Platte County held hopes of playing in a new home facility at the tail end of last season, but forced to wait, the Pirates didn’t plan to miss an opportunity to open play in Pirate Fieldhouse with a win.
Platte County senior Cierra Poldberg tips the ball over the net during a match with Staley on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Pushed from start to finish in a nonconference matchup, Platte County came back for an exciting 23-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-19 victory over Staley on Tuesday. The Pirates have won four straight since a season-opening loss, most recently with the debut in the state-of-the-art home gym and with a chance to extend that streak Thursday at home against St. Michael’s the Archangel in a rematch of last year’s Class 4 quarterfinal.
Platte County (4-1) needed all of the diverse offense from outside hitters Kendall Johnson (13 kills) and Karlee Riggs (10 kills) plus middle hitters Tatianna Murray (13 kills), Cierra Poldberg (seven kills) and Malin Cole (seven kills). The returning all-state attack combination of Riggs and Johnson continues to shine while receiving diverse support from a retooled interior.
Johnson, a senior, added four of Platte County’s nine service aces, while fellow senior Poldberg continued to shine with an assist on eight of the Pirates’ 18 blocks. Murray, another senior, and Johnson added four blocks apiece.
Platte County senior Jenna Wheeler prepares to hit a return in a match against Staley on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Similarly, Platte County’s defensive options on the backline also divided up the work. While Johnson led the way with 11 digs, Pirates senior Avery Walter added 10, while seniors Jenna Wheeler (nine), Ava Wheeler (seven) and Ava Filger (six) were next in line. Ava Wheeler has taken over full-time setting duties after returning starter Emma Harned did not return to the lineup this season.
Ava Wheeler dished out 43 assists against Staley, while making just one error in 122 set attempts.
In a tight first set, Murray’s kills tied the score at 12-12, and Johnson followed tie one of her aces. Poldberg and Murray then combined on a block to cap a 3-0 run that put Platte County up 14-12. However, a service error returned the ball to Staley, only for the Pirates to eventually make it a 5-1 run that put them up three.
Platte County would also lead 20-18, only for Staley to close on a 7-3 run — 4-1 and 3-0 in the closing stretch — to steal the opening set.
Platte County junior Karlee Riggs hits the ball past the Staley block during a match Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
In the second set, Platte County slowly stretched out to a 17-12 lead, prompting a Staley timeout. The Falcons would trail by five twice more at 19-14 and 20-15 and then nearly made another full comeback. The Pirates’ lead dwindled to two on four occasions, but Johnson came up with a thunderous kill to push it back to 23-20. They converted on the second set point on a tip kill from Murray to even the match at one set apiece.
Platte County again built a five-point lead midway through the third set at 15-10 but ended up in a struggle. Staley responded with a 7-2 run to tie the score at 17-17, but Walter, who totaled a team-high 11 service points, put up one of her two aces to push the Pirates back out to a 19-17 advantage at one point.
Platte County senior Ava Wheeler sets the ball in a match against Staley on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Staley continued to push and came all the way back to briefly lead at 23-22 with a chance to push Platte County to the brink. After a timeout, the Pirates responded with a 4-1 run capped with a kill from Murray on the second set point to take a 2-1 advantage in the match and earn a chance to end it in the fourth.
In the fourth set, Staley jumped to a 4-1 lead and held three five-point advantages including at 10-5.
Platte County closed back with a 7-2 run and forged ties at 12, 13 and 16 before rolling to the finish. A 9-1 segment pushed the Pirates advantage to 23-17, and they closed out the home-opening win on a block error after a strong spike from Johnson on the left side.
Platte County 3, Kearney 0
The Pirates started strong then won a pair of close sets to finish out a 25-18, 26-24, 25-23 road sweep of their rivals Monday night. The victory came two days after opening the season in the Lincoln Northeast Blastoff in Nebraska.
Jenna Wheeler recorded a match-high 17 digs, while Filger added 12 in a strong defensive performance for Platte County, which recorded only three blocks. The Pirates spread around 37 kills on offense with Riggs leading the way at 10. Johnson (nine), Murray (eight) and Poldberg (five) followed.
Platte County senior Tatianna Murray hits a spike against Staley on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Platte County and Kearney split last year’s matchups. Kearney won the season-opener a year ago but lost the return meeting in the Class 4 District 8 championship match with the Pirates riding the momentum to a second state semifinal berth and third-place finish in three seasons.
Lincoln Northeast Blastoff
Platte County went 2-1 and finished third out of six teams in the Silver Tournament of the event Saturday in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Pirates were the only Missouri team out of 10. The rest were all in-state.
In Pool B, Platte County opened with a loss in three sets. The Pirates were slow to start but nearly came all the way back against Beatrice, which played earlier and carried momentum over into the second match.
Platte County received 10 kills from Johnson and eight from Poldberg in her first career varsity action, while Ava Wheeler’s first start as the unquestioned No. 1 setter produced 24 assists. Four players recorded at least five kills, and Cole led the defense with five blocks — two solo. Walter (13), Jenna Wheeler (12) and Johnson (10) all finished in double figures for digs.
Platte County senior Avery Walter hits a serve during a match with Staley on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Beatrice held on for a 25-14, 17-25, 25-23 victory and eventually won the pool to advance to the title match.
Platte County came right back to beat Lincoln Southeast, this time surviving a comeback attempt in a 25-18, 16-25, 25-20 victory. Johnson dominated with a match-high 19 kills on a 52.8 kill percentage, while Riggs added eight. Ava Wheeler served up six of the Pirates’ nine aces and made just two ballhandling errors while serving up 28 assists to go with five digs.
Jenna Wheeler led Platte County’s defense with 10 digs, while Cole added three blocks to help send the Pirates to the third-place match.
Platte County finished with a tight 25-23, 25-22 sweep of Lincoln Northeast with Murray leading the offense. She recorded seven kills, while Poldberg, Johnson and Riggs added four apiece in what was an offensive struggle for both teams.
Poldberg factored in four of Platte County’s nine blocks, including the only solo effort, while the Pirates spread out 29 digs. Ava Wheeler, Jenna Wheeler and Filger all had five apiece, and Murray, Walter and Johnson added four each. Ava Wheeler added 15 assists.
