Platte County can’t sustain early momentum in season-ending district loss

LIBERTY, Mo. — If Katlyn Donovan could bottle up the early energy, effort and performance from Thursday’s Class 5 District 8 opener, Platte County’s season likely would not be over.

Liberty North stumbled in the opening set but ultimately came back to fully reverse the levels of play in a 19-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-12 victory at Liberty North High School. The Eagles went on to lose in Saturday’s district semifinals but only after surviving a stern test in the first round.

Platte County senior Malin Cole — the most experienced player on the roster — finished with a match-high 18 kills, while senior libero Gia DeRose totaled 29 kills, tied for the fourth-most in a single match and taking her over 1,000 in a two-year career that already includes an all-state season. However, the Pirates lost the momentum in the latter stages of the first set and never fully recovered.

“Isn’t that the joys of sport? Just the ebbs and flows that you have,” Donovan said. “Just the high energy and playing the best we can and then they respond to you. That’s one thing you can love about athletics. You can be on one set and then the next set you’re off a little and the other team’s on.”

Platte County went into the postseason not as a favorite in the bracket after making four playoff appearances in the past five years but as an upset-minded No. 6 seed. The Pirates made a move back up to Class 5 and ultimately finished with an 18-11-2 record and just missed a ninth straight 20-win season.

The No. 3 seed, Liberty North (16-16) trailed 10-2 in the first set of the first round matchup with Platte County before successfully putting a serve into play. The Eagles looked rattled and mistake-prone in the early moments as the deficit grew.

Platte County opened with a 4-0 run that started on one of senior middle hitter Emma Macaluso’s four kills — a two-handed stuff at the net. Pirates sophomore setter Ella Cruce, who finished with a team-high 18 assists and nine digs, added one of her two aces.

Even when Liberty North scored an initial point, serve went right back to Platte County on the first of three service errors from the Eagles in the first set. They eventually took at timeout down 7-1, and the deficit grew to 10-1 and then 15-5.

“We played well that first set, feel like we did a really good job of keeping them out of system. That affected their outside (hitters), who we thought were their best players,” Donovan said.

Platte County led by as much as 23-11 in the first set, but ultimately, Liberty North found some footing late and lost by just six points. The Eagles took full control of the second and ultimately leveled the match.

The proceedings remained tight in the third with Platte County receiving a boost from sophomore Miah Omoike up front. She missed the majority of the season with a lingering shoulder injury but returned for the postseason and posted a team-high five block assists plus six kills and started to make the kind of dynamic impact expected after holding a starting role as a freshman on the Pirates’ fourth-place state team.

Platte County led 12-8 before ceding four unanswered. There were also ties at 13-13 and 16-16. The Pirates even answered back from a 19-17 deficit with a 3-0 run that included a block and kill from Omoike plus one of Brunner’s five kills.

Liberty North then closed on a 6-1 run and took the match advantage after three sets.

“Liberty North is a really good team. They play tough competition all the time so they’re probably used to this level,” Donovan said. “We gave them just a little bit of spark late in that first set. That probably gave them a bit of momentum, and the game of volleyball is all about momentum. They took it.”

Platte County’s defense in the middle proved important with sophomore Charlotte Schlake, who admirably provided strong play in Omoike’s absence this season, and junior Kate Brunner finished three block assists each, while Macaluso, Cole, senior Carissa Bacon and junior Emma Brinkman adding two apiece. DeRose and Bacon (13) both finished with double-figures for digs in additional efforts that helped create numerous long rallies.

Five players for Liberty North recorded at least 11 digs to create a pattern of long rallies won that helped swing the tide. The Eagles jumped to a 4-0 lead in the fourth set and dominated from there as the result became increasingly inevitable.

“Liberty North was a really scrappy team, and I think we got a little bit frustrated when they picked up balls and sent them back over the net,” Donovan said. “I feel like we could’ve done a better job of adjusting. When one thing was going really well, we struggled on something else. We couldn’t put it all together there in the last three sets.”

Platte County’s recent run of district success included three Class 4 state trophies, finishing third in both 2020 and 2022 and fourth last season. The lone season without a playoff appearance came in a move up to Class 5 in 2021 when the Pirates lost to Park Hill in a five-set district championship match.

The seven seniors on Platte County’s roster were part of three 20-win seasons and two of the runs to the state semifinals.

Cole started each of the past two seasons in Platte County’s middle before moving outside to serve as the focal point of the offense, excelling in the role all season despite the increased duties. Macaluso started the majority of three seasons after taking over next to Cole in the middle of her sophomore year, while DeRose and Bacon joined the Pirates’ lineup last season.

Bacon became a part of a two-setter rotation in Platte County’s 6-2 setup in addition to her role in the attack, while Evelyn Reith (eight digs) and Ashleigh Cruce (one ace and two digs) earned increased playing time in the defensive back row this fall with Kya Bridges a frequent part of the attacking rotation in another strong regular season before this year’s class embraced the increased difficulty of the Class 5 postseason assignment.

“I told them that besides that fourth set, tonight was probably the best volleyball we played all season. That’s all we can really ask,” Donovan said. “Someone had to win; someone had to lose. We came out on the losing end tonight, but you can’t be disappointed with how we played.

“We told the seniors, you aren’t known as a volleyball player; you’re defined by so much more, and these are individuals that aren’t just the senior class of this team. They are their own individuals but played a big part in our success over these past four years.”