ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The final point that secured Park Hill's playoff berth on Wednesday, Oct. 24 could be one talked about for quite some time.
A fast sequence featured a spike seemingly destined for match-extending point, a save for the ages and then ultimately a win for Park Hill in the Class 4 District 16 title match at Central High School Coliseum. Park Hill avenged two prior losses and swept top-seeded Platte County in straight sets, 25-23 and 25-22 to put the Trojans in the playoffs for the 17th time in program history but for the first time since 2000.
The result couldn't have been more in doubt when the match point rally started with a Platte County spike that Park Hill senior Sabrina Lane dug out backward toward the south end of the gymnasium.
“The final point was kind of surreal,” Park Hill coach Lindsey Hood said. “Sabrina deflected it, and it went up and hit the backboard and I was hoping we could get a good bounce so we could keep playing the ball. I'm just glad my girls stayed poised and in control of their movements and emotions.”
Platte County and Park Hill played their sixth and seventh sets against each other, and continuing a trend from a 2-1 win for the Pirates in the semifinals of their Platte County Invitational, the teams were evenly matched.
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
The Park Hill volleyball team celebrates after the final point to win the Class 4 District 16 tournament title on Wednesday, Oct. 24 in St. Joseph, Mo.
Just like in the previous meeting, Park Hill won the opening set, but this time, the Trojans Park led 24-22 and were on the verge of the sweep in the second set against top-seeded Platte County. Returning serve, Platte County's Kate Brown skied for a spike, and her effort careened off of Lane.
The ball reached the top of the rafters at Central High School before bouncing off the elevated backboard of the main basketball goal, rolling backward through the actual hoop and back into play. Park Hill's Kori Smith passed the once-wayward live ball to sophomore Kristen Birmingham, who returned the ball to the Pirates.
At one point ready to celebrate a critical point, Platte County's players generated another attack but an error gave the point -- and the match to Park Hill. The mind-boggling sequence ended with the Trojans emptying the bench to celebrate, while Platte County's players and coaches disappointedly accepted the second-place plaque after the scene calmed back down.
“That was crazy,” Platte County coach Katlyn Donovan said of the final point. “Give credit to Park Hill for chasing after the ball and not letting it die. Park Hill is a good defensive team. They sent the ball over, and I don't think we were mentally ready for it to come over. We thought it would just be a kill.”
Third-seeded Park Hill entered the postseason on a three-match winning streak before reeling off three straight wins, including a dramatic upset of second-seeded rival and defending district champion Park Hill South in the semifinals. The Trojans (14-17-3) draw Liberty in a Class 4 sectional scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 27 at Lee's Summit West High School.
The winner advances to play either host Lee's Summit West or St. Teresa's Academy in the quarterfinals later in the night.
“Our record doesn't show how hard we worked,” said Park Hill senior setter Landyn Powell said. “We play in a tough conference. Our record shows us to be the underdogs, but we came out on top for a reason.”
Now ready to avenge an earlier loss to Liberty, Park Hill needed to solve a team that had beaten them in a three-set, best-of-five sweep early in the season and then again a month later in tournament play. Both sets were competitive, and in the second, the score was tied 10 times and neither team led by more than two.
In fact, the second set was tied at at 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 before kills for Birmingham, who had a team-high 10, and Hannah Graves gave Park Hill a 24-22 to set up the final play theatrics.
Platte County’s Aly Anderson goes up for a kill against Park Hill on Wednesday, Oct. 24 in the Class 4 District 16 tournament in St. Joseph.
“It kept going back and forth,” said Powell, who had 13 assists -- one behind the team lead of Aliyah Lyons. “That is what kept us in and kept us going.”
Park Hill had success at the net stopping the Pirates' attack in their third meeting. Graves had five blocks, while four other players had two each. Three players finished in double figures in digs for the Trojans, led by 15 from Lane, while Smith had 13 and Alyssa Ramos contributed 12.
Platte County broke an 11-all tie in the first set and built a four-point lead before Park Hill rallied to tie the game at 17. A combo block from Graves and Lyons gave the Trojans their first lead at 18-17.
The first set was tied at late as 23 when Park Hill scored final two points -- both from senior Rachel Pella, who had a combo block with Alie Aiono and then a kill to close it out.
“We fought point-to-point until the very end,” said Hood, whose squad lost the last two district finals to Park Hill South. “To keep that mentality through that is mentally exhausting.”
Platte County received eight kills each from Brown and Aly Anderson, who added nine digs. Carli Hensley -- a senior and big part of the roster for multiple seasons as a defensive specialist -- had the team lead with 18 digs. Ashley Bell, a versatile junior, dished out 11 assists, while Bryn McGehe added 10 for the Trojans, the third straight team with 20-plus wins to fall to the Trojans in districts.
"They are a very good team. They are big and they swing well,” Donovan said. “It is tough to beat a good team three times. We needed one or two of them to be off. We didn't commit a lot of errors; they just earned a lot of their points. They are probably the best 14 (wins) and whatever team. When they go out and play, they don't look like a team with a losing record. If we were going to get the finals, I figured we would be playing Park Hill. The seeds were out of the window.”
Park Hill 2, Park Hill South 1
The Trojans beat the Panthers for the second time this season when the rivals matched up in the semifinals on Tuesday, Oct. 23.
Park Hill won 25-23 in set one, before the second-seeded Panthers won 25-15. In the final set, the underdog Trojans won 25-21 to knock off a team that entered the postseason on a streak of three straight district titles.
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
Park Hill’s Rachel Pella (35) and Sabrina Lane (22) goes up for a block on a bump by Platte County’s Bryn McGehe during the Class 4 District 16 title game on Wednesday, Oct. 24.
“The bottom line is we were 1-9 in conference; it stung all of us,” Hood said. “We are in an extremely tough conference. The things we kept talking about that it will make us stronger for districts. Keeping that focus on working hard, we didn't know what the outcome would be, but we have the work ethic to push through tough games.”
Birmingham, an early Oklahoma University commit, led Park Hill with 13 kills to go with 11 digs -- one of five in double figures in that category for the Trojans. Smith led the way with 22 digs to lead the team, while Valencia Zamora added 13, Ramos 12 and Lane 11 to go with her two service aces.
Graves recorded eight blocks, while Powell (14) and Lyons (13) each had double figures in assists.
Park Hill South, which finished the season 23-11, received six kills from Lauren Leners and five from Rachel Francis, who shared the team-lead of three blocks with Michelle Dvorak.
Abbie Day's 16 digs led the Panthers, who also got double figures in the category from Adah Anderson (13) and Hannah Knight (11). Arley Anderson had 28 assists, while Adah Anderson and Kacy Lewallen had two aces each.
Platte County 2, Staley 0
The Pirates punched their ticket to the finals with a 25-19, 25-15 win against Staley in the first semifinal on Tuesday, Oct. 23.
The victory was the third in a row and the 11th in the past 12 games for Platte County. Brown led the offense with eight kills, and senior Harper Sinclair added seven. Bell had 15 assists, while adding two aces. Hensley also had two aces and 17 digs.