After four individuals punched a ticket to state, the Platte County girls’ tennis team was on the verge of bringing home the title of the Class 2 District 8 Championship when the Lady Pirates went up 2-1 early but ultimately fell 5-2 to St. Pius X on Oct. 5.
The singles and doubles tournaments were played the week ahead of the team’s tournament with four Lady Pirates making their way into the history books. In a unique championship matchup, Platte County had both doubles teams playing against each other.
Platte County senior Ellie Fish is one of four Lady Pirates - along with Olivia Holbrook, Addy Mayne and Cosette Stephenson - who will play in the Class 2 State Tournament.
Cosette Stephenson and Addy Mayne were in the doubles championship against teammates Ellie Fish and Olivia Holbrook on Sep. 30. While Stephenson and Mayne walked away with a meaningless 6-1, 6-4 victory – since both teams qualified for state before the match began – to become the first duo in program history to win a doubles championship.
Ahead of the day, only three players in program history had qualified for state: Lisa Wyrwinski and Rachel Bumstead in doubles in 2009 and Molly McBratney in singles in 2020. Back in 2009, Wyrwinski and Bumstead were the doubles runners-up, making the Stephenson and Mayne doubles champions even more special.
In team play, Platte County entered the tournament as the top-seed and had a bye in the quarterfinals, starting with a matchup with Kearney on Oct. 4. The Lady Pirates defeated the Lady Bulldogs 6-1 on the day to move on to their first district championship since 2016.
Platte County had never won a district title before the day and it was looking like more history was going to be written in the tournament when the Lady Pirates won two of the three doubles matches to take a 2-1 advantage. Maggie McBratney and Madelyn McFall lost their doubles match 8-4, while the two doubles squads that already clinched state berths both won their matches.
In singles play, St. Pius X swept four of the Platte County singles teams and Mayne came up short on a tiebreaker to end the Lady Pirates’ season with a 5-2 defeat. Fish was the only returner from last fall as the Lady Pirates’ success this year is even more impressive, doing so with a relatively inexperienced group of girls.
St. Pius X showed its talents off in the next round, taking down Capital City in the Class 2 Sectionals on Oct. 10. Fish, Holbrook, Stephenson and Mayne will compete in the Class 2 State Doubles Tournament in Springfield on Oct. 13.