Platte County continues winning ways in conference play

The final score of each set became progressively closer, only as Katlyn Donovan used the increasingly obvious blowout to cycle players on and off the floor.

Platte County played the inaugural Suburban Conference White Division game in program history Tuesday night against Raytown and posted a dominant 25-6, 25-11, 25-13 sweep behind sophomore outside hitter Karlee Riggs (13 kills) and junior setter Emma Harned (four service aces and 22 assists). The Pirates continued an impressive bounceback from a season-opening loss to Kearney.

In the time since, Platte County swept Staley, Raytown and then Grain Valley on Thursday before going 3-2 over the weekend in the difficult Lansing Tournament field. The Pirates suddenly have some momentum and a 6-3 record with a veteran but previously inexperienced roster.

“It was definitely a hard loss (to Kearney), and it being our first home game, we had a lot of fans; it was tough,” said Platte County senior outside hitter Karsyn Stehlik, who finished with six kills in the win over Raytown. “But I think we recovered well through the Staley game, and we watched a little bit of film so I think that helped know what we need to fix.”

Raytown never found footing on Tuesday night.

After racing away in the opening set, Platte County led 8-1 in the second thanks to a service run from Riggs, who capped the surge with one of her two aces. The Blue Jays took a timeout that briefly stopped the momentum, but junior Ava Filger then went to the service line and keyed another push that included one of senior middle blocker Madison Hoyt’s two kills and then another timeout as the lead surged to 15-3.

The offense came from all directions for Platte County with junior Kendall Johnson (five kills), junior Tatiana Murray (three kills) and Harned (three kills) also playing a big part. In addition, Pirates juniors Ava Wheeler, Jenna Wheeler and Johnson would also put up two aces apiece.

In the third set, Wheeler capped a 5-0 run for Platte County with an ace.

Raytown immediately went behind 9-2 before showing signs of life with four unanswered points. The Pirates responded to put the match away with a 10-1 run before closing out the sweep on the third match point.

Ava Wheeler matched Harned’s 10 digs, while Johnson added seven and junior Avery Walter five.

Platte County continued to tinker with lineups and rotations. Coming off a fifth straight 20-win campaign, the Pirates have replaced three key seniors including a two-year starting setter in Emerson Walter and a two-time all-state attacker in Kate Brown.

Riggs, Johnson and Stehlik have emerged as the top attacking options for Harned, while Hoyt has started to find her footing on the front line next to Murray. Platte County also continues to use Ava Wheeler, Jenna Wheeler, Filger, Walter and senior Madison Haugsven in defensive roles. The Pirates entered the season having won the last 39 Blue Division matches and have now gone undefeated in 41 straight conference games, counting the sweep of Grain Valley two nights later.

“I think this early in the year I don’t want us to focus on whatever conference streak we have right now,” Donovan said. “This is a whole different conference than we’ve been in. I don’t bring it up to them. If they know it, great; if they don’t know it, great, too. I’m just focused on us getting better every single game.”

Platte County 3, Grain Valley 0

After prevailing in a tight opening set, the Pirates pulled away for a second straight White Division victory Thursday in Grain Valley.

Johnson (13 kills), Stehlik (13 kills) and Riggs (seven kills) led Platte County’s offense in a 26-24, 25-14, 25-11 victory. Jenna Wheeler collected three of the Pirates’ seven service aces, and they recorded six total blocks — four of them on assists from Hoyt in the middle. Riggs added a solo block and an assist in another standout performance.

Eight players for Platte County recorded at least three digs with Ava Wheeler leading the way at eight. Harned put up 33 assists with only four errors in 72 attempts.

Lansing Tournament

After opening with a pair of losses Saturday in Lansing, Kansas, Platte County finished 3-2 overall in a tough field and placed fifth. The Pirates go into this week at 6-3 overall.

Platte County opened with Blue Valley Southwest, dropped a tough opening set and fell 25-21, 25-10 after wilting late. The Pirates then ended up third in their pool with a 25-14, 25-18 loss to Spring Hill. Stehlik had eight kills and two service aces in the second matchup and Riggs added five, but eight attack errors and six service errors were too much to overcome.

Harned had a team-high 11 digs in the loss to Spring Hill but just 13 assists.

Platte County immediately bounced back through the bracket to end up fifth overall. The run started against Bashor-Linwood when the Pirates just did hold on in the second set for a 25-16, 26-24 sweep.

Murray came up big with seven kills to go with Stehlik’s team-high eight and five for Riggs. Stehlik also continued her strong run of service with three of the Pirates’ eight aces, and Ava Wheler led the defense with 12 digs.

Against Seaman in the fourth match, Platte County hung tough in the first set and ended up pulling away for a 27-25, 25-14 sweep. Riggs had a team-high six kills with five players recording at least two to account for a total of 19. Johnson and Murray added four apiece.

Platte County’s block at the net was key with Hoyt recording four assists, Riggs three and Murray adding a solo and two assists.

To close the day, Platte county finished with a tidy 25-19, 25-11 victory over DeSoto. Riggs finished strong with a team-high nine kills, while Johnson and Stehlik recorded three aces apiece. Harned totaled 16 assists and 12 digs — both tops for the Pirates.