SOLON — With tears running down their cheeks and comforting hugs among teammates the net came down for the final time this season after a 3-0 loss to the Monticello Panthers Thursday, October 24 in a Class 3A Regional semifinals match in Solon.

The Lady Spartans entered the postseason with a 27-13 record and were ranked 11th in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s Wednesday, October 9 rankings when the Camanche Storm visited Tuesday, October 22 for the quarterfinal round. Solon rode out the Storm with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-13) victory led by Grace Erwin and Kiley Devery with 13 and 11 kills respectively.

The win over Camanche advanced Solon to the semifinal round and a visit from the Monticello Panthers Thursday, October 24. The Panthers, 25-8 upset the Lady Spartans 3-0, ending Solon’s season at 28-14 on the season.

Monticello took the first set 25-23. Solon tied the set at 22-all prompting a time out by the Panthers before securing the win. The Lady Spartans found themselves in a 3-0 hole to start the second set. Grace Erwin scored a kill making it 2-4 as Solon battled back. Down 12-18, Coach Ruben Galvan called for a timeout. The Panthers continued to dominate and took the set 25-19. The Lady Spartans started the third set with a 5-3 lead. An Addie Miller Kill made it 8-4 while a Solon ace serve made it 9-4. Gable Knight scored two kills for 10-5 and 12-5 advantages, the largest leads of the night for Solon.

Unfortunately, the Panthers adjusted and cut the lead io 14-12, then 15-14 before Galvan called for another timeout. Monticello took 19-18 lead and held on for thev25-22 set win to claim the match.individual stats were not available as of Sunday night.vSolon ended the season at 28-14 overall and 1-4 in thevvWaMaC standings.vIt was the final match for seniors Addie Miller, Grace Erwin, Yasmine Sell, and Izzy Frees.