Platte County continued a final push toward the postseason with a pair of Suburban Conference White Division sweeps, looking to regain full health and top form ahead of a chase for another Class 4 District 8 title.
Platte County senior Tatianna Murray looks to return the ball over the next against Raytown on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
On Thursday, Platte County traveled to Belton and came away with a tidy 25-21, 25-16, 25-14 victory while still without senior middle blocker Cierra Poldberg, who has now missed the entirety of what has become a six-match winning streak. She suffered a foot injury during last month’s Winnetonka Invitational where Platte County went 1-1-2 and bowed out early with a loss to St. Pius X in bracket play.
Three days later, Platte County lost to Class 5 power Liberty North and dropping to 11-7-2 overall. The Pirates have not lost since and now sit on the precipice of a seventh straight 20-win season.
Platte County (17-7-2) hit six in a row with the sweep of Belton behind 15 kills from senior returning all-state outside hitter Kendall Johnson and six block assists apiece from senior Tatianna Murray and sophomore Malin Cole, who have combined with increasingly confident sophomore Emma Macaluso to maintain a strong interior presence in Poldberg’s absence. Murray and junior Karlee Riggs, the other returning all-stater, added nine kills apiece.
Having experimented at times with a two-setter look, Platte County senior Ava Wheeler has returned to full duty and spread out 25 assists, while the deep defensive back line of seniors Jenna Wheeler (15 digs), Avery Walter (six digs) and Ava Filger (four digs) remains solid.
Platte County senior Jenna Wheeler hits a pass against Raytown on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Platte County came into the season with high expectations and a ton of potential, especially after receiving a return to Class 4 in the state’s annual enrollment classification process. The Pirates have reached the playoffs two of the past three years and only missed out in 2021 when pushed up to Class 5 for a season that ended with a loss to Park Hill in a district title game.
The other two seasons have ended with Platte County placing third at state in Class 4 for the best two finishes in program history.
However, Platte County still must navigate matchups this week at home against William Chrisman and on the road at Grain Valley on Thursday. The Pirates currently have a 6-0 record in White Division play and will be looking to finish off an unbeaten run through league play.
Grain Valley sits at 6-1 in the White Division with an earlier loss to Platte County, which can wrap up a share of a fifth straight conference title with a win over William Chrisman. The Pirates can take the crown outright with victories in each of the last two regular season matches.
Platte County received the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Class 4 District 8 tournament by virtue of the loss to St. Pius X. However, Platte County played that match without the Wheelers, who were unavailable due to a personal commitment, and Poldberg, injured in the previous match. The Pirates open with seventh-seeded Kansas City East on Tuesday, October 17.
Platte County senior Ava Filger goes up for an overhand hit against Raytown on Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Platte County 3, Raytown 0
The Pirates went deep down the roster in what ended up a 25-9, 25-9, 25-8 conference sweeps Tuesday at Pirate Fieldhouse.
Johnson led the offense with 11 kills, while Macaluso added a career-high eight followed by seven from Riggs, six from Murray, five from junior Ava Moffitt and four from Cole. The Pirates also totaled 10 total service aces with four apiece from Filger and Ava Wheeler, who also had 24 assists. Carissa Bacon, a sophomore, also continued to see spot duty at setter and added seven assists and seven digs.
Raytown’s limited attack resulted in Platte County recording just three total blocks, but Jenna Wheeler again led the defense with 15 digs.
Platte County 3, Raymore-Peculiar 1
For a third straight match, the Pirates came back for a win after dropping the first set during the previous Thursday’s nonconference matchup at Pirate Fieldhouse. The two teams tied 1-1 in a pool division matchup at the Winnetonka Invitational when the Wheelers didn’t play.
Platte County again pulled away late in an otherwise close contest for a 23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-14 win. The Pirates ended up with a similar outcome two days earlier against Smithville.
The majority of Platte County’s offense came from the trio of Murray (career-high 18 kills, a mark she hit for the third time this season), Riggs (career-high 17 kills) and Johnson (14 kills). Ava Wheeler made no ball handling errors in dishing out a career-high 48 assists, topping the mark of 45 she set two days earlier against Smithville.
Filger finished with three of Platte County’s five service aces, while Murray, Macaluso and Murray all contributed five total blocks. Macaluso had the the Pirates’ only solo block. The defense finished with 69 total digs with Jenna Wheeler (19), Filger (15), Johnson (11) and Walter (10) all finishing in double figures.
