The West Platte volleyball team made some noise in the KCI Conference Tournament and finished in third place to start the 2021 season on August 28.
The Blue Jays began the tournament off in pool play and defeated Plattsburg and North Platte 2-0 each. After the strong start, West Platte fell to East Buchanan due to a few mental lapses.
West Platte freshman Arianna Nowler spikes the ball over the net in a match against North Platte during pool play of the KCI Volleyball Tournament.
“Committing several net violations is an easy thing to fix, but it is not something you can do against talented teams and expect to be successful,” West Platte head coach Connor Kellerstrass said. “We have to consistently play at a high level in each match, regardless of who is across the net from us.”
The Blue Jays fell to the eventual KCI Tournament Champion, Lawson, to move on to the third place match. West Platte had to face East Buchanan again, but this time it was a different result.
“A big difference was that we played smart volleyball. Placing the ball in places where the defense has to move is crucial to making your opponents uncomfortable,” Kellerstrass said.
The Bulldogs dealt with an injured player and the Blue Jays took advantage. They beat East Buchanan 2-0 in the third place match and brought home a plaque.
“It felt good to finish the day on a high note. Prior to the third place match, we had some mental errors throughout the day but that was nice playing a relatively clean match,” Kellerstrass said.
After winning the first two matches, the Blue Jays dealt with some adversity with back-to-back tough losses. West Platte didn’t let that phase them and it bounced back to eventually get third place.
“All of the girls handled the losses well; we know we have lots of areas for improvement. In most cases, the girls are harder on themselves than I am, this will bode well for them moving forward this season,” Kellerstrass said.
Senior Katie Groom stepped up in the final match and had her best performance of the day. Although they had a solid first outing to begin the season, the Blue Jays are still ready to get better.
“It’s exciting that our starting lineup currently features only one senior, two juniors, three sophomores, and a freshman. We have a lot to learn still since we are such a young team,” Kellerstrass said.