Holbrook delivers decisive singles victory, sends Platte County to playoffs for 1st time

The player of smallest stature ended up playing the biggest role in creating a program-defining moment.

With the Class 2 District 8 championship dual tied, Platte County senior Olivia Holbrook remained determined and focused on Court 3 as dusk descended on Platte County High School’s home facility. She steadily pulled away for a 6-2, 6-2 victory over St. Pius X’s Frannie Hess in the No. 3 singles match that ultimately secured a 5-4 victory for the Pirates and sent them into the state playoffs for the first time in program history.

Platte County (13-8) reached a district championship match for the second straight year and just third time overall (2016, 2022 and 2023) in the current postseason format. The Pirates built this year’s lineup around the returning trio of seniors Holbrook and Addy Mayne and junior Maggie McBratney, but ultimately unlocked the right combination of first-year contributors in junior Lily Fish and seniors Lily Bachmann and Lucy McClain to create a breakthrough for a consistently competitive program.

“There were too many heroes in this match to name, so I won’t try, but I was just so so proud of the entire team,” said Platte County coach Zach Keith, who helped start the program 16 years ago. “As I told them after the match, this win is for them, but it’s also for all of the girls who have been a part of our program for the last 16 years who worked really hard and never got to hold that trophy.”

Platte County advances to play District 7 champion Thomas Jefferson Independent (13-0) in a Class 2 quarterfinal Monday afternoon in Joplin. The winner advances to the semifinals with a guaranteed top-four state trophy, a chance for more history for the visiting Pirates while venturing into uncharted territory.

“Last year, we lost a tight one to Pius so this means a lot to all of us,” Mayne said.

The No. 3 seed, St. Pius x (9-6) made the Class 2 District 8 championship dual competitive from start to finish.

Platte County took a critical 2-1 lead out of doubles with Bachmann and McClain continuing a trend of strong play at No. 3 with a dominant 8-3 victory. McBratney and Fish fell behind 3-0 against Manmeet Kaur and Charlie Pyle and a comeback came up just short in an 8-6 loss at No. 2. That put the emphasis on the No. 1 match, where Mayne and Holbrook never trailed.

However, St. Pius X’s team of Kiera Dunn and Hess came back to tie it at 7-7, only for Mayne and Holbrook to regroup and avoid a tiebreaker in a 9-7 victory. All three doubles matches had different trajectories and required different levels of attention from the coaching staff.

“Our focus was to slow the girls down when things weren’t going well and speed them up when they had momentum. We basically stayed away from court No. 3 and watched (Bachmann and McClain) cruise through the match. Unfortunately, St. Pius X was just a bit too tough (at No. 2). Normally when you surrender a lead like (Mayne and Holbrook) did, it’s tough to get the momentum back, but they played two really quality games with the pressure on.”

Turned out to be just the first big moment for Holbrook.

Platte County needed just a split of the six singles matches, but that proved difficult. A year earlier, the Pirates led St. Pius X coming out of doubles but ended up with a 5-3 loss. The Warriors were nearly able to recreate the result.

“This year was no different in terms of how well they started in singles,” Keith said.

St. Pius X won the opening sets at Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 6. However, Bachmann took a 1-0 lead in convincing fashion at No. 5, while Holbrook battled through long rallies with Hess that kept their match behind the other five in terms of scoring. The Warriors took a 3-2 lead with straight-set wins at No. 6 and No. 4, adding more pressure for No. 1 seeded Platte County. Bachmann ended up with a 6-1, 7-6 (7-1 victory) but avoided a third set after overcoming a 6-5 deficit in the second to win in a tiebreaker and quickly draw the Pirates back level.

McBratney, who played No. 1 as a sophomore, ended up the only one of four Platte County players to lose the first set and come back to win in singles. She ended up in a 10-point tiebreaker to decide the three set and went in with all the momentum, earning a pivotal 4-6, 6-1, 10-5 victory.

Dunn’s straight set victory at No. 1 over Mayne set up the decisive final match.

Holbrook led 2-1 in the second set at the time, and with the players utilizing a similar style of play, long rallies and tense moments permeated the remainder of the match with all teammates, coaches and spectators focused on each stroke. After 30 minutes as the only match on the courts, Holbrook prevailed after taking each of the final four games they went to deuce.

“It was incredible,” Keith said. “Neither coach stepped on the court during Olivia and Frannie’s entire second set. It was just high school tennis at its best: two kids playing their hearts out trying to help their team win.”

“I felt a lot of pressure considering I saw everyone in my vision,” Holbrook added. “I knew it was my determining match because I hadn’t stopped playing, so it was a little stressful.”

Platte County loaded up the schedule again this year despite some relevant inexperience. However, Mayne moved into the No. 1 role with McBratney and Holbrook behind her in an experience and talented top trio. The Pirates then faced some potential attrition when junior No. 4 Summer Jenni, a first-year transfer, suffered a season-ending knee injury in an early season dual with Staley.

That pushed Fish and Bachmann up one spot in the lineup, while McClain went from a potentially doubles-only contributor to an important two-way player.

Platte County gelled late in the season as the schedule opened up and goes into the playoffs having won six of the past seven duals. The Pirates already have their most dual wins in a season since going 14-3 in 2015 and can match that mark with the first playoff win in program history.

The four Platte County seniors all started playing the sport as freshmen and were originally members of the C team before slowly moving up to their current positions.

“It means a lot to everyone here,” Bachmann said. “To me personally, it’s crazy to think I just picked up a racket freshman year and varsity now, and we’re going to state.”

Having reached the Class 1 playoffs each of the past three seasons, Thomas Jefferson Independent has lost just seven matches total in 13 duals, and the majority of those came in a 5-4 victory over Carl Junction, which is the only common opponent between the two teams. Platte County lost 5-1 to the Bulldogs in a six-match dual during the season-opening Joplin Invitational.

Thomas Jefferson Independent has two wins in the Class 1 playoffs but never advanced past the quarterfinals in that level’s 16-team bracket.

Platte County 5, Kearney 0

After a first-round bye, the Pirates breezed through a Class 2 District 8 semifinal matchup with a top rival Tuesday at Platte County High School.

Platte County dominated the doubles portion with McClain and Bachmann opening with an 8-2 win at No. 3. Mayne and Holbrook followed with an 8-4 victory, and McBratney and Fish prevailed 8-5 at No. 3. Needing just two singles wins to advance to the championship dual, Bachmann (6-1, 6-1 at No. 5) and McBratney (6-1, 6-1 at No. 2) put the finishing touches on a shutout.

In the regular season meeting between the two teams, Platte County won 8-1.