The Wright City and Warrenton volleyball teams turned in strong performances at the Megan Gross Invitational on Sept. 27 at Warrenton High School, placing fourth and sixth, respectively.

Wright City coach Shannon Bunch said her team started out strong in the eight-team tournament to take the No. 1 seed in the championship bracket. The Wildcats defeated Fort Zumwalt East and Mexico in two sets and won over Battle in three sets in pool play. 

“Sometimes when you see girls like on the Battle team where they are super tall, it can be intimidating, but we worked through those mental challenges and sped up our offense and that really helped us at the end of the day,” Bunch said. 

For Warrenton, its day also began on a high note, but sustaining energy proved to be a challenge.

“I thought we started off really strong and we looked great, but we’ve been struggling with fighting fatigue and being able to push through it,” Warrenton coach Kayla Nelson said. “We see a dip in our skill as we get tired, but even with the little dip, we are still a team that can beat teams if we come out with the right mindset.” 

Wright City played Battle last in pool play and came from behind to beat the Spartans 7-25, 25-22 and 25-23 to advance to the championship bracket and earn the No. 1 seed.

“We play a lot of schools that run a slow offense, so when we come into tournaments like this, we have schools that are running really fast offenses. It’s a mental switch that we have to make, so after dropping that first set, we all came together and talked about what we needed to do,” Bunch said. 

The Wright City coach said as the day progressed, her team struggled to maintain momentum especially after taking a break in between pool play and the championship bracket. 

“We had an amazing morning and the teams that we played were phenomenal,” Bunch said. “After the Battle game, we took a break and our adrenaline dropped and it was hard to pick it back up, so that’s just something we have to keep working on.” 

The Wildcats fell to St. Louis Christian in the semifinals and Battle in the third-place match. Bunch noted it was difficult to play the Spartans twice. 

“I think for us, our expectations were higher so having a loss like that definitely stung because we had already won, but it’s something we have to keep working on. That way, when we’re in these situations, we are still able to push through and win,” Bunch said. 

Bunch was proud of her team’s efforts. 

“Our passing was phenomenal, our defense was great and we were connecting well – It was a really good morning for us,” Bunch said. 

As Wright City hits the midway point of its season, Bunch said she sees a marked difference in her team compared to last year. 

“Last year when we were at this point, we were seeing a lot of burnout with the girls. Now, I see a lot of drive for them to continue to do better,” Bunch said. “We’re competing with these schools that are really good and seeing them come to life with that has been really awesome.”

Warrenton started off its tournament  play with a three-set win against Waynesville and two losses against St. Louis Christian (25-14, 25-15) and the eventual champions Fort Zumwalt West (25-18, 25-18) in pool play. 

“We were really able to shut Waynesville down this morning with our blocking and in our serves,” Nelson said. 

The Warriors recorded seven blocks against its pool play game to the Tigers. 

Warrenton also welcomed back sophomore Emma Eskew, who returned from an early-season injury. Nelson said having Eskew back has helped her team. 

“It’s like she never missed a beat. She’s fearless and she will throw herself wherever,” Nelson said. “She’s just a good communicator for the team and a good leader on the floor.” 

The Warriors were the No. 3 seed in the consolation bracket. They swept Mexico in the semifinals, but dropped the consolation championship match to Waynesville. 

“Our serve receive was not there and we just could not get up a block (against Waynesville), so those were two things that we kind of lacked,” Nelson said. 

Nelson added that physical fatigue often translates to mental lapses, which is something the team has been addressing in practices. 

“We have challenge days so we can work on practicing through that tiredness. We try to get them to that point and then practice, so we can build up the stamina,” Nelson said. 

As Nelson reflected on the day, she was happy with her team’s serving and defense. 

“Our serving overall was good today and our defense is really coming along,” Nelson said. 

Nelson went on to explain the team will switch from a perimeter defense to a rotational defense depending on its opponent. 

“With every defense, you’re going to have open spots but we’re still able to cover those things because we’re on our toes and ready to move,” Nelson said. “Our defense was good at being able to adjust between the two and figure it out.”