North Platte swept pool play and the championship series Saturday, Sept. 12 in Lathrop, Mo., winning the Lathrop Tournament for a second straight year. Katie Heese recorded a team-high 32 kills in four matches for the Panthers, who lost the first set of a pool play meeting with Plattsburg and the second set against Wellington-Napoleon during championship series. The Panthers beat Wellington-Napoleon 25-22, 23-25, 25-12 and Cameron 26-24, 25-12 in the matchups with the other two pool winners.
Brittney Gerling and Emmie Lee added 21 kills apiece, while Gerling tallied a team-high five blocks for North Platte. Kailey Pike averaged nearly 17 assists per match, while Heese led the Panthers with 29 digs.
South Holt Triangular
North Platte swept host South Holt and Mound City to improve to 15-1 on Monday, Sept. 14 in Oregon, Mo.
Heese totaled 21 kills in the two matches to go with 17 digs. The Panthers pulled away from South Holt early in a 25-12, 25-22 win while Mound City stuck close in a 27-25, 25-22 loss to North Platte.
North Platte 2, Lathrop 0
The Panthers won their KCI Conference opener Thursday, Sept. 10 in Lathrop, Mo., sweeping the Mules.
Already the KCI Conference Tournament champions, North Platte’s lone loss this season came to Bishop LeBlond. Heese put up eight kills and seven digs for North Platte against Lathrop while also tying Holly Sanders for the team-high with two blocks. Pike recorded 13 assists.
North Platte 2, Lone Jack 0
The Panthers scored a dominant sweep Tuesday, Sept. 8 in Dearborn, Mo. with a 25-17, 25-7 win. Pike dished out 25 assists with Lee and Heese leading the attack with eight kills apiece. Gerling added six. Heese topped the Panthers with nine digs.
West Platte 2, East Buchanan 0
The Bluejays avenged a previous loss and took the KCI Conference matchup between the schools Thursday, Sept. 10 in Weston, Mo.
East Buchanan won the first meeting on Thursday, Sept. 3 by taking the final two sets of a 2-1 win. West Platte swept the rematch and improved to 2-0 in league play but might have lost a star player in the process.
Jordan Schultz, a junior outside hitter, recorded 10 kills before leaving in the second set with an ankle injury, and coach Alysa Pfleiderer remains unsure of how long she will remain out. Patti Callahan, a senior, also collected 10 kills to go with three aces, while Gretchen Hiatt added nine kills and a team-high three blocks for the Bluejays in the 25-23, 25-17 win.
West Platte’s Megan Kottman collected 26 total assists.
Northland Christian 2, West Platte 0
Playing without Schultz, the Bluejays saw their brief two-match winning streak come to an end Monday, Sept. 14 in Weston, Mo. Their record sat at 6-5 entering a matchup at Nodaway-Holt on Tuesday, Sept. 15 in Graham, Mo. The result was not available at The Citizen’s deadline.
Hiatt recorded six aces in the loss, and she tied Nealie Niemeier for the team-high in kills with four.