The rolled-up poster sat there untouched, its colors peered through the peephole and the vacant backside decorated with a tiny metal bar taped to the edge. It collected dust all night as Solon and Clinton fought relentlessly for a round one regional volleyball.

Cheers from the Spartans’ victory huddle after the 3-0 sweep shifted towards libero Kennedy Whitford as the poster revealed her new program record of 1,541 digs.

“It feels really good. Really, really good,” she said. “I’m very proud. I worked really hard for it.”

Whitford led all players in the contest with 14 digs, while outside hitter Kiley Devery secured 13 kills.

Fellow outside hitter Makinley Galvan followed with nine kills. Every time Solon broke out on a run, Clinton responded with one of its own. In the first set with the score tied 7-7, a 40-second rally ended in the Spartans’ favor and sparked a 5-0 run. The River Queens fought its way back to cut the lead down to one before a 6-0 Solon run closed the first set.

“I think at first we were playing a little scared, so we weren’t probably hitting as hard. We weren’t being as scrappy,” Whitford said. “We started trusting each other more, which is one thing about our team chemistry is that we can trust each other to make good points.”

The second set started in a similar fashion as the two teams were tied at four apiece, followed by a 9-0 Solon run to jump out to a 14-6 lead. Clinton cut the lead once again down to four before finishing the second set, 25-14.

An identical third set finish by Solon secured the first round victory.

“I think we need to have a little more intensity in the game,” Galvan said. “I didn’t see that tonight. Sometimes I felt like we were going through the motions…. But I think they’re ready, I think they’re perfect, so it should be fun [going forward].”

With a 29-9 regular season finish and a hard-fought postseason victory under its belt, The Spartans’ state championship aspirations were well alive as they squared off against Marion in the Class 4A Region 8 Championship at home Tuesday, Oct. 28.

“We really want to go to state this year,” Whitford said. “I feel like in previous years we thought we could go to state but didn’t really want it. I think we need to accomplish that.”

Editor’s note: The Championship match was played after this edition had gone to print. A game recap and photos are at www.soloneconomist.com.