Platte County currently on 3-match winning streak despite consistent adversity

Schedule, injuries and even uncertainty have all played a part in preventing peak form to this point.

Yet, Platte County seems tantalizingly close to unlocking the full potential of a talented roster, and two straight comeback victories this week provide ample evidence. On Tuesday, Smithville snatched the first set in potentially demoralizing fashion at Pirate Fieldhouse, only for the Pirates to storm back for a 25-27, 25-22, 25-23, 25-8 victory behind senior outside hitter Kendall Johnson’s 22 kills — her season-high for one match.

Platte County remained without senior middle blocker Cierra Poldberg, who recently suffered a foot injury that will keep her out for an indefinite period. In the four matches since, the Pirates have experimented with two-setter looks featuring senior Ava Wheeler and Carissa Bacon while also providing additional opportunity to sophomore Emma Macaluso and Kenadi Brown.

Despite the tinkering, Platte County has won three straight and continued to thrive while building depth and creating more strategic options for the stretch run.

The key stretch for Platte County (14-7-2), which went just 1-2-2 in five matches prior to the current winning streak, ended up coming in the third set. Outside of the fourth and clinching set, the teams were rarely separated by more than three points, but a kill for Johnson from the back row put the Pirates ahead 18-14 late in the third seemingly ready to roll to a pivotal 2-1 advantage in the match.

Instead, Smithville twice closed that to within one and then appeared set to forge a tie.

Platte County led 21-20 when Tatianna Murray found herself in an awkward spot. The senior front-line attacker had no choice but to hit a back-footed, cross-court overhand that almost improbably landed inbounds to put the Pirates up 22-20, and senior Avery Walter followed with an ace that caught just a touch of the near sideline.

Johnson then provided a kill to conclude a lengthy rally to set up the first of four straight set points for Platte County, and she put the Pirates up 2-1 with another kill on the last of those.

“When we have a one-point lead, it makes us more aggressive; we’re more confident,” said Ava Wheeler, who handled all setting duties against Smithville and finished with 45 assists and a team-high three service aces. “Having that point for Tatianna, it really helped us throughout the rest of the match.”

In the fourth set, Platte County jumped to a 6-2 lead with Murray providing two of her 13 kills and two of her three block assists. The Pirates then cruised the rest of the way with with the lead twice hitting 10 then ballooning to 20-7 and 22-8.

Platte County closed on a 4-0 run with Macaluso, starting in the middle with Poldberg out, providing a block assist for the 23rd point. She finished with six kills and a two block assists in a career-best performance after being thrust into a starting position next to sophomore Malin Cole (team-high five block assists and two kills). That left Brown to serve out the remainder of a blowout in the fourth set for the Pirates. She totaled a team-high 14 service points in three digs, while also taking advantage of a larger rollover the past two weeks.

Smithville’s offense ran out of steam with Platte County’s defense recording seven total blocks and consistently creating long runs. The Pirates piled up 73 digs with seniors Jenna Wheeler (22), Ava Filger (15), Johnson (14) and Walter (13) all finishing in double figures.

“We’re a conditioned team,” Ava Wheeler said. “We’re always ready to go five sets. We work on it in practice; we worked on it all summer. I think we’re just ready. We know we want to close out the fourth set; we wanted to end better than we started.”

The two teams set up the overall close nature of the first three sets from the start.

Neither team led by more than three in the opener until Smithville took a 17-14 advantage, yet one of Ava Wheeler’s aces put Platte County ahead 22-21 before a combined block from Cole and Johnson created the first of two set points at 24-23. A kill from Macaluso led to a second at 25-24, only for the Warriors to come up with three unanswered to take the first set 27-25 for an initial advantage in the rivalry matchup.

“I think we are a little up and down team, but whenever we’re up, we’re really high up,” Ava Wheeler said. “Yesterday, we lost to Park Hill South the first set, so I knew we could come out of that stronger.”

