Zach Keith continues to seek out challenges, flexing up the schedule again this season from the very beginning.
Platte County junior Maggie McBratney hits a backhand during a match in a dual with Central (St. Joseph) on Monday at Platte County High School.
Over the weekend, Platte County’s veteran coach took a lineup only half-stocked with returners to the 24-team Joplin Invitational, which featured programs from multiple states. The Pirates split two pool duals on Friday then finished second in the Challenger Bracket on Saturday — good for 10th place out of 24 teams.
The opening two duals were both sweeps.
Platte County went 5-0 against College Heights Christian but didn’t win a match against Bentonville West (Arkansas). The Pirates’ new look paired senior No. 1 Addy Mayne and junior No. 2 Maggie McBratney as the top doubles team, while senior Olivia Holbrook — the third returners from last fall — played as the second tandem. The Pirates used junior Lily Fish and senior Delaney Bachmann at No. 3 doubles.
Platte County senior Delaney Bachmann hits a forehand in a match during a dual with Central (St. Joseph) on Monday at Platte County High School.
All three doubles teams were victorious against College Heights Christian, a Class 1 program in southwest Missouri. Platte County also won singles matches at No. 3 (Holbrook) and No. 6 (Bachmann) to secure the victory and move into the Challenger bracket.
“Although it wasn’t ideal to lose big to Bentonville West in our first match of the season, we used that as a nice tuneup for a solid College Heights Christian team and played well,” Keith said. “The 5-0 score looks lopsided, but many of the matches were close.”
On Saturday, Platte County started slow against Webb City but rallied to win all three doubles matches against Webb City. Mayne, McBratney and Holbrook in the top three spots all finished matches about the same time with the final score ultimately being 5-0 but with six total wins recorded.
Platte County senior Lucy McClain hits a return shot in a match during a dual with Central (St. Joseph) on Monday at Platte County High School.
The semifinal matchup pitted Platte County against Monett, which took the No. 1 doubles match. However, the Pirates recorded wins at Nos. 2 and 3 then closed out the 5-1 win with singles victories for Jenni (No. 4), Fish (No. 5) and Bachmann (No. 6).
Platte County finished the weekend 3-2 after a 5-1 loss to Carl Junction in the Challenger championship match. The lone win came from Fish and Bachmann at No. 3 doubles — a 7-5 comeback. They trailed 5-2 before winning the final five games.
“(Carl Junction’s) girls made very few mistakes and made us earn everything,” Keith said. “I would love to play these girls again in the future.
Platte County 5, Central (St. Joseph) 4
Holbrook held on for an 8-4 win at No. 3 singles Monday at Platte County High School to secure the Pirates’ third straight victory in the series between the two teams.
The dual remained tight start to finish, and Platte County trailed 2-1 coming out of doubles. Holbrook and Jenni recored an 8-4 victory at No. 3 while Mayne and McBratney (No. 1) and Bachmann and senior Lucy McClain (No. 3) both lost by scores of 8-6. The Pirates then went the requisite 4-2 in singles to score the comeback.
Platte County junior Summer Jenni hits a shot at the net during a match in a dual against Central (St. Joseph) on Monday at Platte County High School.
In addition to Holbrook, McBratney (8-1) at No. 2, Jenni (8-5 at No. 4) and Fish (8-2 at No. 5) won matches for Platte County.
Staley 7, Platte County 2
The Pirates’ record dropped to 4-3 after a busy early start with a loss to Staley on Tuesday in Kansas City.
“I thought we came out and competed really well against what is the best Staley team I’ve seen,” Keith said.
Platte County received an early boost from McClain and Bachmann at No. 3 doubles with a tight 8-6 win. Fish, who played only singles in the two duals after the trip to Joplin, took advantage of her opportunity with an 8-3 victory at No. 5. However, the Pirates missed out on a potential third win and also suffered a bigger loss in the process.
Jenni, who transferred in to Platte County, dislocated her knee while leading at No. 4 by a score of 7-5 and 40-love in the potential deciding game. She injury defaulted out, and Keith now expects McClain to take a bigger role in singles. Fish likely also moves into doubles with pairings potentially set to shift in wake of the injury.
