Platte County middle hitter Maren Mair punctuated her high-school volleyball career with an ace block on Nov. 16 at Avila University.
The senior took park in the Greater Kansas City Volleyball Coaches Association Mo-Kan All-Star Match and helped the Missouri All Stars earn a three-set win against the Kansas All-Stars, sealing a 25-22, 17-25, 26-24 win for the Show-Me Staters with a stuff at the net. Official statistics were not kept.
“The players did a great job working together even though they only practiced together a couple of times,” said Platte County coach Jan Patterson, who also helped coach the Missouri team in the all-star match.
Platte County’s Teryn Scott, Park Hill’s Olivia Nowakowski and Park Hill South’s Katrina Kaltefleiter were also on the Missouri roster.
Mair, a second-team Missouri High School Volleyball Coaches Association all-state honoree, took her usual spot on the front row during the all-star match, while Scott played libero.
The duo helped the Pirates to a 33-3-2 record this season and a spot in the Class 4 playoffs. All three losses were against Liberty, which defeated Platte County in the quarterfinals on the way to a fourth-place showing at state. Mair led Platte County in kills for the second straight season, while Scott – who was set to make her signing with Cowley County (Kan.) Community College official during a Nov. 19 ceremony at the school, topped the 300-dig mark for the third straight season, eclipsing 1,000 for her career.
Nowakowski, committed to play at Northwest Missouri State University, finished this season with 498 digs and also totaled more than 1,000 in her career. She also recorded team-highs of 42 aces and 145 service points during the Trojans’ 11-19-2 season that ended with a loss to Platte County in the Class 4 District 16 semifinals.
Kaltefleiter helped Park Hill South reach the Class 4 District 15 championship match, which ended with a Liberty victory to start the Blue Jays’ playoff run. The Panthers finished as runners up in Class 4 the previous season.