Platte County quickly rebounded taking leads of 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 in the second set with junior outside hitter Karlee Riggs supplying two of her 12 kills in the early surge. However, the Pirates eventually took a timeout while trailing 12-10 and didn’t regain the advantage until 14-13 — part of a 6-1 run that concluded with a block from Macaluso to make it 16-13.

After a Smithville timeout, Johnson added a kill, and the lead became 18-13 in an overall 8-1 stretch. Platte County eventually held on to even the match at 1-1 despite the Warriors surviving three set points only to commit a service error coming out of another timeout to end the second.

“I think we play a little timid when it’s tight because we don’t want to be the one to make a mistake,” Ava Wheeler said. “Once we get that lead, we get into our groove and score more points.”

Platte County didn’t trail in the third set and went ahead 14-11 on a rare block from Wheeler while on the front row next to Macaluso. Smithville would close within 15-14 only for the Pirates to respond in the critical moments to take the advantage in the match and then close the win over a chief rival while also positioning themselves for a better seed in the Class 4 District 8.

Due to a loss to St. Pius X in the Winnetonka Tournament with the Wheeler sisters unavailable and Poldberg having been injured in the prior match, Platte County likely currently holds the No. 2 seed. The Pirates host Raymore-Peculiar on Thursday and then close the regular season with four straight Suburban Conference White Division matchups. The Pirates are currently 4-0 in league play with a chance to close out a fifth straight conference championship.

Platte County 3, Park Hill South 1

The Pirates dropped the first set a night earlier in similar fashion but also came back to win in four Monday night at Pirate Fieldhouse.

In the first home match in 11 days, Platte County ended up with a 27-29, 26-24, 25-23, 25-19 victory behind 18 kills from Murray, who also added three block assists. The Pirates defense totaled eight with Johnson and Cole accounting for four assists apiece and Macaluso matching Murray with three.

Platte County again ended up in a back-and-forth tussle with long rallies, and six players totaled at least nine digs — a team-high 24 from Jenna Wheeler, 16 from Filger, 15 from Johnson, 12 from Walter, 11 from Ava Wheeler and nine from Bacon.

Ava Wheeler handled the majority of setting duties with 40 assists, while Bacon added 10. While Murray headed up the offense, Platte County put up diverse offense with 13 kills for Riggs, 12 for Johnson and six apiece for Macaluso and Brown. The Pirates had only five service aces, two from Johnson, while Filger led the Pirates with 14 service points.

Platte County 3, Central (St. Joseph) 0

The Pirates survived a slow start to break out of a stretch with just one win in five matches.

Riggs recorded a team-high 12 kills, and Murray contributed 11 more in Platte County’s 25-23, 25-11, 25-20 sweep Thursday in St. Joseph. The Pirates also rolled up 15 total service aces with Cole leading the way at four and Jenna Wheeler and Bacon added three apiece.

Platte County’s newly installed 6-2 formation also continued to pay dividends with Ava Wheeler and Bacon finishing with 16 assists each. The Pirates’ offense continued to try and account for the loss of Poldberg int he middle, and Johnson had only seven kills, while Brown’s increased playing time yielded six.

The back row defense also remains important with Jenna Wheeler (nine), Walter (seven), Bacon (six), Ava Wheeler (five) and Filger (five) closely bunched in the digs column.

Liberty North 3, Platte County 0

In the first full match without Poldberg, the Pirates ran out of steam in a 26-24, 25-22, 25-15 loss last Tuesday in Liberty.

Platte County played well early, but most of the offense ended up coming via Johnson (10 kills), Murray (10 kills) and Riggs (seven). Brown added four. The Pirates’ defense adjusted in the middle with Cole posting three block assists, while Ava Wheeler (15) and Jenna Wheeler (11) both recorded double-digit digs against a strong Liberty North attack. Ava Wheeler added a team-high 16 assists and two service aces.

Cole accounted for nine service points and three of Platte County’s six total aces.