For the second time in the last three years, the Platte County volleyball team (26-9) is headed to the Class 4 State Semifinal after sweeping St. Michael the Archangel (27-6-1) on Oct. 29.
Two seasons ago, Platte County made it to the Class 4 Final Four but was bumped up a class last fall and came up short in a district championship match. This year, the Lady Pirates had the opportunity to host the Class 4 Quarterfinals and not only defeated the Lady Guardians but did so in sweeping fashion.
“I’m just so proud of the girls and the hard work they’ve done all year long,” Platte County head volleyball coach Katlyn Donovan said. “These are great kids that deserve all this success that they’ve earned this year. I know they’re probably tired of seeing me but unfortunately, they have to spend another week with me.”
The Platte County volleyball team celebrates after completing a sweep over St. Michael the Archengal in the Class 4 State Quarterfinals on Oct. 29 to clinch a spot in the Class 4 State Semifinals.
The first set was tight from the get-go with six ties and six lead changes in the first 16 points until a spike by Tatianna Murray gave the Lady Pirates a 9-8 advantage to spark a 10-1 run. St. Michael called a timeout trailing 9-8 and Platte County came out with five of the next six points – starting with a kill by Kendall Johnson – and the Lady Guardians called another timeout trailing 16-9.
Emma Harned had two straight aces to push the Platte County lead to 18-9 when St. Michael started to play stellar volleyball. The road team chipped at the deficit and eventually scored six straight points to close the gap to 21-20.
With a chance to tie it, the Lady Guardians surrendered a point when the ball hit the ceiling and the Lady Pirates never let their opponent tie it the rest of the way. Karlee Riggs spiked the ball to the ground to give Platte County a 24-22 advantage and then St. Michael spiked the ball into the net to give the Lady Pirates their 25th point and a 1-0 lead in the match.
“I feel like our team has had a pretty good identity these past few years of never giving up on any sort of game. We could be down by 10 points or up by 10 points and whoever’s going back to serve could put us on a good run. St. Michael’s is a great team, but I just feel like we were mentally prepared for anything and that helped in our favor,” Donovan said.
In the second set, Platte County jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead after an ace by Avery Walter and eventually went up 7-2 and 19-9. The Lady Pirates were in complete control the rest of the way to take set two by a score of 25-14.
“In some of the matches that we’ve had earlier in the year, I would say maybe we lost a little bit of focus between the first and second sets, so we’ve tried to do a better job of refocusing them in the huddle during those three minutes and maybe adjusting our game plan a little bit to what they might be doing differently. I feel like whatever adjustments we’re making, they’re doing a really good job of embracing it and knowing what’s going to happen,” Donovan said.
The third set was once again a tight one as the Lady Guardians refused to go down without a fight. Platte County went up 6-1 early, but St. Michael came back to tie it at 12 and no team was able to go up by two points until a spike by Riggs put Platte County ahead, 17-15.
There were three more ties from that point on, lastly occurring at 20-20 when Karsyn Stehlik spiked it to give the home team a late lead. Platte County went up 24-21 and then it came out with the final point when Harned’s serve couldn’t be returned and the Lady Pirates clinched a spot at state.
“Just being one of four teams left in Class 4 is an accomplishment within itself. I’m beyond proud of the girls. They battled hard, did everything that we asked them to do and executed the game plan well,” Donovan said.
The last time Platte County made it to the semifinals, it came up short in five sets to Parkway West – who went on to lose in four sets to Willard in the championship – and ended with a third-place finish with a sweep over Nerinx Hall. The Lady Pirates will look to improve from a 1-1 finish among the final four this go-around and bring back some hardware.
“I would love to come away with two more wins. I feel like we’re playing our best volleyball and trusting each other towards the end of season. Who knows what’s going to happen, I’m just proud that we’ve gotten to this point and hopefully we can come home with a state championship,” Donovan said.
Johnson finished the match with 11 kills, five blocks and five digs while Murray had seven blocks, Harned had 27 assists and Jenna Wheeler had 16 receptions. The Lady Pirates were coming off a four-set victory over Kearney (16-14-3) in the Class 4 District 8 Championship on Oct. 25.
Platte County’s semifinal match will be against Westminster Christian (30-2-5) on Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. After that, the Lady Pirates will play in the championship on Nov. 4 if they win.
If Platte County comes up short in the first match, it will play at 8 p.m. on that same day in the third-place match. The Lady Pirates will play Incarnate World Academy (28-12) or Webb City (32-4-2) in their second match.