Cuba High School’s varsity volleyball team dropped a match in Linn Sept. 21 before trouncing Belle Sept. 24 at Mike Voigt Gymnasium. The Lady Wildcats are now 12-6-1 as they enter the final third of their regular season schedule.

Cuba’s junior varsity team hosted and competed in the Sept. 26 Cuba JV Volleyball Tournament and won first place. The Cami Myers coached squad of sophomores Addison McGinnis, Haylee Echols, Makayla Wells, Payton Rhoades and Kylie Dulany along with freshmen Claire Echols, Madelynn Myers, Kam Peters and Emma Asher won seven out of eight sets throughout the morning and early afternoon. Steelville finished in second place and Bunker took third. 

The Lady Wildcats’ junior varsity now boasts a stellar 13-2-1 record and will compete Oct. 3 in the Lady Rebel JV Volleyball Tournament in Park Hills along with other matches throughout the week prior to Cuba’s varsity matches.

Both of Cuba’s teams played in St. James Sept. 29, which will be detailed in next week’s edition. The Lady Wildcats will play Oct. 1 in Steelville, Oct. 5 in Sullivan and Oct. 6 in Viburnum before returning home on Oct. 8 to host Grandview (Hillsboro). 

Sept. 21 vs. Linn

After one day off following the marathon Sept. 19 Cuba Varsity Volleyball Tournament, the Lady Wildcats returned to action in a road match up in Linn. The first set could’ve gone either way as the lead changed multiple times. Unfortunately for Cuba, Linn was able to string two points in a row and won 26-24 to take a 1-0 set lead.

The Lady Wildcats stayed competitive in the final two sets but fell 25-17 and 25-18, dropping the match in straight sets. Linn improved to 7-3-1 with the win and Cuba moved to 11-6-1 with the loss.

The Black and Gold received a boost from the return of junior Jerzey Bright, who missed the first 10 matches of the year due to an injury. After making her season debut in the Cuba Tournament two days prior, Bright posted team-highs of 18 receptions and 15 digs against Linn.

Harley Pilkenton had nine kills, seven blocks and two aces. Jaylen Haffer tallied 15 receptions, six kills, six digs and four blocks. Justice Evrard recorded nine receptions, eight blocks and two kills. Allison Heads and Brooke Echols each had seven assists and seven digs. Leah Schmidt added seven receptions and four digs and Brooklyn Tate chipped in four kills, three blocks and three receptions.

Cuba’s junior varsity team fell 25-19 and 25-18, which snapped its nine game win streak. The Lady Cats hadn’t lost since its Aug. 29 match to Owensville and moved to 9-2 on the season.

Sophomore Addison McGinnis led Cuba with 12 digs, four blocks, four receptions and three kills. Payton Rhoades had six digs, five receptions and three kills. Makayla Wells tallied eight receptions, five digs and one ace. Claire Echols recorded seven assists and five digs. Kylie Dulany had four aces, three kills and three digs. Haylee Echols added five digs. Emma Asher registered five receptions and three digs and Kam Peters chipped in two kills and one block.

Sept. 24 vs. Belle

The Lady Wildcats hosted Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) opponent Belle on Suicide Prevention night at Mike Voigt Gymnasium.

Cuba’s junior varsity team played first, setting the tone for the evening with 25-16 and 25-13 victories to win the match. The Lady Cats JV moved to 10-2 on the season with the win.

McGinnis had nine digs and six kills, Claire Echols tallied six assists and three service aces and Peters added eight digs in the winning effort.

The Lady Cats varsity team also took care of business against its GVC foe, winning 25-16, 25-22 and 25-21 to pick up a bounce back victory in straight sets.

Cuba was without Haffer and received a strong contribution from McGinnis, who had a busy day playing in her second match of the evening after starring on its JV squad. McGinnis tallied 12 receptions, nine digs and six kills in a strong effort.

Bright had another productive match, registering team-highs of 17 receptions and 14 digs. Senior Brooke Echols had seven assists and reached 500th career assists during the match. 

Pilkenton had 10 digs and three service aces, Evrard netted 12 digs, six kills and four aces, Mya Garbo recorded 10 digs, four kills and two service aces, and Haylee Echols had 13 assists and three digs.