Cardinals’ comeback
Langdon rallies past Lisbon in opening roundBy CRAIG HAUPERT, Staff Writer chaupert@minotdailynews.com
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Langdon 3, Lisbon 1
Key play: Langdon's Shannon Overby's stuff block on game point in game 2.
Key player: Langdon's Courtney Becker, 17 kills, 2 blocks
Key stat: Becker and McKenzie Hall combine for 33 kills.
Up next: Langdon vs. Litchville-Marion-Montpelier in a semifinal at 6 p.m.
Lisbon vs. Stanley in a consolation match at noon.
A point away from trailing two games to none, Langdon rallied to defeat Lisbon 3-1 in the opening round of the state Class B prep volleyball tournament.
Senior Courtney Becker had a match-high 17 kills and freshman McKenzie Hart added 16 more as the Cardinals moved into the semifinals with a 22-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-17 win Thursday at the Minot State University Dome.
Lisbon had a one-game lead and was serving with a 24-23 lead in the second game, but the Broncos missed the serve and opened the door for Langdon's comeback.
Langdon won the next two points on a kill by sophomore Breanna Mack and a block by sophomore Shannon Overby, knotting the match at one-game all.
"We started out shaky, we really did, and it surprised me, because we'd been playing well lately," Langdon head coach Rich Olson said. "I think we were able to settle down gradually as the match went on. It's just a credit to the girls for hanging in there."
The Broncos missed another crucial serve in the third game. After trailing by as many as eight points early on, the Broncos clawed back to tie the match at 22, but missed a serve on the following point. Langdon won the next two points to take a 2-1 lead.
"When we serve well everything else seems to fall in place and it's something we've talked about all year," Lisbon head coach Amy Lyons said. "Maybe we didn't miss as many serves as we had in the past, but we missed important serves. It's a gimme point for them and it just drains you."
Hart played a big role in game 3 as she recorded four straight kills for a 12-7 Langdon lead. The lead swelled to 17-9 before Lisbon climbed back into the game, winning 13 of 18 points to tie it at 22. After a Lisbon service error, Hart provided a kill and Lisbon committed a net violation.
Hart said the Cardinals never got rattled.
"We all just came together and told each other that there was no pressure, no nothing. One good pass is all we need, one good set and one good hit," she said.
Langdon opened up a 15-10 lead in the fourth game before pulling away to win the match.
Langdon senior Ashley Hall finished with 33 assists, five aces and 18 digs for the Cardinals, who will play Litchville-Marion-Montpelier in today's 6 p.m. semifinal.
Lisbon junior Kali Olson had 15 kills, senior Veronica Munkeby added 12 kills and junior Susan Lyons added 22 assists for the Broncos, who will play Stanley in today's noon consolation game.
Langdon 3, Lisbon 1
Langdon 22 26 25 25
Lisbon 25 24 22 17
Langdon - Kills: Courtney Becker 17, McKenzie Hart 16, Rachael Bachman 5, Shannon Overby 5; Assists: Ashley Hall 22; Aces: Hall 5, Overby 2, Hart 1; Blocks: Bachman 2, Becker 1; Digs: Hall 18, Hart 12, Overby 11, Rachael Darling 10.
Lisbon - Kills: Kali Olson 15, Veronica Munkeby 12; Assists: Susan Lyons 22; Aces: Munkeby 4, Taryn Wagner 3; Blocks: Munkeby 2, Jessica Rotenberger 1, Olson 1; Digs: Ashley Berg 23, Munkeby 15, Taylor Wagner 10.
