Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – The popular postseason phrase is often – survive and advance.

Solon wasn’t thinking about simply moving on in its regional opener the Spartans wanted to cruise.

No. 12 Solon did both in a 25-11, 25-20, 25-13 sweep of Camanche on Tuesday in a Class 3A, Region 4 quarterfinal in Solon.

“We talked that tonight we had to put our foot down,” Solon senior Grace Erwin said. “We didn’t want to let them score anything that they shouldn’t be scoring.”

Erwin had a match-high 15 kills to lead four Spartans with at least six kills as Solon (28-15) advanced to the Region 4 semifinals where it will host Monticello (25-8) on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Monticello advanced with a 25-4, 25-9, 25-11 sweep of Oelwein on Tuesday.

“We talked before the game and we know we can’t take for granted any team but we just need to go out and play our game,” Erwin said. “I think we were sharp.”

Solon held a 42-13 edge in kills and had six runs of 4-0 or longer on Tuesday.

Junior Kiley Devery had 10 kills, Addie Miller had seven kills and Jozie Lahr had six kills for Solon.

“We are pretty balanced,” Solon coach Ruben Galvan said. “That’s why none of our kids’ stats are booming because we set the ball around now it’s just our setters knowing the situation of when to go to the person is on and that’s something we are learning.”

Solon trailed 6-4 early in the opening set but took the lead for good with a 4-0 burst that started with back-to-back kills by Miller.

The Spartans put the opening set away with a seven-point spurt that started with a kill and ace serve by Lahr.

Erwin and Miller each had two kills in the 7-0 burst that gave Solon a 15-7 lead.

“I thought we were consistent,” Galvan said. “I think we played a little slow but I knew it was going to happen and you don’t really want to make a storm out of a rain drop so we wanted to let them play and figure it out themselves.”

Solon closed the opening set on a 6-1 run that ended with an Izzy Frees ace for set point.

The Spartans trailed 5-4 in the second set and once again used a 5-0 run to take the lead for good at 9-5.

Solon won the second set 25-20 but never trailed in a dominant third-set win.

“Our energy got pretty low,” Erwin said of the second set. “We wanted to make sure we were communicating, calling out every ball and making sure we had each other’s backs.”

Erwin had five kills in each set while Devery had seven of her 10 kills in the final two sets.

Solon also had eight ace serves and seven solo blocks with Lahr and Erwin both posting a pair of solo blocks.

“We were connecting,” Erwin said. “Our passers to our setters and our setters to our hitters everything was on point.”

Solon now turns its attention to Monticello and would likely face fourth-ranked Dubuque Wahlert (23-8) in the regional title match scheduled for October 29.

“I think they understand that it’s going to be more difficult for us moving forward,” Galvan said. “They will be ready for it.”

Camanche      11  20  13

Solon              25  25  25

Solon (Kills-aces-blocks)

Kennedey Whitford 0-1-0, Addie Miller 7-0-0, Grace Erwin 15-0-2, Cydney Jaster 0-1-0, Jozie Lahr 6-1-2, Macy Fuller 1-0-0, Gable Knight 3-0-1, Izzy Frees 0-1-0, Kiley Devery 10-0-1, Charleigh Whitford 3-0-0, Harper Nicholson 1-0-1, Totals 42-8-7.

Assists – Cydney Jaster 20, Izzy Frees 12, Scarlett Ferin 2

Camanche (Kills-aces-blocks)

Annika Weber 1-0-0, Rylan Smith 0-2-0, Miley Duritza 3-0-0, Jeorgia Neumann 1-0-0, Jenna Dunlap 0-1-3, Calie Waltz 5-1-0, Emily Butt 2-0-0, Lily Koehler 1-0-0, Totals 13-4-3.

Assists – Rylan Smth 6, Abbi Nylin 4

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