West Branch does it again in 5, outlasting Lisbon in a 2A regional volleyball semifinal

LISBON — They would have preferred to have avoided the drama.

But the West Branch Bears felt fully comfortable in Game 5.

They had been there before, just five days earlier.

“When you get to a fifth game, you’ve just got to play for each other,” senior JaLynn Falco said. “Every point is everything.”

West Branch snagged its second straight five-set postseason triumph Monday night, outlasting Lisbon (26-24, 25-20, 24-26, 23-25, 15-9) in a Class 2A volleyball regional semifinal Monday night at Lisbon High School.

“We’re all seniors, so this is our year,” Kylie Pickett said. “We want it more. We’ve just got to go out and keep playing our game.”

The Bears (18-16) will play for a state-tournament berth Wednesday, when they face No. 4 Denver (33-10) in a regional final.

First serve is 7 p.m. at La Porte City.

“We’ll get some film, we’ll watch it and we’ll find a way to do what we do,” West Branch Coach Rebeckah Hesler said.

“One thing about us, we’re very versatile. We are able to change lineups. We can move our middle to our outside. We can move our outside to the right side.”

The Bears were on the cusp on a sweep, leading 24-22 in Game 3. But Lisbon (28-7) scored four straight points, three from kills by Mykala Luzum-Selmon, to extend the match.

“These kids are a prime example of a group that is never going to quit,” Lisbon Coach Lance Kamaus. “Ever.”

Back-to-back kills by Ava Czarnecki at 23-23 sent it to Game 5.

“We spent so much energy coming back,” Kamaus said.

West Branch scored three straight points to break a 3-3 tie in the finale, and led the rest of the way, preventing the Lions from scoring back-to-back points all set.

Lisbon got 24 kills from Czarnecki and 17 from Luzum-Selmon. But the Bears had more balance and finished with a 60-54 advantage in kills.

Falco finished with 16 kills for the winners. Emily Coleman had 14 kills and five blocks. Pickett added 12 kills to go with 32 assists.

West Branch overcame a 20-17 deficit in the opener, then pulled away steadily in the second half of Game 2.

The Bears defeated archrival Iowa City Regina in a five-set regional quarterfinal last Wednesday.

West Branch 3, Lisbon 2

(26-24, 25-20, 24-26, 23-25, 15-9)

Class 2A Regional Semifinal, at Lisbon

Serving: West Branch 104-113 (.920), Lisbon 93-101 (.921)

Aces: West Branch 6 (JaLynn Falco 4), Lisbon 7 (Mykala Luzum-Selmon 4)

Kills: West Branch 60 (Falco 16), Lisbon 54 (Ava Czarnecki 24)

Assists: West Branch 51 (Kylie Pickett 32), Lisbon 53 (Kaitlynn Hasselbusch 50)

Blocks: West Branch 10 (Emily Coleman 5), Lisbon 9 (Addi Petersen 4)

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com