Platte County senior Cosette Stephenson and junior Addy Mayne finished off a 6-3, 6-1 win in the Class 2 District 8 individual tournament semifinals, guaranteeing a historic finish. Turned out to be just the beginning of a memorable day for the Pirates on Friday at Platte County High School.
Platte County senior Cosette Stephenson hits a forehand during a match Monday against William Chrisman at Platte County High School.
A short while after the top doubles entrant locked up a berth in the Class 2 Missouri State Tennis Championships, Platte County senior Ellie Fish and junior Olivia Holbrook did the same with a victory in the other doubles semifinal. The result of the all-Pirates championship match didn’t matter.
Prior to this season, Lisa Wyrwinski and Rachel Bumstead were Platte County’s only other state-qualifying doubles team back in 2009. The Pirates went from having three players advance out of districts in the program’s history to seven in a span of just a few minutes.
“It really is hard to describe how excited and legitimately happy for one another those four girls were,” Platte County coach Zach Keith said. “It’s a moment I won’t forget. I don’t think any of them realize how historically incredible that moment was, but getting four girls to state individually in one year when we’ve only had 3 girls EVER make it to state is awesome.”
For the record, Stephenson and Mayne upheld their top-seed with a 6-1, 6-4 victory in the championship match to become the first district doubles champion in program history. Wyrwinski and Bumstead were runners-up 13 years earlier when the Pirates were in Class 1 in a two-class setup.
Platte County junior Addy Mayne hits a backhand during a match against William Chrisman on Monday at Platte County High School.
The state went to three classes starting in 2020 when Molly McBratney broke the individual state qualifier drought as a singles champion in Class 2 District 8. She suffered an upset loss a year earlier as the top seed.
Two years after McBratney’s historic district title, Platte County received a pair of memorable doubles runs in a wide-open bracket. Stephenson and Mayne earned the No. 1 spot in the bracket and lost just six games total in a quarterfinal win over St. Pius X’s Meet Kaur and Izzy Schmidt (6-1, 6-1) and semifinal over Kearney’s Alyna Dostal and Autumn Ash (6-3, 6-1).
Fish and Holbrook were the No. 6 seed and had to beat Winnetonka’s Alondra Guerrere and Elle Snyder in the first round and did so 6-2, 6-0. In the quarterfinals, Platte County’s second entrant prevailed 6-0, 6-1 over St. Pius X’s third-seeded Kasia HOlum and Sofia Mussorici. That set up a semifinal Bishop LeBlond’s second-seeded Mary King and Murphy King, coming off a marathon 4-6, 6-4, 10-5 comeback in their quarterfinal.
Fish and Holbrook dominated start to finish in a 6-2, 6-1 win over the King sisters. The championship straight sets victory for Stephenson and Mayne improved their record to 15-2 on the season with the only losses to No. 1 teams from Class 3 schools Park Hill South and Liberty.
“Both of our doubles teams played so well all day,” Keith said. “They played smart tennis, played within themselves, made very few mistakes, and looked so confident all day.”
Platte County entered sophomore No. 1 Maggie McBratney, younger sister of Molly, into singles, and she ended up seeded No. 6. Her tournament came to an end in a tough 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 loss to third-seeded Emily Weddle of LeBlond. The Pirates’ second singles entrant was senior Madelyn McFall, who was the 12th seed out of 14 players and lost in straight sets in an opening-round match vs. St. Pius X’s Kierra Dunn.
Platte County senior Ellie Fish hits a backhand during a match with William Chrisman on Monday at Platte County High School.
The doubles bracket appeared to have the most opportunity for variance, and Platte County ended up the big winner. The Pirates entered the season with only Fish having significant varsity experience, and she made the Class 2 District 8 doubles semifinals a year earlier with Rayna Garcia. They finished third after beating teammates Sophie Curtis and Taylor Mayne in the consolation match.
Maggie McBratney ascended from well down Platte County’s depth chart to the No. 1 spot, while Holbrook, Addy Mayne and Stephenson also moved in front of Fish, who played at No. 5 with McFall and junior EmmaLyn Burnett splitting time at No. 6. The Pirates will have the momentum of the individual finishes going into this week’s Class 2 District 8 tournament.
Platte County has never advanced to the state playoffs with a district team title, having lost in the championship to Kearney in 2020 and in the semifinals a year earlier to St. Pius X. The Pirates earned the No. 1 seed this year, closing the regular season with five straight wins. They have a 9-6 record to rank in front of No. 2 seed St. Pius X (15-2) and Bishop LeBlond (8-2).
With a bye in the first round, Platte County waits for the winner of Kearney (5-6) and Winnetonka (3-9). The semifinal will be played Tuesday at Platte County High School with the championship dual scheduled for Wednesday. The Pirates would also host the final if they advance.
Platte County junior Olivia Holbrook hits a forehand during a match against William Chrisman on Monday at Platte County High School.
Platte County 7, North Kansas City 2
The Pirates were dominant in a nonconference victory to close the season Tuesday at Macken Park.
North Kansas City features standout sophomore Sydney Fuger, who paired with Alexis Cadue for an 8-1 win over Maggie McBratney at Fish in the No. 1 doubles match. Platte County’s Mayne and Stephenson were 8-0 shutout winners at No. 2, while Holbrook and McFall made it 2-1 Pirates with an 8-2 victory at No. 3.
Fuger earned the only win for North Kansas City in singles, as well.
Stephenson was dominant in an 8-1 victory at No. 4 for Platte County, while Holbrook (No. 2), Mayne (No. 3) and McFall (No. 6) were all 8-2 winners. Fish prevailed 8-5 at No. 5 in the closest of the six singles matches.
Platte County 8, William Chrisman 1
The Pirates locked up second place in the Suburban Conference White Division then celebrated senior night Monday at Platte County High School.
Stephenson (8-4 at NO. 4) Fish (8-1 at No. 5) and McFall (8-4 at No. 6) were all victorious in singles in their final regular season home singles matches for Platte County. They also all contributed to doubles wins with Fish and McBratney at the No. 1 spot (8-2), Mayne and Stephenson at No. 2 (8-0) and Holbrook and McFall at No. 3 (8-6). The Pirates were up 3-0 after doubles, and their only loss in singles came at the No. 2 spot.
After the win, the Pirates honored all 11 seniors, who include Fish, McFall, Stephenson, Alivia Fredrickson, Gracy Hammerschmidt, Meredith Johnson, Anna Lee, Ashley Liu, Laura Ramadani, Kristina Robinson and Riley Thomas.
