In a season started with a loss seemingly portending an arduous destination, Platte County suddenly looks like a contender. The Pirates definitively swept Raytown 25-10, 25-10, 25-9 on the road Thursday to extend their current win streak to eight.
Platte County improved to 20-7-2 overall and now owns the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Class 5 District 8 tournament. The Pirates have not dropped a set in the recent unbeaten run with the regular season finishing this week with a road match at Benton (22-14) on Tuesday and a home date with Belton (19-7) on Thursday.
The win over Raytown gave Platte County a ninth 20-win record in the past 10 seasons with the lone exception an 18-11-2 mark a year ago.
Platte County senior Kate Brunner put up 10 kills at Raytown High School and fellow senior Emma Brinkman and juniors Miah Omoike and Collins Cole all added six apiece in the penultimate Suburban Conference White Division match of the season. Cole added a team-high six service aces, while junior Ella Cruce followed with five in addition to 29 assists.
A win against Belton would finished a perfect 12-0 run through conference play and give Platte County a first White Division title since 2023.
Platte County’s current win streak dates to a five-set loss to Park Hill on September 21 that ultimately determined the Class 5 District 8 top seed. The Trojans’ head-to-head win earned them the nod.
This past week included wins for Platte County over Staley and North Kansas City to help secure the No. 2 spot. However, the Pirates’ season started with a blowout loss to Liberty North (12-14), which faded to fourth with losses to third-seeded Liberty (10-16).
Platte County bowed out in the opening round of last season’s Class 5 District 8 tournament. The Pirates reached the Class 4 playoffs in 2020 and 2022-24. The only two times the program didn’t win a district title since the Missouri State High School Activities Association expanded to five classes in 2020 has come in the previous two seasons in Class 5.
Platte County 3, Grain Valley 0
Omoike (13 kills) and Brunner (11 kills) powered a 25-15, 25-23, 25-19 White Division victory Tuesday in Grain Valley.
Continuing a recent trend of varied offensive contributors, Platte County junior Charlotte Schlake and sophomore Kylie Hill added six apiece, while Cruce put up six of the Pirates’ 12 aces in a dominant showing. The defense also looked strong up the middle (six blacks, team-high four assists for Cruce) and on the back line (14 digs for junior libero Mikah Buntz and 13 more from Hill).
Cruce also dished out 35 assists.
Platte County 2, Staley 0
In the opener of a rare best-of-three-set triangular, the Pirates swept Staley 25-17, 25-12 at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Omoike (eight), Brinkman (seven), Hill (five) and Schlake (four) were Platte County’s leaders in kills with Cruce providing 21 total assists. Hill also gave the Pirates a team-high in aces (three) while Omoike provided the most digs with nine. Buntz and Cruce added five apiece.
Platte County 2, North Kansas City 0
In the closer, the Pirates came away with a 25-16, 25-17 win at Pirate Fieldhouse that provided an important result for district seeding.
The two teams drew a two-set pool match almost a month earlier in the Winnetonka Invitational. This time around, Platte County put up a balanced showing with few errors. Hill’s five service aces plus seven kills for Omoike led the Pirates’ offense, while the defense came up with three blocks (team-high two assists for Brinkman) and just 14 total digs (six for Buntz).
Cruce totaled just 17 assists.
