Lady Panthers’ volleyball now ranked No. 3 in Class 3

After their recent stretch of successful matches, the Mountain Grove Lady Panthers’ volleyball team has played themselves into becoming the No. 3 team in Class 3.
Strafford is ranked ahead of them, though the Lady Panthers knocked them off back on Sep. 19, 3-2. They won set one, 25-21, before dropping the next two sets, 25-17, and 25-19.
Mountain Grove rallied to win the fourth set, 26-24, before holding on for a 15-11 in the fifth set.
Another big win came on Sep. 23 when they knocked off state-ranked Marshfield in three straight sets. The Lady Bluejays currently have 20 wins on the season.
Mountain Grove cruised 25-22, 25-17 and 25-20.
They also opened South Central Association (SCA) Conference play with three quality wins.
The Lady Panthers first held off Liberty (Mountain View), 3-1.
After dropping the first set, 25-22, they went on to win 25-18, 25-10 and 25-10.
Last week, they crushed Thayer, 25-13, 25-12 and 25-10.
During that match, stand-out attacker Raylee Stenzel was honored with a special recognition for 1,500 kills in her career. She currently is already past the 1,600 mark.
Against Houston, the Lady Panthers beat the Lady Tigers, 25-15, 25-12 and 25-18.
A big showdown will come in Cabool on Thursday, Oct. 3 as the Lady Panthers will take on a 14-1 Lady Bulldogs’ team. With two SCA contests after this showdown, the winner of this match-up could be in the driver’s seat to winning an SCA crown.
On Sep. 21, the Lady Panthers won two of their three matches in the Quad event played in West Plains.
Mountain Grove lost a set to Southern Boone, 25-21, before winning the other two sets, 25-23 and 25-14.
They did hold off Sullivan, 25-21 and 27-25, and picked up a 25-21 and 25-23 win over West Plains.
In the West Plains Showdown Tournament on Sep. 14, the Lady Panthers had one tie, one loss and three wins.
Mountain Grove held off a now 15-win El Dorado Springs squad, 2-1. They won the first and third sets, 25-16, and fell in the second set, 25-18.
Mountain Grove cruised past Springfield Central, 25-20 and 25-12. They also crushed New Covenant Academy, 25-13 and 25-14.
They opened with a tie against Knob Noster. They lost the first set, 25-23, before cruising to a 25-14 win in the second set.
Against Marshfield, the Lady Panthers fell in two sets, 25-18 and 25-23.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the group that I have,” Mountain Grove  head coach Ashley Kell told the Wright County Journal. “Their work ethic is beyond anything I could ask for. I ask them for a little bit more and they give it and don’t complain.”