No. 13 Lisbon volleyball went 2-1 at its season-opening Lisbon Classic inside the Lions Den.
The event was moved from Tuesday, Aug. 27, to Thursday, Aug. 29, because of the heat, and it lost two teams as a result.
It still remained a busy night, and Lisbon beat Central Elkader 21-10, 21-12, and Alburnett 21-19, 21-19, before falling to Tipton 21-14, 21-16.
“It was good,” Lisbon coach Lance Kamaus said. “I think we had five kids who made their varsity debut.”
Against Alburnett, the Lions trailed in the first set 16-12 and in the second set, 16-10, and rallied to win both.
“Instead of finding a way to lose, we found a way to win,” Kamaus said. “Those stretches were the best we passed all night long, and we were able to get the balls to our hitters. It was good to see the kids grow up just a little bit.”
Kamaus also said that senior Aislin Andrews got on a hot serving run to spark the comeback. Against Class 3A Tipton, the Lions were hurt by errors. In the first set, the Tigers scored off eight Lisbon attack errors and three service errors.
“That’s tough to come back from,” Kamaus said. “When you are serving under 80 percent … that’s not accept- able.”
Lisbon still managed to start the year 2-1, even shorthanded. Junior Lauren Stolte stepped in at setter and had 44 assists over the three matches.
“Kaitlyn (Hasselbusch) was injured, and so we were missing our setter with over 1,000 assists last year,” Kamaus said. “But Lauren did a nice job stepping in.”
Junior Mykala Luzum-Selmon led the way with 24 kills on the night. Senior Sarah Dietsch had 13 kills.
“Sarah is in a different role this year,” Kamaus said. “She’s a main option, instead of a secondary one. And she had a nice night.”
Kamryn Kahl and Kyla Kahl led defen- sively with 15 digs each.
“Kamryn played all around for the first time in her life, and played well,” Kamaus said.
In the first win of the night, Kamaus reached 400 career wins. He downplayed the milestone.
“When you’ve done this for a long time, that’s what happens,” Kamaus said. “I’ve had some really good players.”
Lisbon hosts another multi-team event Thursday, Sept. 5, in the Lions Den. They play Winfield-Mt. Union at 5 p.m., North Linn at 6 p.m., and East Buchanan at 8 p.m.