Platte County didn’t lose a match in Saturday’s Lincoln Northeast Blastoff Tournament yet finished second in one of two pools.
A late scratch led to an imbalance in competition, and two undefeated teams didn’t end up matching up in the Black Bracket. The Pirates went to three sets in two of four victories, giving the tiebreaker to Gretna East out of Omaha.
Still, Platte County started strong with four wins over schools in Nebraska in the first action without last year’s successful eight-player senior class. The Pirates were tested from the start, hanging on to top Grand Island Northwest 25-17, 24-26, 25-22.
Platte County’s hot start included a look at a revamped one-two punch of senior all-state outside Karlee Riggs (11 kills) and dynamic freshman Miah Omoike (10 kills), who also served up a team-best four aces. The Pirates have also gone back to a two-setter rotation, and senior Sailor Bane junior Carissa Bacon nearly split the lead in assists. Bacon finished with 16 and Bane 15, while junior middle hitters Malin Cole (seven kills) Emma Macaluso (six kills) helped fill out a well-rounded attack.
Moved into the starting lineup midway through last season due to an injury, Macaluso also led Platte County with six blocks. The Pirates’ were also replacing every member of last year’s backline rotation and ended up with a diverse set of contributors with Riggs stepping up to lead the way with 10 digs, while Bacon and senior Ava Moffitt added nine each and Bane and junior Gia Derose five apiece.
Platte County followed with a competitive 25-22, 25-21 sweep of Lincoln Southeast behind 10 kills and nine assists from Bacon. Bane led the way from the steer spot with 15 assists, and Omoike (eight kills) and Riggs (six kills) were the Pirates’ other top attackers.
Moffitt, Bacon and Omoike accounted for all six of Platte County’s service aces with two each. The Pirates didn’t have any blocks up front, but Derose (13) and Moffitt (10) both finished in double figures for digs.
Platte County maintained the momentum in a dominant 25-17, 25-16 sweep of Bellevue East. The Pirates were able to go deeper into the rotation while controlling the action, and Macaluso and Moffitt led the way with six kills apiece. Riggs added five, and Cole three.
Bacon recorded a pair of aces, and seven assists, while Bane again led the attack setup with nine assists. Derose (nine digs) again led the defense, and Moffitt added nine. Omoike finished with a team-high two blocks to go with a pair of kills.
The final matchup saw Platte County again prevail in three sets, this time closing strong in a 25-22, 19-25, 25-13 victory over host Lincoln Northeast.
Bane (16) and Bacon (14) split the majority of 35 assists, spreading out the attacking opportunities to Riggs (nine kills), Omoike (seven kills), Malin Cole (seven kills), Moffitt (six kills) and Macaluso (four kills). Moffitt added two aces and eight digs, while Omoike recorded five block assists for the Pirates.
Only Derose (12) finished with more digs than Moffitt.
Platte County moves straight into Suburban Conference White Division play with two more teams in the fold this year. That starts with Tuesday’s road match at Ruskin before hosting Truman on Thursday. The Pirates take a weekend off from tournament play but have the Lansing Invitational (Saturday, September 14) and Winnetonka Invitational (Saturday, September 21) during a busy opening month.
