When things got tough in a Class 2A regional quarterfinal Wednesday, Oct. 23, against Durant, Lisbon volleyball found another gear.
They advanced with a 25-19, 30-28, 19-25, 25-21 win. “We’ve won 14, now 15, matches in a row,” Lisbon coach Lance Kamaus said.
“The last match we lost was on Sept. 28. We have that closing and finishing ability.” Durant, a lower-tier team from the River Valley who finished 14-13, came into the Lions Den with a pair of 6-foot-2 sisters, Katelynn and Allison Toft.
That didn’t bother the Lions. “That’s short,” Lisbon outside hitter, the 5-foot-5 Mykala Luzum-Selmon, joked. “We just know that our hitters can hit. We’re a team with confidence; we’re a team with sass. We see a team, and we say we can beat them.”
The first set was tied18-18 when Luzum-Selmon delivered a big kill off a Wildcat block. The Lions closed it out with two kills by Kamryn Kahl, one kill by Sarah Dietsch, and an ace serve by Presley Studt.
In the second set, the Lions trailed 22-19 but tied it up at 24-24. Luzum-Selmon had some big kills to extend the match and Lisbon finally won it with a kill by Kahl down the line and a quick-set to middle hitter Dietsch.
“(The quick set) requires a lot of quick response,” Dietsch said. “It is super fun and it often takes teams off their balance, and ups the level of intensity.”
The smaller Lions had to contend with the big Durant block, but either hit through it or around it.
“It starts with recognizing who is on the other side of the net and if it is a double block,” Dietsch said. “Then identifying where their weaker passers are. And then kind of hunting from there.”
Dietsch led the team with 16 kills, followed by Kahl with 15 and Luzum-Selmon with 15. Kaitlynn Hasselbusch had 47 assists.
The defense was led by Luzum-Selmon with 24 digs. Hasselbusch had 20 digs, Studt had 19 and Keira Bergmann added 15.
After losing the third set, the Lions never trailed in the fourth set. The Wildcats cut the lead to one, 20-19, late before Lisbon closed it out.
“The kids played well and they persevered,” Kamaus said. If the Lions advance to the state tournament for the first time in school history, they’ll have earned it.
They traveled to No. 14 West Burlington (36-6) on Monday, Oct. 28, if they pass that test, more than like faced No. 3 Dyersville
Beckman (34-6) in a 2A regional final Wednesday, Oct. 30.
“Be ready for an upset,” Dietsch said. “That’s our goal.”