Platte County knows the difficulty of the eventual postseason path, but for now, all the Pirates and do is stack wins and look to compete for a Suburban Conference White Division title.
Platte County senior Emma Brinkman hits a serve against Kearney on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
That started with Tuesday’s sweep of Kearney on Tuesday night at Pirate Fieldhouse, continued with a needed win over Belton and a very even trip to the Winntonka Invitational on Saturday.
Platte County junior Miah Omoike continued a strong run of recent play with a team-high nine kills plus two blocks, while sophomore Kylie Hill added eight kills. However, the service game again fueled a fast start in what ended up a 25-15, 25-22, 25-15 convincing victory. Pirates junior setter Ella Cruce finished with four service aces, while junior Collins Cole added three.
“I feel like when we get on good runs and keeps us on a good (mindset),” Platte County senior outside hitter Kate Brunner said.
A playoff qualifier in Class 4 four out of five years from 2020 to 2024, Platte County (12-6-2) trailed by three in the second set at 5-2 and 15-12. The Pirates then found a spark from senior middle Emma Brinkman’s service game to take the lead for good. She had just one ace but put the ball in play during a game-changing run and added five kills and a team-high three blocks.
“She always is good at getting us on a run,” said Brunner, who also finished with five kills and one block.
Platte County junior setter Ella Cruce tips a ball over the net against Kearney on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Platte County looked balanced against last season’s Class 4 District 8 champion. Five players contributed at least five kills with junior Charlotte Schlake adding six, and the Pirates’ 10 service aces were spread between five players with Hill and junior defensive specialist Phoebe Pennington also finishing with one each.
Cruce, who dished out nine assists, and Pennington (eight digs) started the third set with strong service, allowing Platte County to pull ahead and not look back in finishing off the sweep. Mikah Buntz, a junior first-year libero, led the defense with nine digs.
Platte County returns to the Class 5 District 8 this season but have shown a lot of growth since a slow start to the season with losses to Liberty North and a 2-2 trip to the Lincoln Northeast Blastoff Tournament.
“I feel like at the beginning of the season we struggled a little bit with team chemistry and trying to get that cohesiveness in playing,” Brunner said. “I feel like after (the Lansing Tournament) we definitely stepped things up, definitely went for more things on defense, and I definitely feel like we came together more on the court.”
Platte County 3, Belton 1
In a return to conference play, Platte County improved to 5-0 in the White Division with a 25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21 victory Thursday in Belton behind career-highs in kills for Omoike (18), Schlake (14) and Brinkman (11).
Platte County junior Charlotte Schlake blocks the ball at the net Tuesday against Kearney at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Belton swept two meetings with Platte County last season and finished second in the final league standings behind Grain Valley. Brunner (nine) and Hill (six) accounted for the rest of Platte County’s 58 kills against a stubborn Belton defense.
Cruce ended up with a career-high 51 assists to go with nine digs. She now runs Platte County’s single-setter formation and blew past her previous mark for most assists in a single match of 35 from another conference win earlier this season against William Chrisman.
Platte County also totaled nine aces with three for Brinkman and two each from Pennington and Cruce.
With just five serve-receive errors, Platte County made Belton work for points, and Buntz totaled 18 digs with Pennington (11) and Cole also in double figures. Schlake led Platte County with five total blocks — two solo.
Winnetonka Invitational
Platte County went a very neutral 1-1-2 in Saturday’s tournament at Winnetonka High School in Kansas City. The Pirates were unbeaten in pool play before dropping a match to Pembroke Hill in bracket play.
In the opener, Platte County earned the only win, sweeping Hickman 25-14, 25-19 behind seven kills and four service aces from Omoike. The Pirates finished with 10 total service aces, and Cruce matched Omoike’s four while Hill added the other three.
Brinkman topped Platte County’s defense with four blocks, while Buntz and Cruce provided five digs each.
Platte County’s next two pool matches were both 1-1 draws with North Kansas City (25-16, 26-24) and Smithville (20-25, 25-14). Hill (11 kills) and Omoike (eight kills) provided the majority of the Pirates’ offense in the first, while a balanced defense included five players with at least four digs — a team-high eight from Cruce, who added 17 assists.
After coming back to earn the split with Smithville, Platte County bowed out of the tournament against Pembroke Hill. The eventual championship match ended up being a 2-0 win for Pembroke Hill over Smithville.
