashion, it had been shaping up to be a night to forget for the Indians.

However, Oskaloosa battled hard in the third set, which was a back-and-forth affair the entire way through. Neither team led by more than 3 points at any point in the set, and the Indians found themselves on top 21-20 toward the end. The Warriors, unfortunately, would find their groove once again, rattling off 4 consecutive points to go up 24-21; Osky would score back-to-back to bring the game within a point, but it wasn’t enough to force extras, as a service error by the Indians ended the set 25-23 and the match along with it.

Oskaloosa (2-5) will travel to Cedar Rapids Washington this weekend for tournament play, and they will be off next Tuesday before hitting the road for a tournament in Southeast Polk next weekend.