Lisbon overcomes slow start, tops Regina in a 4-set non-conference volleyball match

LISBON — It didn’t take Lance Kamaus long to decode the look on his players’ faces.

“I’ve seen it before,” he said. “Whenever we’ve had that look the last two or three years, it hasn’t ended well for us.”

Kamaus saw it. Peyton Robinson felt it.

“We were wide-eyed,” she said. “We came in nervous. Gun shy.”

It took a set, but the Class 2A sixth-ranked Lisbon Lions finally broke out of it and conquered Iowa City Regina in a four-set non-conference volleyball match Tuesday night at Lisbon High School.

Scores were 18-25, 25-16, 25-17 and 25-17.

So, what turned it around?

“We got off to a good start in the second set, and we went from there,” said Kamaus, the Lions’ head coach. “Our defense played a lot better the second, third and fourth sets.

“We have a lot of weapons. We just needed to make sure we passed it so those weapons could have some opportunities.”

One of the area’s top all-around senior athletes, Robinson led all attackers with 14 kills. Ava Czarnecki posted 11 and Ella Clark knocked down 10 as Lisbon improved to 28-2.

“(Libero) Addy (Happel), and (setters) Kali (Nelson) and Karlee (Luneckas), they got the ball to us where we needed it,” Clark said. “All credit goes to them.”

Nelson compiled 26 assists, Luneckas 15 to go with six kills.

Regina (13-12) was the superior team in the first set, but the Lions jumped in front in each of the final three sets. The latest deficit they faced in any of them was 8-7 in Game 4.

Get ahead, and it’s easy for those butterflies to depart and for those tenuous facial expressions to fade away.

Regina freshman Reese Naeve is the area’s top hitter at 5.0 kills per set. She had 13 kills Tuesday.

“They have weapons,” Robinson said. “Naeve is a good player. We needed to get her a little frustrated for things to start to go our way.”

Lisbon 3, Iowa City Regina 1

(18-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-17)

AT LISBON

Serving: Regina 66-74 (.892), Lisbon 81-92 (.880)

Aces: Regina 11 (Kiley Devery 4), Lisbon 6 (Peyton Robinson 3)

Kills: Regina 32 (Reese Naeve 13), Lisbon 47 (Robinson 14)

Assists: Regina 27 (Dani Laughlin 27), Lisbon 43 (Kali Nelson 26)

Blocks: Regina 7 (Devery 3), Lisbon 7 (Jaime McFarlane 3)

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com