A tiebreaker win at No. 2 doubles from juniors Macy Doll and Lillian Goodale gave Platte County a chance, but a memorable rally in singles delivered the slim 5-4 victory — and possibly the Suburban Conference White Division title — in Thursday’s dual with Grain Valley at Platte County High School. The Pirates took the final three matches with sophomore Jayne Muir unwittingly provided the decisive outcome after almost three hours of play.
Platte County sophomore Macie Keith hits a shot at the net during a doubles match against Grain Valley on Thursday at Platte County High School.
This marked the first win for Platte County over Grain Valley since 2020.
“This was a big one. Very exciting,” Platte County coach Scott Blakley said. “Grain Valley is just a really solid team year in and year out.”
Grain Valley (7-5) led 2-1 coming out of doubles but lost some momentum after Doll and Goodale held on late in the No. 2 match against Eagles senior Kaelynn Clausen and sophomore Avery Lunn.
However, Platte County ended up needing three straight wins to earn the victory. Hayter evened the dual with an 8-4 victory at No. 6, but the late run started with sophomore Macie Keith, who delivered a dramatic the walkoff result in a similar 5-4 conference result against Belton earlier this season, overcoming a 6-3 deficit to take the No. 2 match 9-7, and junior Ellie Kaser held on to defeat senior Delaney Thurn 8-6 at No. 1 that featured frequent ridiculously long rallies.
That left the No. 4 singles match as the last action on the courts as 7 p.m. neared. Muir calmly finished off an 8-5 victory over Lunn that set off a celebration.
Platte County freshman Clare Hayter hits a backhand shot during a singles match against Grain Valley on Thursday at Platte County High School.
“I was hoping we’d go out in singles and battle, and that’s exactly what we did,” Blakley said. “Macie Keith finds a way at No. 2 and Ellie wins at No.1 and Jayne’s left. I have a lot of confidence in Jayne and her style of play. I watched Jayne run down so many good shots the Grain Valley girl hit and eventually clinch the win.”
Platte County recently shuffled the doubles lineup to pair Doll and Goodale while putting Muir with sophomore Katelyn Newberry. Then, the Pirates were forced into additional changes when junior No. 3 Addison Fleming suffered a potentially season-ending dislocated knee cap in a recent dual win over Ruskin. That shifted Goodale, Muir and Doll up one spot into the Nos. 3-5 spots in the lineup, while freshman Clare Hayter moved to No. 6.
Despite the changes, Platte County remained the unbeaten start to conference play, although the Pirates still need to beat Fort Osage and Raytown to avoid a potential share of the White Division crown.
“It was definitely a highlight for all the girls on the team (to beat Grain Valley),” Blakley said. “We have a lot of girls who haven’t been on varsity and haven’t been in the position they’re in this year. They’re stepping up, making plays and fighting.”
One of the busiest weeks of the season for Platte County started with a 6-3 conference win at home over Truman on Monday, but two days later, the Pirates were swept in a rematch of last year’s Class 2 District 8 championship dual with St. Pius X.
Platte County junior Ellie Kaser hits a return shot during a doubles match against Grain Valley on Thursday at Platte County High School.
Platte County also trailed 2-1 out of doubles against Truman but dominated the finales portion with Kaser (No. 1), Goodale (No. 3) and Hayter (No. 6) all recording 8-1 victories. Keith (8-4 at No. 2) and Muir (8-3 at No. 4) also won to help the Pirates rebound from a three-game losing streak against Class 3 competition in the previous weekend’s Liberty Invitational.
Kaser and Keith dominated the No. 1 doubles match 8-2, an even more important outcome after Doll and Goodale (8-6 at No. 2) and Muir and Newberry (9-7 at No. 3) came up just short.
“We were ready, but the doubles was quite intense,” Blakley said. “We were in that bad space of going 1-2, and then it was like we took all of the energy out of Truman. Our girls went out and played incredibly well in singles. The girls were playing with confidence.
“It was a great team win.”
In a matchup that likely determined the order of the top two seeds in this year’s Class 2 District 8 tournament, St. Pius X showed off the strength returning from last year’s playoff team. However, Platte County stayed close in all three doubles matches with Muir and Hayter teaming at No. 3 after Newberry pulled out minutes before the start of the dual. Muir and Hayter played together for the first time.
Platte County junior Lillian Goodale hits a serve during a doubles match against Grain Valley on Thursday at Platte County High School.
Kaser also hung with Warriors senior standout No. 1 Kiera Dunn but lost 8-5.
“Definitely the class of the district. We knew that going in. We knew it was going to be tough,” Blakley said. “In doubles, we came out and gave it a great shot. Overall, we lost 9-0, but I definitely feel like we can turn some of these matches when we hopefully travel there in a few weeks to play for a district title.”
Coming off that difficult result, Platte County lost the first two doubles matches the next afternoon with Grain Valley’s No. 1 duo of Thurn and senior Courtney Hicks over Kaser and Keith and the No. 3 duo of junior Lily Lunn and sophomore Payton Hazlett both winning winning by scores of 8-3.
Doll and Goodale led 7-4 at No. 2 but ended up in the tiebreaker after trailing 8-7. Platte County won the match 9-8 (7-5).
Tana Stock Northland Tournament
Platte County finished fourth out of 10 teams in the final standings of Saturday’s tournament at Oak Park High School in Kansas City. Kaser and Keith made the A doubles final but ended as runnerup, while Goodale and Doll (B doubles) came back from a first-round losse to win the consolation side of their bracket, while Hayter won her opener, lost in the quarterfinals and finished with back-to-back victories.
Kaser and Keith were the No. 2 seed and held that spot, losing 8-1 in the final to a Park Hill’s No. 1 team. Doll and Goodale needed to win three straight to finish 5th. Muir placed sixth despite entering the bracket with the No. 10 seed.
“It was a really good day for the Pirate tennis team,” Blakley said. “This was a great showing because this is always one of the hardest tournaments of the year that really prepares you well for districts. I’m excited for the girls. We had a really good week of tennis, and I think we grew up a lot.”
Platte County’s closing stretch of the regular season includes three duals in each of the next two weeks before returning to individual tournament play for Class 2 District 8. The Pirates will likely be the No. 2 seed in the team bracket that starts the week of October 13.
