The Lisbon varsity volleyball team went 3-1 against a visiting Prince of Peace Irish squad last Thursday before placing third two days later at the annual Lisbon Invitational.
Thursday, Sept. 16
The Lions hosted Prince of Peace in a warmup of sorts for the weekend’s festivities, winning 3-1 with sets of 25-11, 19-25, 25-14, and 25-18.
Junior Peyton Robinson, who had only days before recorded her 1,000th dig, celebrated her 500th kill in the match.
Saturday, Sept. 18 The Lions went on to place third in the Lisbon Invitational on Saturday, going 4-2 against steep competition.
The team opened pool play of the invite with a 21-10, 21-12 victory over Calamus-Wheatland.
Nelson was a big part of this equation, as the junior Lion had a big outing at the serve. Lisbon served 41 times as a team, and Nelson was 20 for 20 behind the line for the Lions.
“Kali Nelson just did a great job running our offense, and even serving the volleyball,” remarked Lions head coach Lance Kamaus.
In round two of play, the Lions dispensed of Iowa Valley handily, with sets of 21-6 and 21-8.
Lisbon served 82 times over the first two matches of their day, with Peyton Robinson serving 31 of those.
“And she didn’t miss one,” Kamaus marveled.
The Lions next defeated Midland in two sets of 21-5 and 21-3.
The final Lion victory of the day came against North Fayette Valley as competition grew tougher, consisting of sets of 21-14 and 21-7.
Nelson notched 20 assists in the match, and Ava Czarnecki had four kills.
In their fifth match of the day, the Lions fell to West Burlington, a team ranked seventh in 3A, in two sets of 24-26 and 20-22.
“I was really really pleased with the kids,” said Kamaus.
“It was each team’s fifth match in about five hours. It was really good to see our effort, and how well we executed.”
“I was disappointed we came up a little bit short, because that would have been a heck of a win, but at the same time, it was the closest of margins,” he said.
The downside, said the coach, was immediately after that, the team played “a West Branch team that is really good.”
West Branch, 12-1 at the time of the face-off, had not lost a game since Aug. 28.
The team defeated Lisbon 2-1 with sets of 19-21, 21-17, and 15-6.
“We came out really strong, and got an 8-2 lead,” Kamaus said.
The Lions won the first set, but dropped the next two.
West Branch “kind of proved how good they are” when they went on to defeat West Burlington, Kamaus indicated.
Ultimately, West Branch took first in the invitational, West Burlington came in second, and the Lions took third.
Peyton Robinson and Kali Nelson were named to the all-tournament team, with Robinson being selected captain with the most votes. The honors are voted on by the coaches of the tournament.
“I was happy for those two girls,” said Kamaus. “That’s not to say we didn’t have other girls who played well, because we obviously did.”
Ella Clark is “really starting to embrace that role of playing in the middle.” Thursday night, the coach said, “her numbers were just crazy.”
“Just as a team-wide effort, we played really well.”
Lisbon’s Ella Clark (No. 3) taps the ball over the net in play earlier next week