Platte County knew the potential for a special season but the emphatic dominance in the early part of the schedule continues to impress. A 7-2 victory over Grain Valley on Thursday at Platte County High School puts the Pirates in a position of strength to claim the Suburban Conference White Division Championship for a second straight season.
Platte County sophomore Clare Hayter hits a serve during a match in a dual with Grain Valley on Thursday at Platte County High School.
A day later, Platte County maximized the team point total after winning all four flights in the eight-team Warrensburg Doubles Tournament.
“Everybody was tested at different points, and they overcame that,” Platte County coach Scott Blakley said. “We’re very excited, and we’re feeling really good about things.”
A year after edging Grain Valley by a score of 5-4 in the conference dual, Platte County swept all three doubles matchups with senior Ellie Kaser (No. 1), sophomore Clare Hayter (No. 3) and juniors Katelyn Newberry (No. 4) and Jayne Muir (No. 6) all won singles matches. Muir delivered the decisive victory for the Pirates in 2025 for their first win in the series at that point since 2020.
Hayter and senior Macy Doll (No. 2) and Newberry and Muir (No. 3) were both comfortable 8-3 winners while Kaser and Keith, who last year became the first doubles team to win a state match in program history, held on for an 8-5 victory at No. 1.
“We feel really good about our doubles teams,” Blakley said. “They’re all very successful this year and have played well against good competition.”
Platte County improved to 2-0 in White Division play and must still take care of business against Raytown, Fort Osage, Belton and Truman between this week and September 24 to make the title official.
Platte County senior Ellie Kaser hits a shot during a match in a dual with Grain Valley on Thursday at Platte County High School.
Warrensburg Doubles Tournament
Platte County flexed depth for a second time this season, going a combined 12-0 Friday in Warrensburg in the doubles-only format. The Pirates totaled the maximum of 24 team points with Harrisonville and St. Michael the Archangel finishing tied for second at 16.
Bolivar and St. Michael the Archangel ended up with two runnersup apiece.
Kaser and Keith were the No. 2 seed in the No. 1 bracket and were dominant in reaching the finals with 8-0 and 6-2, 6-1 wins. However, they avoided a late comeback from Bolivar’s team of senior Jillian Horner and junior Kayla Goodman in the championship match for an exciting 6-4, 2-6, 10-7 victory.
Horner won a state doubles title in the Class 1 MSHSAA Tennis Championships, while helping Bolivar finish third as a team last year.
“The tiebreaker was just really a battle,” Blakley said. “Luckily, we had practiced doubles tiebreakers when we had our indoor practice on Wednesday. They prevailed. It was really awesome. It was the last match of the day, and we had won every other match. We wanted them to get that one, and they were able to play their best match of the day — really their best match of the year.”
Hayter/Doll (top seed at No. 2) and Newberry/Muir (No. 2 seed at No. 3) didn’t drop a a set in their brackets, while freshman Shaylin Keith and senior Addison Fleming did the same as the seventh and eighth players in an expanded format. Shaylin Keith and Fleming won the No. 4 championship match 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.
This marked the second time this season Platte County used eight players after also doing so in a solid showing at the 32-team season-opening Joplin Interstate Championships.
