Pickup artists: Solon turns it on

CEDAR RAPIDS -- There was no tongue-lashing. No epic adjustments.

Just a simple message:"Pick it up."

Then, the Solon Spartans were pickup artists.

Second-ranked Solon swallowed a second-set hiccup before it became problematic, and handled No. 8 Indianola in a four-set victory (25-11, 21-25, 25-6, 25-18) in a Class 4A quarterfinal at the state volleyball tournament Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Cellular Center.

"A lot of their game feeds into our strengths, and I just felt that once we settled down and got more assertive instead of holding back, we'd be all right," said Solon Coach Peter Gustin."Instead of hoping they did something wrong, what were we going to do right?"

Turns out, plenty.

The Spartans (32-2) posted a lofty .333 kill efficiency (54 kills against 13 errors) and served 14 aces in winning their 15th straight match. They'll face No. 7 Davenport Assumption (32-6) in a 4A semifinal at noon Thursday.

Solon was the 4A runner-up last year.

"It's good to be back (in the semis). I don't know what I'd have done had we not made it," said Solon's Vik Meade, a key member of the Spartans' front-row wrecking crew.

Jordan Runge clobbered 21 kills, Meade added 10 and setter Taylor Nearad made it all hum with 37 assists.

Indianola (29-11) recovered from a first-set rout to take the second game. The Indians led most of the way, then scored the final four points after Solon had rallied to tie it, 21-21.

Then came Gustin's brief, calm speech. Pick it up.Boy, did they pick it up. An eight-point run gave the Spartans a 14-3 cushion, and they did anything but coast home.

"The second game was rough, but we just had to pick each other up," said Solon libero Rylee Smith. "After that, our energy was so good."

Smith accumulated 23 digs and seven aces. Jordan Smith added six aces.

Kristina Quijano led Indianola with 11 kills.