SOLON — The Lady Spartans opened postseason play Monday, October 17 by hosting WaMaC West foe Williamsburg in a Class 3A Region 7 quarterfinal round match at home. Solon defeated the Raiders 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-9) and advanced to the semifinals with a Wednesday, October 19 match against Albia. The Blue Demons defeated Chariton 3-0 in their quarterfinal.
The Raiders took Solon by surprise in the first set, racking up a 5-0 lead before Coach Mikayla Siddell called for a time out to reset her squad. When play resumed Delaney Bombei put up a kill (with an assist by Brynn Deike), and got an ace serve to make it 5-2. A second Bombei ace made it 5-4 while a Sophia Hoeper ace tied the set 5-5. A kill by Grace Erwin gave Solon a 9-6 lead while another Erwin kill made it 12-10. A third Erwin kill put Solon up 18-15, but the Raiders knotted the set 18-18 before Aly Stahle launched a kill to retake the lead 19-18. Stahle struck again (with a Kylee Flynn assist) to lead 20-18.
Bombei dropped the ball over the net for a 23-21 advantage with an ace serve by Kennedey Whitford delivering set point.
Set two opened with a kill from Yasmine Sell and a 1-0 lead. Deike produced an ace serve, Bombei made a kill while Stahle had back-to-back kills for a 5-3 lead. An ace from Stahle made it 10-5 and prompted the Raiders to take a pause and regroup. An Erwin kill (with a Deike assist) gave Solon an 11-6 advantage, a pair of Sell kills made it 14-9, and an Erwin block put the lead to 15-10. Deike slapped the ball straight down the other side of the net making it 20-11.
The Lady Spartans built a quick lead in the third set as they went up 13-4 with an ace from Sell, a block from Erwin, and an ace from Flynn. A Bombei kill made it 16-7, another Stahle ace made it 18-7, and Bombei rocketed a kill shot for a 22-8 advantage.
Stahle and Bombei led with nine kills each, Erwin produced seven, Deike made six, Sell had four, and Hoeper made two. Erwin had five solo blocks with one apiece by Bombei and Deike, Flynn and Bombei produced three ace serves apiece with two from Stahle and Deike, and one each from Whitford and Sell.
Williamsburg’s season ended at 9-22 overall and 1-6 in the WaMaC West, Solon improved to 25-12 overall and finished WaMaC East play at 4-3.
Solon remained at No. 9 in class 3A in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s final volleyball rankings for the 2022 season. West Liberty moved up one spot to No. 5 with Des Moines Christian No. 1, Assumption (Davenport) No. 2, Mount Vernon No. 3, and Sioux Center No. 4. West Liberty took on Grinnell in their Region 7 semifinal Wednesday night. The Regional Final is set for Tuesday, October 25 at the highest-ranked team. The winner advances to the State Tournament, scheduled for Monday, October 31 through Thursday, Nov. 3 at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
Delaney Bombei attempts one of her nine kills against Williamsburg in a Class 3A Region 7 quarterfinal round match Monday, October 17 at home.