A two-set win over Principia last Thursday was the perfect remedy to forget the not-so-great week the Wright City volleyball team faced the week prior. 

The Wildcats walked out of Carey Fieldhouse with the 25-8, 25-15 victory over the Panthers.

Wright City Head Coach Amy Geurin said it was the kind of win the team needed to prepare for a tough stretch of play in the coming week as well.

“One thing I told the girls is that today I wanted them to control the tempo and better the ball and that’s what they did today,” Geurin said. “They did well passing it up and setting the offense up. That’s huge with going to Valley Park and the Orchard Farm Tournament.”

The Wildcats had some issues early in the first set defensively, struggling with the tough serve of Aryan McMillan. The senior’s two aces gave the Panthers a quick 2-0 lead. On the offensive side, the Wildcats couldn’t find a rhythm early, committing three hitting errors that helped Principia take a 7-4 lead.

After a Wright City timeout, a pair of kills by senior      DeAsha Briner helped cut the lead to 7-6, with a Principia hitting error tying the game at 7-7.

The Wildcats took off from there, going on an 18-1 run en route to the first-set win. In that run, Briner had seven aces from behind the service line. The outside hitter also had four kills in the first set. Not far behind were freshman Reagan Charlesworth and senior Taylor Brewington. Each player had three kills in the first set.  

Senior Abigail Murri had five digs.

Geurin said she was especially pleased with the serves of Wright City in the match.

“I think it’s tough with a good serve to get back and set up your offense,” Geurin said. “It throws your rhythm off and it’s hard to get back and establish your offense. We’ve had that problem as well, so we hoped to make it a problem today.”

Principia made a game of it early on in the second set and was able to take a quick 7-6 lead. A huge kill by Brewington tied the second set at 7-7 and another kill from the back row for Briner helped the Lady Wildcats take a 9-8 lead.

Though Principia kept it close and was able to get a few side outs, Wright City eventually took control to take set two and the match. Nine straight points came off Brewington’s serve to help Wright City claim the victory. 

In that run, the senior middle had a pair of aces.

Briner led the offense for Wright City with seven kills, but Geurin was pleased with how several players were able to contribute to the win.

“Getting everyone to contribute is definitely important because I’m teaching high school girls and one girl could be off one day and another girl off another. It’s really a matter of getting everyone used to playing and used to hitting. That’s very important,” Geurin said.

Brewington had five kills on the day, as did Charlesworth. Donavan Holmes had four kills. The junior finished the day with nine digs. Libero Murri had 13 digs and Charlesworth came away with 12 assists.

Wright City travels to Class 2 foe Valley Park Thursday and then heads to Orchard Farm for the Orchard Farm tournament on Saturday. In the tournament, Wright City will get a rematch with Orchard Farm, which defeated the Wildcats earlier in the season. The Wildcats also take on Lift for Life and Brussels.