By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Lady ‘Cats keep on winning on the volleyball courts - both squads picked up relatively easy wins during Thursday night’s contest against the NMCC Lady Eagles.

  In JV action, the ‘Cats breezed through the first set, 25-9, before facing some stiffer competition in the second, but they still picked up a 25-17 win - they have yet to lose a set this season.
The Varsity squad picked up where the JV left off, and cruised to 25-11 and 25-6 victories.

Head coach Lauren Hutchcraft was very pleased with her squads’ performance.

“In terms of effort, I feel my girls played just the way I expected them to.  Of course, we made some mistakes here and there, but that's to be expected,” Hutchcraft noted.  “Overall,their effort was pretty good.  We can always move our feet quicker on defense to pick up balls, but I'm overall pleased with their effort, attitude, and good spirits!”

Senior McKenzie Mitchell led the way for the ‘Cats in the contest; She racked up 4 digs, 3 kills, 6 aces, and was an astounding 19 for 19 from the service line, including a 14 serve rally in the first set.  Teammate Hannah Noe, a sophomore, racked 16 assists in the contest.

“McKenzie had a good game this evening,” Hutchcraft continued.  “She is a great server and that showed tonight, especially in the first set with five aces!  I can always count on her to really attack the ball when she's on front row, too, which will be crucial tomorrow night against Notre Dame.”

The Lady ‘Cats will face district rival - and a major volleyball powerhouse for the last decade - Notre Dame tomorrow night during the SEMO Tournament, held in both the ShowMe Center and the Notre Dame High School gym. This matchup will be a great ‘preview’ game for the ‘Cats, as they usually don’t get to face the Lady Bulldogs until the week before districts.

The 'Cats will have 'pool play' games Friday evening and Saturday morning, with the tournament bracket kicking off Saturday afternoon.

 “The top team from each pool will advance to the Gold bracket; the second team will go to the Silver; and the third team will go to the Bronze,” Hutchcraft said.  “The SEMO Tournament will be a good tournament for anyone wanting to watch some good volleyball in the area!”