The Montgomery County volleyball team ended its September portion on a high note on Sept. 26.

The Wildcats picked up their second victory of the season after knocking off Wright City 25-19, 25-23, 20-25, 25-23 in an Eastern Missouri Conference match at Ballew & Snell Court. MCHS avenged the five-game loss to Wright City the week before.

“It’s very exciting to come back and beat them after they beat us in five sets,” MCHS freshman Mieka Ray-Wise said.

Now, the Wildcats are looking to turn in a strong effort in the month of October, which includes five home matches, two road matches, a regular season tournament at Eldon and the Class 2, District 5 tournament at Duchesne High School in St. Charles. MCHS was scheduled to play a road match against St. Clair on Oct. 1.

The Wildcats improved to 2-11 with the win over Wright City. The week before, they beat North Callaway in three games at home for their first victory after an 0-6 start.

MCHS coach Rachel Leu said her team is showing signs of improvement as it approaches the final month of the volleyball season.

“We’re getting better,” she said. “We’re playing tough teams. We’re doing good things against tough teams. It’s about using that experience to help move us forward and realize now you don’t have the cushion of ‘I still have all season.’ It’s kind of that moment now where it’s either you do it or you don’t. Right now, we have to take care of business.”

The Wildcats have played six home matches. They have home contests against Winfield (Oct. 7), Bowling Green (Oct. 10), Hallsville (Oct. 14) and Centralia (Oct. 17) left on their schedule. The team will honor its three seniors – Avery Leu, Ava Rakers and Alexis Ramo – in the Bowling Green match and will have its annual Pink Out match against Hallsville.

MCHS had its 15-match winning streak against Wright City snapped in the last meeting on Sept. 16. It was the first time since 2016 the Warren County school beat the Wildcats.

Leu said she was glad her team came out on top over Wright City – which is also nicknamed the Wildcats – in the second meeting.

“I know after the first time we played them and lost in five, the girls weren’t happy with themselves,” Leu said. “We were coming out tonight to prove that we are better than what we have shown and have a little determination to still fight for conference and try to make things interesting. I’m just proud.”

Ramo played a key role in the win over Wright Cty. With the first game tied at 7-7, Ramo scored a kill, then served two aces to give her a team a 10-7 lead. MCHS led the second game 24-23 when Ramo scored a kill to help give her team a 2-0 lead. With the Wildcats leading 24-23 in the fourth game, Ramo pounded out a kill to end the game and match.

“I felt like she did a good job tonight being there for us,” Leu said. “She came up with a couple of blocks and got some serves that we needed just to help ease the pressure off of other players. That’s what you want out of your senior players. I’m just proud and happy that she was able to fulfill that role for us tonight.”

Leu said she was also thrilled with the way her team bounced back in the fourth game after losing the third. Trailing 14-12, the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run to take a 19-14 lead. They led by as many as six points.

“I’m proud of how they stuck it through even when the third set didn’t go the way they wanted it to,” Leu said. “They were able to regroup and come back in that fourth set. It was a little interesting fourth set and a little closer than what we wanted, but we’ve been really working on trying to build the lead so that way, if a couple of plays don’t go your way, you’re still in the lead versus just keeping it so tight where every play seems like a big, huge important play. I was happy with the effort and the fact that they held on.”

The victory also kept the MCHS Wildcats’ hopes alive in winning their seventh straight EMO title. They improved to 2-3 in EMO play with three matches to go.