Platte County sophomore Maggie McBratney hits a shot during a dual with Kearney on Tuesday at Platte County High School. TODD NUGENT/PC Preps Extra

Platte County’s sweep of Kearney big from district seeding standpoint

With new-look lineup featuring McBratney at No. 1 starting to gel, Pirates have won 2 straight ahead of conference showdown with Grain Valley

Maggie McBratney became the latest Platte County player to make a big jump and ascend to the top spot in the lineup. With the position generally comes an adjustment period, and the Pirates’ No. 1 sophomore finds herself learning from losses and finding ways to improve.

TODD NUGENT/PC Preps Extra
Platte County junior Olivia Holbrook hits a serve during a dual with Kearney on Tuesday at Platte County High School.

On Tuesday afternoon, McBratney held on late to beat Kearney senior Alayna Dostal in the singles portion of a nonconference rivalry dual at Platte County High School — part of Platte County’s 9-0 sweep. The Pirates earned a second straight win and improved to 4-3 overall against a difficult early-season schedule with McBratney replacing her older sister Molly McBratney after her two-year run at the top of the lineup.

Similarly, Maggie McBratney went from off the varsity radar as a freshman to No. 1 in the course of one offseason after Platte County graduated six of the top seven players from 2021.

“It’s definitely been a different change,” Maggie McBratney said. “I mean I was down in like low C team (last year) where I barely got to play. Being able to play every time has been a really good opportunity.

“I’m really enjoying it, and I like playing at the No. 1 spot.”

For the first time this season, Platte County did not lose a match in a dual, following an 8-1 win over Oak Park a day earlier. The two dominant results came on the heels of a tough stretch that featured losses to Staley, Park Hill and Liberty North.

Only senior Ellie Fish returned this season with significant varsity experience for the Pirates.

The development early becomes more and more obvious for the more inexperienced players. Against Kearney, Maggie McBratney teamed with junior No. 3 Addy Mayne for an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles, while Platte County seniors Madelyn McFall and Cosette Stephenson were 8-2 winners at No. 3. The Pirates went into singles with a 3-0 lead thanks to a 9-8 (7-2) tiebreaker victory from Fish and junior Olivia Holbrook at No. 2.

TODD NUGENT/PC Preps Extra
Platte County junior Addy Mayne goes to a hit a backhand shot during a dual with Kearney on Tuesday at Platte County High School.

“We’ve definitely been a lot more comfortable,” Maggie McBratney said. “Like me and Addy as doubles partners are getting excited with each other. I guess the whole varsity lineup we’ve been good with each other.”

Platte County quickly moved to the brink of locking up the team victory after junior EmmaLyn Burnett came away with an 8-3 victory at No. 6. She moved into the varsity lineup again after recent struggles for McFall in singles.

Kearney’s chances at a comeback officially ended when senior Autumn Ash rolled an ankle and retired from the No. 2 match while trailing Holbrook 6-0.

With the 5-0 advantage, Platte County didn’t lose any momentum with Maggie McBratney earning her win before Mayne (8-2 at No. 3), Stephenson (8-1) at No. 4 and Fish (8-3 at No. 5) finished off the sweep. The meeting with Kearney regularly decided the Suburban Conference Blue Division title in recent years, including last year’s sweep for the Pirates.

However, Platte County moved up to the White Division, relegating this particular victory to being only important to Class 2 District 8 seeding.

Platte County’s chances for a second straight conference title and White Division championship during the inaugural year in that tier likely hinges on Thursday’s road trip to Grain Valley (6-5). The two teams played in nonconference last year with the Eagles winning 7-2 on the way to a berth in Class 2 state semifinals that concluded with a fourth-place finish.

“I feel like we definitely have the potential to achieve the goals,” Maggie McBratney said.

TODD NUGENT/PC Preps Extra
Platte County sophomore Maggie McBratney hits a serve during a dual with Kearney on Tuesday at Platte County High School.

Platte County 8, Oak Park 1

With Stephenson out of the lineup, Burnett scored an 8-3 win at No. 5 and McFall an 8-1 win at No. 6 in Monday’s nonconference dual win for the Pirates at Oak Park High School. The two also teamed for a tiebreaker victory in doubles.

Platte County came out of doubles up 3-0. McBratney and Mayne were victorious 8-3 at No. 1, while Holbrook teamed up with Fish at No. 2.

Oak Park’s only win came at No. 1 singles despite Fish playing up at No. 4 and Burnett as high as No. 5 for the first time. Holbrook (8-1), Mayne (8-2) and Fish (8-3) also recorded strong margins of victory to help end the Pirates’ two match losing streak.

Liberty North 5, Platte County 4

Holbrook (No. 2) and Burnett (No. 6) both had multiple match points with a chance to close out singles victories but came up short in extremely tight tiebreakers last Wednesday in Liberty.

Platte County came out of doubles with a 2-1 lead thanks to victories for Holbrook and Fish at No. 2 (8-3) and Stephenson and McFall at No. 3 (8-5). A split of singles matches would have resulted in a minor upset but only Mayne (8-2 at No. 3) and Stephenson (8-3 at No. 4) were able to record wins. In addition to Holbrook’s 9-8 (9-7) and Burnett’s 9-8 (11-9) losses, Fish lost an 8-6 decision at No. 5.

Park Hill 9, Platte County 0

The Pirates were shut out for the only time this season last week at Plaza Tennis Courts in Kansas City.

Platte County’s No. 1 doubles team of McBratney and Mayne and No. 3 doubles team of Stephenson and McFall both battled to 8-5 losses, while Mayne lost 10-7 at No. 3. All three of Platte County’s losses this season have been to Class 3 opponents.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top Headlines

Follow us on social media