Union rallies past Solon in 5-game thriller

CEDAR RAPIDS - They blew their chance by blowing Game 2. Or so it seemed for the Union Community Knights.

“I was disappointed that we lost that,” said Union senior setter Sara Jesse after her team's five-set survival of Solon in a Class 3A state volleyball quarterfinal last night. “We had to bounce back, and we did.”

In a big way.

Union was on the verge of a 2-0 lead against its favored opponent went it went ahead in the second game, 24-22. But Solon rallied to win, 27-25, took Game 4 decisively and the match.

Or so it seemed. Union rallied back to take Game 4 and rolled in the winner-take-all fifth, 15-6. Is that enough back and forth for you?

The only five-gamer of day one of this tournament sends Union (33-7) onto to the semifinals Friday afternoon at 1:30 against Waverly-Shell Rock (46-3).

“Our girls just hung in there,” said Union Coach Brian Jesse, Sara's uncle. “We sort of gave Game 2 away and lost a little momentum. But we came back, stayed with it, and Game 4, we played excellent. They got a little tight in Game 5, we just kept hustling and stayed aggressive and closed it out.”

Not the way Solon wanted to end a historic season. While Union made its state tourney debut last season, that was the case this year for the Spartans (32-2).

Solon Coach Kurt Trout said that may have provided the difference.

“Being our first time here, there was a lot of nervous energy that we had to burn off,” he said. “Eventually that just wears on you, catches up to you. Our first experience here, we didn't know what to expect. Union has been here.”

On the plus side for Solon, there's only one senior on the roster in outside hitter Regan Johnson. You'll hear from these girls again.

“Our goal this year was to get here, in order to get that experience,” Trout said.

Brenna Allen had 15 kills to lead Union, with Sam Barz and Payton Hilton adding 14 each. Jesse had a tournament-high 49 assists.

Kelsey Hinrichs and Kelsey Cave paced Solon with 14 kills apiece. Hinrich had a team-high 20 assists.

 Here is a short videointerview with Sara Jesse:

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