Solon prevails in 5, captures division title

MANCHESTER -- They came prepared.

The Solon Lady Spartans brought a homemade championship banner with them, and they earned the right to display it.

Class 3A second-ranked Solon claimed its first title as a member of the Wamac Conference, taking the winner-take-all battle with No. 6 West Delaware in five games Tuesday night at Seedorff Gymnasium.

Scores were 25-16, 25-27, 25-14, 22-25 and 15-11.

"This is a big, important step for us," said Solon Coach Kurt Trout, whose team earned the East Division crown. "We feel that we are worthy of where we're ranked, and this proves it."

Solon (23-1 overall, 7-0 Wamac East) trailed 9-8 in the final set before making the pivotal surge.

"We all wanted it so bad," said Kelsey Hinrichs, who contributed 18 kills and 27 assists to the winning cause. "Everything was so intense. We had to stay strong."

A three-point run put Solon in front for good at 11-9, then the Lady Spartans closed it out with a kill by Kelsey Cave and another by Regan Johnson.

And after the handshakes and hugs, the Lady Spartans unveiled their banner and posed for pictures.

"My dad made it," acknowledged Cave, who led all attackers with 23 kills.

Cave collected four kills in the final set.

"We were looking to swing every time," she said. "I was going to hit (down the) line until they started defending it."

The teams traded the first four games, with Solon winning the odd games convincingly and West Delaware (25-4, 5-1) taking the even sets in close fashion.

West Delaware erased a 13-8 deficit in Game 4 to prolong the match.

One major factor in the outcome was at the net. Solon finished with 14 blocks (eight by Cave), West Delaware three.

"Their front line hit better than ours," said West Delaware Coach Brett Mather. "They were more aggressive than we were. And our defense didn't make the reads they needed to."

Rayne Cook led the Hawks with 19 kills. Mackenzie Harbaugh distributed 41 assists.