The postseason didn’t start the way Platte County expected, and now the Class 2 District 8 team bracket remains the final pathway for the Pirates.
Platte County senior Sophie Curtis hits a return shot during a doubles match in the Class 2 District 8 individual tournament Thursday in Liberty.
After closing the regular season with a 7-2 loss to Grain Valley, Platte County traveled to the Class 2 District 8 individual tournament Thursday in Liberty. Pirates senior No. 1 Molly McBratney entered as the defending champion but suffered an upset loss to eventual runnerup Emma Thiessen, who lost to teammate Kylee Bragaw in the championship match.
McBratney became the first singles state qualifier in program history in 2020 but ended up outside of this year’s place matches with the loss.
Platte County’s Maria Molinari, another of the five seniors competition in the individual tournament, suffered a semifinal loss to Bragaw but came back to place third. The Pirates’ top doubles duo of seniors Sophie Curtis and Taylor Mayne nearly made an unexpected run to the championship match to take a state berth. Curtis and Mayne survived for a 6-3, 7-6 (12-10) victory in the quarterfinals but then dropped their final two matches to finish fourth.
The second Platte County doubles team of senior Rayna Garcia and junior Ellie Fish lost in semifinals. The Pirates have now had one individual state qualifier in the two seasons since the state expanded to three classes for tennis. The last doubles team to reach went in Class 1 more than a decade ago.
The difficult week leaves Platte County with a challenging road to the state playoffs as a team. The road loss to Grain Valley on Tuesday gave the Eagles the No. 1 seed and a first round bye, while the Pirates now have the No. 2 seed and start with No. 7 Winnetonka on Monday at Platte County High School.
That sets up a likely semifinal with No. 3 St. Pius X, which won last year’s tournament, on Tuesday with Grain Valley looming on the top side of the bracket for Wednesday’s championship match. Platte County enters with an 11-3 record, having won its first Suburban Conference Blue Division title since 2017 during the regular season.
