For all of the continual success for Platte County, two inevitable program-first continue to remain elusive. The Pirates made more history this season, advancing two doubles tandems to the Class 2 Missouri State Tennis Championships — doubling their previous total of individual qualifiers prior to this season.
Platte County senior Ellie Fish hits a return shot during a doubles match Thursday in the Class 2 Missouri State Tennis Championships at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.
However, both senior Cosette Stephenson/junior Addy Mayne and senior Ellie Fish/junior Olivia Holbrook went 0-2 in the bracket Thursday at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield. The wait for Platte County’s first state victory will go on at least another year, and the season came to a close after the Pirates’ team season ended the prior week in a Class 2 District 8 championship dual loss to St. Pius X.
Platte County has still never earned a playoff berth despite knocking on the door many times in the two-decades-long existence of the program.
“We’ve been talking about the quote from Eliud Kipchoge quote, ‘I’m a believer that if you climb to one branch, you should reach for the next branch,'” Platte County coach Zach Keith said. “We kept reaching for the next branch all season, and this is going to be one more instance of the girls being challenged to do that. Can we not only get players back to state, but can we get some wins while we’re there? It will be fun to see who rises to the occasion this offseason.”
Stephenson and Mayne came the closest to earning the win for Platte County this year at state. Having emerged as the top-choice doubles team late in the year, they pushed Vita Galati and Suna Mungee from from Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) to a third-set tiebreaker in the morning first-round match.
Galati and Mungee survived for a 6-1, 5-7, 10-6 victory to advance and eventually finish eighth in the bracket.
Platte County senior Cosette Stephenson hits a return during a Class 2 Missouri State Tennis Championships doubles match Thursday at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.
Stephenson and Mayne fell into the consolation bracket and lost 6-3, 6-3 to Megan Wilde and Manveeta Vuppala of Capital City. Platte County’s team of Fish and Holbrook lost both matches in straight sets, first 6-1, 6-1 to Glendale’s Lucy Huang and Olivia Edwards and then 6-2, 6-1 to Fort Zumwalt South’s Carlie Yates and Patrica Herweck.
Huang and Edwards eventually placed seventh.
“I think the girls were a little bit disappointed that we didn’t play our best tennis at state,” Keith said. “That being said, the players on the other side of the net have a lot to do with whether or not you’re able to play your best. We played some really quality opponents and even though we didn’t win any matches, I thought it was a great experience.”
Platte County’s state qualifiers played Nos. 2-5 in singles this year and were paired up for the Class 2 District 8 individual tournament. Stephenson and Mayne upheld their top-seed with a 6-1, 6-4 victory in the championship match to become the first district doubles champion in program history. Prior to this season, only three players had advanced out of districts for the Pirates, a number that increased to seven after the teammates reached the finals on the same day
Platte County’s only previous state doubles team was district runners-up Lisa Wyrwinski and Rachel Bumstead back in 2009, while Molly McBratney advanced as a district champion in singles in 2020. Both Wyrwinski/Bumstead and McBratney went 0-2 in their lone state appearances.
Platte County (10-7) saw a six-dual winning streak came an end in the program’s second district final appearance in the past three years. The Pirates were almost completely rebuilt from last year with Fish the only player with significant experience from last year’s district semifinalist squad, which went 12-4 and incidentally also lost saw the season end with a loss to St. Pius X. She played at No. 5 all season while players like Holbrook (No. 2), Mayne (No. 3) and Stephenson (No. 4) made big jumps up the depth chart.
Platte County finished second to Grain Valley in the Suburban Conference White Division and managed an impressive tie for fourth in the Suburban North Tournament. The Pirates also lose senior Madelyn McFall, who split time at No. 6, but will return four players with strong experience — No. 1 Maggie McBratney, Holbrook, Mayne and co-No. 6 EmmaLyn Burnett — next season in pursuit of a team district title and individual state successes.
