Having lost four straight sets for only the second time this season, Platte County didn’t flinch and stormed back to keep a lengthy conference win streak alive.
Platte County junior Tatiana Murray prepares to hit a spike against Belton on Thursday at Platte County High School.
Belton lost momentum midway through the second set Thursday night at Platte County High School and couldn’t finish the job. Platte County junior middle hitter Tatiana Murray turned in the defining performance of her career in what ended up a 21-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-19 victory.
Murray totaled team-highs of 12 kills, four service aces and seven blocks, and Platte County returned to Suburban Conference White Division play with a victory, continuing an unbeaten streak that stretches back to the latter half of the 2018 season. The Pirates have won 45 straight games in conference play including Blue Division championships each of the past three years before moving up a tier in 2022.
Belton’s win in the opening set marked just the fifth time Platte County has dropped a set in conference play during the impressive run. Belton accounts for two of those, having taken a set in each of their matchups this season behind an impressive defensive front.
Platte County also entered off locking up a sixth straight 20-win campaign with a White Division sweep of Raytown on Tuesday and three-set loss to St. Pius X a night earlier.
Belton then locked Platte County in a back-and-forth opening set and forced Platte County coach Katlyn Donovan to use a timeout with her team trailing 12-8. Platte County immediately earned a sideout and rattled off seven unanswered behind the service of junior libero Avery Walter, who made it a 15-12 lead with her only service ace to prompt a timeout from Belton.
The stoppage worked with Belton scoring four straight, and Platte County wouldn’t lead again in the opening set. One of three aces from junior Jenna Wheeler briefly tied the score at 18-18, but Belton outscored Platte County 7-3 to close out the first set victory.
Platte County junior Jenna Wheeler hits a serve against Belton on Thursday at Platte County High School
Platte County took an early lead in the second set but started to struggle against the Belton block. Donovan took another timeout with Platte County down 9-5, but an authoritative kill from Murray and service from Jenna Wheeler keeping Belton’s offense out of system turned the tide during a run of five unanswered point.
Slowly, Platte County turned a 15-13 lead into a 21-15 advantage and then held off Belton’s final late charge.
Platte County benefitted from its own strong defense at the net, totaling 13 blocks with senior Madison Hoyt contributing two solos and three assists in addition to Murray’s seven assists. Platte County senior Karsyn Stehlik also contributed five block assists, and the offense recovered from the sluggish start.
In addition to Murray, Platte County junior Kendall Johnson found her form and finished with 10 kills, while Stehlik added eight. Platte County junior Emma Harned ended up spreading out 35 assists, and sophomore Karlee Riggs (seven kills) and Hoyt (six kills) rounded out a balanced effort.
In addition to her team-lead in digs, Walter came up with 35 serve receives with just four errors as Platte County continued a season-long trend of bouncing back from adversity. The Pirates lost the season-opener to Kearney and won the next three then lost a pair of two-set pool matches to open the Lansing Invitational — the only other stretch of four straight set losses this season — and rallied back to place fifth and start an 11-match winning streak.
Platte County (21-7) has earned the No. 1 seed in the Class 4 District 8 bracket, which opens play Saturday, October 22. The Pirates earned the top spot despite the loss to host Kearney with help from a tournament win over Pembroke Hill (20-3) — the No. 2 seed. Pembroke Hill defeated Kearney, which was 9-10-3 going into a weekend trip tot he De Soto Tournament, to create the need for tiebreaker scenarios to separate the top three teams.
Platte County senior Madison Hoyt records a block against Belton on Thursday at Platte County High School.
After making the Class 4 playoffs in 2020 and finishing third in state, Platte County moved up to Class 5 last year and lost a heartbreaking five-set District 8 championship match to Park Hill. The Pirates moved back down to Class 4 this season and has eyes on another postseason run after developing a successful identity after losing a trio of key seniors from last year.
St. Pius X 3, Platte County 0
The Pirates saw a four-match winning streak end Wednesday in Kansas City.
St. Pius X avenged a prior loss with a tight 25-22, 27-25, 25-21 victory with Platte County experiencing uncharacteristic struggles with 24 attack errors, 20 service errors and eight serve receive errors. The Pirates won the previous matchup between the two in a two-set sweep in the championship of the Winnetonka Invitational last month.
Riggs (nine), Johnson (eight) and Stehlik (eight) led Platte County’s offense in kills, while Harned collected half of the Pirates’ six service aces. Harned totaled 21 assists and eight digs, while Walter (18 digs) and Murray (four block assists) led the defense.
Platte County finished with seven blocks, and Hoyt had an assist on three while Stehlik and Riggs added two apiece.
Platte County 3, Raytown 0
The Pirates opened the week with a dominant 25-6, 25-11, 25-13 road sweep Tuesday night in Raytown.
Riggs put up 13 kills, while Stehlik and Johnson added six and five, respectively, and Platte County totaled 13 service aces — four for Harned and two each for junior Ava Wheeler, Jenna Wheeler, Johnson and Riggs. Ava Wheeler and Harned (22 assists) led the Pirates with 10 digs apiece.
