SOLON — When the Lady Spartans take to the volleyball court this season, they will be led by one of their own as 2016 grad Mikayla Long-Siddell moves from an assistant coach role to head coach. She replaces Jeff Walker after a disappointing 17-23 showing last season, which included a 3-0 win over Fort Madison in the first round of Class 4A postseason play as well as regular season wins over Center Point-Urbana (CPU) and Marshalltown. The season ended in the semifinals with a 3-1 loss to Central DeWitt.
Solon has lost Maddie Manifold, Alexa Hupfeld, and Camryn Keith to graduation. Keith was second on the squad with 191 kills while Manifold produced 144. Stepping up are seniors Delaney Bombei, Kylee Fynn, Sophia Hoeper, Mikayla Langenberg, and Brianna Kerkove. Bombei, a returning starter, is an outside hitter who earned 1st Team All-Conference honors last season as she led the squad with 209 kills and 39 ace serves. Defensively she produced 34 solo blocks and made 51 block assists. Flynn, also a returning starter, is a defensive specialist and setter with 244 assists, six kills, and four solo blocks last year. Hoeper, a right side hitter, produced 98 kills, seven solo blocks, and 11 block assists. Langenberg is a defensive specialist with one kill last season and five assists while Kerkove only played in four sets.
Junior Bryn Deike, a setter, is among the returning starters and made a team-high 284 assists last season and slammed out 38 ace serves.
Sophomores Aly Stahle, Yasmine Sell, and Grace Erwin are also back as returning starters from last season. Stahle, an outside hitter, produced 31 kills, Sell made 74 kills and 41 solo blocks, and Erwin had 35 kills and 13 solo blocks.
Freshman Kennedey Whitford, a defensive specialist who the coach said, “will be an asset on defense,” and sophomore Brianne Henning, an outside hitter whom she said, “has a great block and will be an asset on offense,” join the varsity squad this year.
The coach said lots of new and exciting things are planned for Solon volleyball. “We hope to bring in some dual threat players to the lineups to try and trick our opponents. We are looking forward to the upcoming season and appreciate all the support given as we make this transition with the coaching staff.”
Nathan Watson, fellow alumni Taylor Bransky (formerly Nearad, ‘15), and Trystin Luneckas will assist this season.
The season opens with a quad Thursday, August 25 at Mount Vernon with the Mustangs, CPU, and Clear Creek Amana. The Lady Spartans return to Mount Vernon on Tuesday, Sept. 6 The first home match is set for Thursday, Sept. 15 as Williamsburg visits. A “Pink Out” night for breast cancer awareness is scheduled for Tuesday, October 4 as Independence visits, and the coach notes plans are still in the works for a Veterans Recognition Night.
“This year our goal is to be able to compete against high-level teams and rebuild the culture surrounding our program. We have a lot of great talent coming up. I am very excited to see what our players are capable of and for our staff to let them shine on and off the court.”
Aly Stahle and Brynn Deike share a laugh at the start of a varsity scrimmage against West Branch Sunday, August 7.