The Montgomery County volleyball team received some good news on Sept. 1.

The Wildcats were selected to host a Class 3, District 7 tournament later in October at Ballew & Snell Court, making it the fifth year in a row MCHS will be hosting a postseason tournament.

“I love hosting districts,” MCHS coach Rachel Leu said. “For me, it’s so fun to watch. It’s everybody’s last hurrah. You get to see a lot of good plays and a lot of good hustle. I think that helps us being on the home court. Anybody who feels like they may have a chance would love to play at home. We’re very fortunate that our district doesn’t mind hosting. Hopefully, it will help us calm some of the nerves and stuff when you’re playing in districts.”

Now, the Wildcats are looking to turn in another strong season at their home court. So far, they have split their first four home matches. MCHS beat North Callaway and Bowling Green in its first two matches before losing back-to-back contests to New Haven and Union.

“It’s nice when you’re home,” Leu said. “I love playing at home, but you also have to learn that you have to get that competition on the road as well so you can deal with other factors. Anytime you have any type of adversity, that’s going to make you a better player. I think there’s definitely a comfort level when it comes to playing at home. We want to be able now to do this on the road, where we don’t have the crowd or as many fans.”

Last year, the Wildcats were 6-2 in their home matches. Their season ended with a four-game loss to St. Charles West in the district semifinals at home.

MCHS beat Calvary Lutheran in three games in a home match on Sept. 21, improving its home record to 3-2.  It has Wright City (Sept. 27), St. Clair (Sept. 28), Centralia (Oct. 5) and Intensity (Oct. 14) remaining in its home schedule.

Just a day after they found out they were hosting districts again, the Wildcats started their home season on Sept. 2 with a three-game win over North Callaway.

The following week, MCHS came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Bowling Green in five games and lost to New Haven in three games.

On Sept. 14, the Wildcats lost a heartbreaking, five-game home match to Union. MCHS fell 24-26, 27-25, 16-25, 25-23, 9-15.

“That was a great match,” Leu said. “We knew that after playing New Haven last week that wasn’t our best performance, we needed to start playing to our fullest potential. I really felt like we did that against Union. We were able to come back from the mistakes. We were able to fight back and I felt like we just left it all on the court. There was nothing else we could have done. Everybody performed the way that I knew they could. I’m just grateful that the girls continued to push through and start playing more like themselves.”

The Wildcats were on the verge of being down 2-0 to Union when they were trailing 23-17 in the second game. But MCHS rallied with an 8-2 deficit to tie the match at one apiece.

Senior Sarah Cluver tied the game at 23-23 with a kill. With the Wildcats trailing 25-24, they came back on a 3-0 run, including a couple of service points from senior Makayla Beaver.

“We have a fight in us,” Leu said. “We’ve got to keep ourselves from getting in that hole. It’s good and bad. It’s not great to get yourself in a hole. But to get that fight back and end like that, that gives us momentum for the next set.”

MCHS will host a district tournament that will include Bowling Green, North Callaway, Centralia and Hallsville. The Wildcats are 2-0 against their district opponents with the home wins over Bowling Green and North Callaway.

MCHS will play Centralia in a home match on Oct. 5 and Hallsville in a road contest on Oct. 11.

“Centralia is one of those teams that is really scrappy,” Leu said. “They keep things going and they never give up. I kind of look at them as a Bowling Green type of team. They keep the ball in play. You can’t take them lightly. Hallsville is going to be a pretty good team. They’re pretty competitive.”