She tried to hold it back. But she just couldn’t.
Solon’s Cydney Jaster watched from the sidelines with a boot on her right foot as her teammates fought relentlessly for the 2025 WaMaC Volleyball title. And after they came up two points shy in the title game, there she was, her crutches jammed into her underarms as tears strolled down her red cheeks looking over at Clear Creek Amana (CCA) hoisting the first place trophy.
“I’m so proud of everybody,” she wept as Solon head coach Ruben Galvan consoled her.
The No. 8 Spartans showed great resiliency as they ran through Center Point-Urbana (CPU) and Marion before facing the No. 1 ranked team in Class 4A in CCA.
“We outdid ourselves. I know we had a hard schedule coming into this, and I knew that it was going to be a fight, and so did everyone else.” said senior outside hitter Kiley Devery. “So I’m just proud of us for pushing through and just staying true to ourselves and playing as a team.”
Solon and CPU split the regular season series, 1-1, and the Spartans took them down, 2-0, in their first game of the tournament behind Devery and Jozie Lahr’s eight kills apiece.
Then came Marion, where Solon went on a 17-5 in the first set and a 14-7 run in the second set to qualify for the championship game. Devery’s 11 kills led the way, followed by Amelia Guinn’s seven kills.
“Anytime you beat someone from this conference is a victory, big victory,” Galvan said, “because it’s a challenge for us.”
CCA took the first set, 25-18, despite several self-inflicted mistakes. They also led by as many as four points early in the second set before Solon stormed back and eventually won the second set, 25-20.
“We really just try hard to not let them score two points in a row,” Devery said. “So getting that first ball and just moving the momentum back onto our side was huge.”
Solon held the early lead in the third set, 5-2. Then the Clippers knotted the score at 6 apiece and jumped out to an 11-9 advantage. But the Lady Spartans clawed back to tie the score again at 12 each. Yet, the Clippers’ 3-1 finish pushed them over the top.
Solon may have walked away as the runners-up but a state championship still hangs in the balance.
“I’m just so proud of them because we never gave up,” Galvan said. “We’re playing against the number one ranked team in the state, and I think we kind of flexed our muscles and played well.”
Postseason campaign starts tonight
Solon will host the winner of the Central DeWitt vs. Clinton quarterfinal game played Tuesday (after this edition had gone to press) at 7:00 p.m. Marion will face the winner of a Gilbert vs. Waterloo East contest. The Regional final is set for Tuesday, October 28 at 7:00 p.m. at the highest-ranked team’s site.
