Senior night didn’t quite have the happy ending that the Park Hill South volleyball team (3-11) hoped for as Platte County (17-6) won the match 3-1 after the Lady Panthers won the opening set on September 26.
While both schools reside in Platte County, this was a rare matchup between them. Since 2013, Platte County and Park Hill South had only met three times before this match and all three times were in the Truman Tournament with the Lady Panthers winning each one in two sets.
While it appeared that a Park Hill South sweep was a real possibility after the first set, history did not repeat itself. The Lady Pirates answered with three straight set wins to take the match.
Platte County senior Karsyn Stehlik spiked the ball towards a pair of Park Hill South defenders in the Lady Pirates 3-1 win on Sept. 26.
Platte County scored first in most of the sets, including the first one, which was tight early. There were five ties in the first 20 points, counting a 10-10 tie.
Park Hill South trailed for most of the set up to this point, but after going up 15-14 when Platte County junior Tatianna Murray served the ball out-of-bounds, the Lady Panthers didn’t trail again. Park Hill South pulled out set one by a score of 25-21.
Platte County regrouped between sets and came out hungry, scoring nine of the first 10 points in set two. With a nine-point deficit early, Park Hill South began to chip at the margin.
After Platte County’s lead was down to 11-6, Park Hill South kept the set within seven points for the most part until the Lady Pirates went up 21-11. The Lady Panthers made a last stint effort to come back but fell 25-17.
After tying the match, Platte County once again had a strong start in the third set. The Lady Pirates scored the first point then Park Hill South tied it and Platte County rattled off the next eight points.
Park Hill South brought it to within five points at 14-9, but the Lady Pirates pulled out a 25-16 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Platte County closed out the match with a score of 25-14 – winning on an ace by junior libero Avery Walter – to pull out the victory in four sets.
Platte County’s Emma Harned dished out a match-high 43 assists, alongside Kendall Johnson’s 14 kills and Karlee Riggs 15 kills. Murray added three aces and Avery Walter had 24 digs.
For Park Hill South, Isabel Day finished with 28 digs and 35 receptions, while Camryn Lutke passed out 23 assists. Phina Meyer added 28 digs and Tatum Kells had four blocks.
This was a big bounce back victory for Platte County who was coming off three losses in its last five matches after an 11-game winning streak was snapped by Liberty North (12-2) on September 20. The Lady Pirates fell short in two of their three matches in the out-of-state Lincoln Pius X Invite – which took place in Lincoln, Nebraska – on September 24.
On the other side, Park Hill South was in a different boat as the Lady Panthers have now been defeated in eight of their last nine matches. Park Hill South will look to bounce back against Liberty North on the road on September 29, while Platte County’s next match is at Raymore-Peculiar on the same day.