Lisbon won its eighth straight Tri-Rivers East Division in volleyball after wins over North Cedar and Easton Valley last week.
The Lions currently enjoy a 44-match winning streak in Tri-Rivers East play, dating back to 2017.
“That is pretty remarkable, and a testament to the quality of kids we have had over the years, for sure,” Lisbon Coach Lance Kamaus said.
On Tuesday, Oct. 8, the Lions beat the Knights, 25-19, 18-25, 25-15, 25-10.
Lisbon did it without senior setter Kaitlynn Hasselbusch, who was out sick. Part-time libero Presley Studt took over the setting duties and had 43 assists.
“We are fortunate to have high-quality, varsity-level setters in Kaitlynn, Presley and Lauren Stolte,” Kamaus said. “At different times this season, all of them have run our attack for an entire night.
“I was pleased with how Presley played.”
North Cedar (9-16) surprised Lisbon a bit, taking the second set.
“The kids came out with a great response, outscoring North Cedar 50-25 in the final two sets,” Kamaus said. “We cleaned up our serve receive, had fewer attacking errors, and served aggressively.”
Mykala Luzum-Selmon led the attack with 24 kills, followed by Kamryn Kahl (12) and Sarah Dietsch (7). Studt led with 16 digs, followed by Kyla Kahl (13) and Kamryn Kahl (13).
Then on Thursday, Oct. 10, they won at Easton Valley 28-26, 25-21, 25-14.
When it looked like the first set might get away from them, the Lions rallied.
“We battled back and closed it out,” Kamaus said. “Afterwards, we never trailed at the 5-point benchmarks in sets two and three.”
Luzum-Selmon again led the attack with 20 kills, followed by Kamryn Kahl (9) and Dietsch (6). Hasselbusch returned with 35 assists. “She really gutted it out Thursday,” Kamaus said. “She still was not close to 100 percent.”
Luzum-Selmon led with 14 digs and Keira Bergmann had 13 digs.
Because Lisbon won the TRE, they get to host Tri-Rivers Tournament pool play Thursday, Oct. 17 in the Lion’s Den. They play Central City (1-12) at 4 p.m., Bellevue Marquette (8-16) at 5:30 p.m. and North Linn (13-15) at 7:45 p.m.
Winners advance to bracket play Saturday, Oct. 19, in Starmont. Springville won the West Division.
Lisbon (24-7) opens Class 2A regional play hosting Durant (13-11) on Wednesday, Oct. 23. Win, and they’ll likely play at No. 14 West Burlington (34-6) on Monday, Oct. 28. The regional final is Thursday, Oct. 30 at a site TBD. No. 3 Dyersville Beckman (26-6) is the top team in the other half of the bracket.