MARION — The regular season came to a close last week with the WaMaC conference tournament at Marion High School. The Lady Spartans picked up a pair of wins over Williamsburg (2-0) and Independence (2-0) in the Consolation Bracket Semifinal and Consolation Finals respectively.
Solon vs. Williamsburg
Solon defeated the Raiders 25-13 and 25-15 with a match-high eight kills from sophomore Jozie Lahr. Brynn Deike (senior) and Grace Erwin (junior) produced five kills each with three apiece from juniors Yasmine Sell and Addie Miller, and sophomore Gable Knight. Deike made 21 assists, sophomore Kennedey Whitford made nine digs with seven by Sell, four from Miller, three by Deike and two each from Lahr and juniors Aly Stahle and Lauryn Wear. Lahr led defensively with a pair of solo blocks while Erwin made three block assists with two from Knight. Deike, Lahr, and Sell made one block assist each.
Deike also had two ace serves in the match.
Solon vs. Independence
It took extra time as Solon edged past the Mustangs 26-24 in the first set before cruising to a 25-13 win in the second. Yasmine Sell led all with eight kills, Grace Erwin made six, Jozie Lahr had five, Addie Miller made two, and Brynn Deike, Aly Stahle, and Gable Knight produced one each. Deike had 22 assists, Kennedey Whitford made a dozen digs, and Josie Lahr made a pair of solo blocks. Erwin had three block assists, Knight made two, and Deike, Lahr, and Sell had one each. Deike and Sell also had three ace serves each with one apiece from Whitford and Lahr.
Final IGHSAU Class 3A weekly rankings
The final weekly Class 3A rankings by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union showed quite a bit of reshuffling as Western Christian was dethroned from the No. 1 spot and replaced by Mount Vernon (No. 2 the week prior). Cherokee moved up to No. 2 (No. 5 previously), and Solon’s likely Regional Final opponent, Davenport Assumption, remained at No. 4. The Lady Spartans dropped from No. 11 to No. 13 but remain the only ranked team in the bottom half of the 3A Region 8 postseason bracket.
Regionals and beyond
Region 8 competition started Tuesday (October 17) as Central Lee (12-25) visited for the quarterfinal round. Solon will host the semifinals Thursday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m. with the winner taking on either Tipton (18-17) or Mediapolis (14-14), who also battled Tuesday. The Regional Championship match is set for Tuesday, October 24 at the highest-ranked team’s site. Assumption (24-7) faced Washington (17-17) while Fairfield (19-11) battled Davis County (12-22) on Tuesday with the winners playing at Assumption Thursday.
The 2023 State Tournament is set for Monday, October 30 – Thursday, Nov. 2 at Xtream Arena in Coralville.
WaMaC standings (as of
Monday, October 16)
Conf. Overall
Clear Creek Amana 5-0 43-0
Mount Vernon 5-0 30-4
Benton Community 4-1 13-23
Center Point-Urbana 3-2 24-9
Marion 3-2 24-12
Vinton-Shellsburg 3-2 16-24
West Delaware 2-3 24-14
Solon 2-3 20-14
Grinnell 2-3 9-23
South Tama 1-4 12-21
Independence 0-5 18-22
Williamsburg 0-5 6-25

Gallery • 3 Photos

Jeff Holmes • Contributed photo

Addie Miller (12) makes a kill attempt Thursday, October 12 during the WaMaC Conference Tournament at Marion High School.