Platte County didn’t hold the early or late momentum in another important but ultimately unsatisfying test.
Platte County sophomore Charlotte Schlake hits a spike against Grain Valley on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Grain Valley came back twice to earn a tense 16-25, 25-18, 25-21, 23-25, 15-8 victory in Tuesday’s Suburban Conference White Division matchup at Pirate Fieldhouse. In the decisive tiebreaker set, the Eagles took advantage of senior Chesnie King’s strong left-handed service to pull away with a pair of decisive rulings from the officials aiding the cause.
Platte County (12-8-2) continued to see important development hopefully beneficial while preparing for the program’s first postseason up in Class 5 since 2021.
“You could tell in the fourth set they were getting kind of down when (King) got on one of her serving runs,” Platte County coach Katilyn Donovan said. “But it was like, hey, let’s be competitors here and fight back. These are the situations we want to be in. These are the matches that are preparing us.
“We just have to do a better job if we are in this situation again on getting rid of the nervousness and timidness because we deserve to be on the court with any team we’re competing against.”
After holing on to win the fourth set 25-23, Platte County hung close in the tiebreaker and were tied at 6-6 when senior Evelyn Reith, who finished with nine digs, saw a serve to the back right corner ruled out of bounds when the players and coaching staff thought the ball caught the line. The Pirates then committed a return error and took timeouts while down 8-6 and 11-7.
Platte County senior Malin Cole gos low for a dig against Grain Valley on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
The second came with King on the service line on an extended run that also included a ruling that a ball came off of Platte County senior Carissa Bacon’s block came off the net antenna and therefore out of bounds and giving Grain Valley a point. The Pirates earned a sideout on a crafty dump kill from sophomore setter Ella Cruce, who posted a career-high 18 digs to go with team-highs of 23 assists and three service aces, in what ended up the final point for the Pirates.
“I’m not going to put anything on the refs,” Donovan said. “It’s a judgment call; it is what it is. It’s frustrating, but I need to do a better job of not getting frustrated with the calls because sometimes I think the girls can see my frustration and react. I have to do a better job of keeping my composure.”
Bacon (career-high 13 kills) and fellow senior Malin Cole (11) led Platte County’s offense while continuing to play without returning sophomore standout Miah Omoike, still hampered by a shoulder injury and has appeared in just eight matches and 13 total sets so far this season. The Pirates have melded third-year senior starter Emma Macaluso (eight kills) and junior Emma Brinkman (five kills, two blocks) as the main combination in the middle, while sophomore Charlotte Schlake continues to take advantage of additional playing time in the front row. She finished with five kills and a team-high four blocks plus an ace against Grain Valley.
Platte County junior Kate Brunner hits a ball toward the net against Grain Valley on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Bacon (14 assists and two aces) and Cruce, who just missed her career-high with 23, continue to split setter duties, while Platte County junior Kate Brunner (eight kills) plays an important role in attack that can oscillate between diverse and effective and out of balance.
“In the second and third set, we didn’t do a good job of keeping their offense out of system,” Donovan said. We were aggressive in that first set with our serve and where we were hitting but we started to send over too many free balls, and that hurt us.”
Grain Valley senior Kyleigh Casey finished with a match-high 25 kills, while junior Piper Jackson added 12 and King 10 to continually pressure Platte County’s defense. Gia DeRose, a returning all-state senior, led the Pirates with 22 digs to go with a team-high 11 service points, while Cole added nine and Bacon eight. Reith and senior Ashleigh Cruce (one ace) were among the group most targeted in serve receive,
St. Michael the Archangel 3, Platte County 0
The Pirates’ losing skid hit three in Wednesday night’s nonconference matchup at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Platte County senior Gia DeRose hits a pass against Grain Valley on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
St. Michael took the first two competitive sets and then ended up with the 25-20, 25-19, 25-10 victory. Platte County finished with just 17 kills compared to 20 attack errors, while Bacon ended up with four service aces and Cole two to help stay close early. DeRose led the Pirates’ defense with 16 digs, while Macaluso added two in what ended up a frustrating sweep against strong Class 4 opponent.
Two years ago, St. Michael won a matchup between the two teams in the state quarterfinals while a playoff rematch never materialized last season. The Guardians also won the regular season meeting in 2024, but this will mark the only time the two play this year.
In this match, Brunner led Platte County with five kills, and Bacon’s seven assists were just ahead of Ella Cruce’s five.
Platte County 3, Ruskin 0
Finishing a stretch of three matches in three days, the Pirates closed the week with an expectedly dominant 25-7, 25-3, 25-6 sweep Thursday in Kansas City.
Platte County improved to 5-3 in White Division play behind 11 kills from Brunner and six apiece for Cole, Macaluso and Schlake. Brinkman added five, while Ella Cruce’s nine aces were a big piece of her 23 service points. The Pirates totaled 18 service aces with DeRose (four), Bacon (three) and Ashleigh Cruce (two) accounting for the rest.
With just six attack errors, Platte County put up efficient offensive numbers, but DeRose led the defense with 12 digs. The Pirates finished the season sweep of Ruskin and have gone past the halfway point for conference play.
