SOLON — The Lady Spartans opened the 2023 varsity volleyball season with a 5-3 showing following two wins in the season starting home quad meet against West Branch and West Liberty, a 3-0 showing in Marshalltown against Waverly-Shell Rock, Columbus Catholic, and Marshalltown, and followed by a trio of losses in Cedar Rapids Washington’s tournament to Davenport North, Linn-Mar, and Johnston.
Solon 2 West Branch 0
West Branch was the Lady Spartans’ first victim of the new season, falling in Solon’s Tuesday, August 29 quad 25-21 and 25-14. Juniors Yasmine Sell and Addie Miller produced four kills each with three from junior Grace Erwin and sophomore Jozie Lahr while junior Aly Stahle made two. Senior Brynn Deike made 11 assists, sophomore Kennedey Whitford came up with six digs, Stahle made three, and Deike and freshman Kalynn Timmons had two. Lahr and Sell made one dig each.
Senior Britta Elijah and Erwin made one solo block apiece while Sell and Miller had two ace serves with one for Lahr.
Solon 2 West Liberty 0
The Lady Spartans and Comets faced each other late last October in the Class 3A Regional Championship with West Liberty knocking off Solon 3-1. The teams met again in Solon’s quad with Coach Mikayla Long’s ladies getting a little revenge with a 2-0 win. Solon took the first set 25-16 and closed the match 25-18 in set two.
Stahle shelled the Comets with eight kills, Lahr produced six as did Erwin. Sell made four kills while Miller had three. Erwin produced two solo blocks with one apiece by Lahr and Sell, who also made three digs. Erwin and Kennedey Whitford had two digs each with one apiece by Deike (who had 21 assists in the match), Lahr, Stahle, Timmons, and Miller. Also, Deike made a pair of ace serves with one from Sell.
Solon 2 Waverly-Shell Rock 0
Waverly-Shell Rock fell 2-0 (21-12, 21-14) with eight kills from Lahr, six apiece by Stahle and Sell, four from Erwin, two from Miller, and one by Timmons. Junior Lauryn Wear produced 25 assists. Sell made two solo blocks with one from Erwin while Whitford produced 13 digs and an ace serve.
Solon 2 Columbus Catholic 0
The Columbus Catholic (Waterloo) Sailors were sunk by the Lady Spartans 21-17 and 21-19. Erwin produced nine kills with seven from Sell, five by Lahr, three from Miller, and one by Stahle. Wear made 23 assists, Whitford had 23 digs, and Erwin made two solo blocks with one by Lahr. Lahr and Sell also made one ace serve each.
Solon 2 Marshalltown 0
The Lady Spartans moved to 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in Marshalltown’s invitational as they swept the host Bobcats 2-0 (21-19, 21-18). Erwin produced seven kills with five each by Lahr and Sell, two from Stahle, and one by Miller. Wear made 20 assists, Whitford had 14 digs, and Erwin and Lahr came up with one solo block each. Whitford and Wear made two ace serves each with one apiece by Stahle and Miller.
Davenport North 2 Solon 1
The Davenport North Wildcats took set one 21-17, fell to Solon 19-21 in the second set, but won the match with a 16-14 win in the third.
Linn-Mar 2 Solon 0
The Lions defeated the Lady Spartans 21-14 and 21-19 in CR Washington’s tournament.
Johnston 2 Solon 0
The Dragons prevailed 21-18 and 22-20.
Stats from the Warriors’ Tourney were not available as of deadline.
Lady Spartans seventh in IGHSAU weekly rankings
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) released their weekly rankings Thursday, August 31 with the Lady Spartans ranked seventh in Class 3A, moving up from ninth the week before. Western Christian was No. 1 with Assumption Catholic (Davenport) No. 2. Mount Vernon was in the No. 6 spot with West Delaware eighth, Anamosa tenth, and West Liberty 11th.
Upcoming events
Solon travels to Oelwein HS for a 5:00 p.m. quad with Oelwein, North Fayette, and Vinton-Shellsburg and will compete in Linn-Mar’s varsity invitational Saturday, Sept. 9 starting at 9:00 a.m. Center Point-Urbana visits Tuesday, Sept. 12 with freshmen and sophomores playing at 5:00 p.m., JV at 6:00 p.m., and varsity at 7:30 p.m. on Military Appreciation Night.
Brynn Deike smiles for the camera before serving Tuesday, August 29 against West Branch in a home varsity quad with the Bears, West Liberty Comets, and Clear Creek Amana.