The Montgomery County volleyball team is heading back to Hermann for this year’s district tournament.

This time, the Wildcats are hoping they don’t leave Gasconade County empty-handed again.

MCHS earned the No. 5 seed in the seven-team, Class 2, District 6 tournament and will take on the fourth-seeded North Callaway Thunderbirds in a quarterfinal match at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 20 at Hermann High School. It’s a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal match in which the Wildcats lost in three games to North Callaway, which was played at Hermann.

The winner of this year’s match advances to play top-seeded Linn in a semifinal match at 6 p.m. on Oct. 21. Linn drew a quarterfinal-round bye.
The other quarterfinal matches are Hermann vs. New Bloomfield at 6 p.m. and Fatima and Veritas Christian at 7:30 p.m. Hermann, which was last year’s Class 2 state runner-up, is the No. 2 seed. Fatima is the No. 3 seed, Veritas Christian is seeded sixth and New Bloomfield is the No. 7 seed.

The district championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Oct. 26.
The Wildcats played all of their district tournament opponents this year except New Bloomfield. They defeated Veritas Christian in two games in a pool play match at the Orchard Farm Tournament on Sept. 19. They lost twice to North Callaway and suffered defeats to Linn, Hermann and Fatima.

MCHS has not won a postseason match in each of the last two years. The Wildcats’ last district championship was in 1998.

Coach Carli Bleyle said she hopes her team comes out on top in the Hermann district tournament.

“If they come out and play the way I know they can play, there’s a very good chance they could win it,” Bleyle said. “We played neck and neck and lost only a few points to Linn at the beginning of the season. We went four with Fatima and the ones we did lose were very close. The same with Hermann and North Callaway. I think it’s more of a mental block for the girls than it is skill wise. They have a really good opportunity to be able to play with and be anyone in our district this year. That’s what they’ve really been working towards the last few weeks.”

The Wildcats lost to Linn 25-22, 25-16 in a match at the season-opening Tolton Catholic Tournament on Aug. 29. Linn, which is also nicknamed the Wildcats, is 2-0 against its district opponents, beating Montgomery County and North Callaway.

Three days later, MCHS lost to Hermann 25-20, 18-25, 23-25 and 18-25 in its home opener. The Wildcats’ first game win was the first time since 1996 they took a game from the Bearcats.

MCHS lost 20-25, 23-25 and 18-25 to North Callaway in its Eastern Missouri Conference opener on the road on Sept. 3. Two weeks later, the Wildcats lost to the Thunderbirds 23-25, 25-22, 19-25 and 22-25 at home.

Junior Keira Ray, a returning all-EMO selection, had strong efforts in both matches against North Callaway. She finished with 14 assists on Sept. 3 and 29 on Sept. 17.

The Wildcats lost to Fatima in four games on Sept. 21. They won 26-24 in the first game, but lost the next three (19-25, 18-25 and 24-26).

MCHS will look to snap a five-match losing streak to North Callaway at the district tournament. Last year, the Wildcats lost to the Kingdom City school three times – all in three games – including in the district quarterfinals.