Chris Umscheid
Makinley Galvan (4), Scarlett Ferin (18), Avery Kellen (21), Kalynn Timmons (10), and Kennedey Whitford (1) celebrate a point by Amelia Guinn (8) Tuesday, Sept. 9 at home against archrival Mount Vernon. The Lady Spartans swept the Mustangs 3-0 on Military Appreciation/Youth Night.
History was made in Solon.
The high school volleyball rivalry between the Solon Spartans and the Mount Vernon Mustangs has been a one-sided affair for the last two decades. Since the 2014-15 season, the Mustangs won 18 of the last 20 matches, including the last nine, which were all sweeps.
On Tuesday, Sept. 9, unranked Solon flipped the script on No. 8 Mount Vernon when it secured a 3-0 sweeping victory at home — the Spartans’ first win over its rivals in seven years.
“That’s been a rivalry from a long, long time ago,” said Solon head coach Ruban Galvan. “They haven’t been able to beat them. So I think that was kind of in the back of their minds.”
The Spartans held momentum early as it held a 12-8 lead halfway through the first set. Junior setter Scarlett Ferin compiled three straight aces followed by senior libero Kennedey Whitford’s two straight aces as Solon ran away with the first set, 25-14.
Mount Vernon jumped out to a 6-5 lead early in the second set before Solon turned on the jets, going on a 9-0 run to take a 14-6 advantage. The Mustangs, however, responded with its own 5-0 run to cut the lead down to three.
A back-and-forth exchange of points eventually led to the Mustangs taking a 22-21 lead. Solon scored four consecutive points driven by senior middle hitter and right setter Jozie Lahr’s two plays at the net to take the second set, 25-22.
“Knowing that the next point is what matters, and just to move on from that because there’s so many points in a game,” said freshman outside hitter Amelia Guinn. “One mistake does not determine the entire game.”
Mount Vernon’s 7-4 lead to begin the third set was quickly cut down to a 11-11 tie after a 5-1 Solon stretch. The two teams were still tied at 20 apiece before Guinn’s set over the net, held back by five suspenseful seconds between the two officials over a possible centerline violation call, was upheld as the Spartans took the late lead.
And it was Lahr once again with two huge plays down the stretch as Solon finally took down its rivals for the first time since 2018.
“I thought that I really had to step up,” she said. “I really wanted to beat Mount Vernon. I haven’t beaten them in my four years of playing varsity.”
Guinn logged a team-high 13 kills followed by senior outside hitter and right setter Kiley Devery’s nine kills. Lahr and junior middle hitter and right setter Avery Kellen secured five kills each, while Whitford compiled 21 digs.
“I think we were all just in the moment,” Guinn said. “Obviously, they’ve had a great team these past few years, but I think we just had some extra motivation to just keep going because we knew that we could do it. And we did.”
Solon’s victory was fueled by the supportive parents, its jersey-themed student section, and a resilient playstyle fueled by an unwillingness to surrender to Mount Vernon.
“It was just amazing,” Galvan said. “To see the crowd here, I think it supports the kids and they play harder. Hopefully every home game is like this.”
Lady Spartans sweep Vikettes 3-0
Solon carried the momentum of their win over Mount Vernon, and a ninth-place ranking (their first appearance this season) in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s weekly Class 4A rankings westward to Vinton for a 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-9) sweep of Vinton-Shellsburg Thursday, Sept. 11.
Senior Kiley Devery led the offense with nine kills, freshman Amelia Guinn produced seven with six from sophomore Beckett Kruse, four apiece from senior Jozie Lahr and junior Avery Kellen, three by freshman Makinley Galvan, and two by senior Gable Knight. Larh, junior Harper Nicholson, and Kellen made one solo block each while senior Kennedey Whitford produced 15 digs. Junior Scarlett Ferin had 19 assists with 11 by senior Cydney Jaster. Whitford hammered the Vikettes with six ace serves while Devery had three.
Lady Spartans go 2-2 in Linn-Mar’s tourney
Saturday, Sept. 13 saw the Lady Spartans in ‘Pool A’ of Linn-Mar’s tournament with wins over No. 13 (Class 5A) Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Davenport North, but falling to No. 6 (5A) Pleasant Valley and No. 10 (5A) West Des Moines Valley (in the championship quarterfinals).
Solon started out winning 2-0 against Kennedy (21-17, 21-9) with eight kills from Kiley Devery, four by Jozie Lahr, and three from Amelia Guinn.
It was Spartan vs. Spartan as Solon faced Pleasant Valley in the second round, falling 2-1 with nine kills from Devery, six by Guinn, four by Lahr,, and two apiece by Makinley Galvan and Harper Nicholson. Addison Walter, Lahr, and Nicholson made one solo block each with an ace serve each to Lahr and Scarlett Ferin.
Davenport North fell 2-0 (21-7, 21-16) in the third round with five kills from Devery, two each by Lahr and Beckett Kruse, and one apiece from Walter, Guinn, and Nicholson. Kruse made one solo block and Cydney Jaster had four aces with two by Devery, and one from Macy Fuller.
The Lady Spartans, the No. 5 seed, faced No. 4 seed Valley in the championship quarterfinals falling 19-21 and 18-21. Guinn unloaded 11 kills with nine from Devery, three by Lahr, two from Gable Knight, and one by Galvan. Lahr had one solo block and Jaster made one ace serve.