Park Hill South beat its intra-district rival for the second time in two weeks, advancing back to the Class 2 District 15 championship dual looking for a fourth straight trip to the playoffs.
In a semifinal played Tuesday, Sept. 27 at Barry Park in Kansas City, Mo., the Panthers swept the three doubles matches with Park Hill, and Eva Kresovic (No. 1) and Halle Nixon (No. 5) completed quick two-set sweeps in singles to end the dual. They advance to play St. Teresa’s Academy in an interesting rematch.
NICK INGRAM/Citizen photo
Park Hill South freshman Chloe Norris hits a serve during a Class 2 District 15 semifinal dual with Park Hill on Tuesday, Sept. 27.
Last year, Park Hill South beat the Stars in the district final after losing to them in the regular season. St. Teresa’s again won the first dual between the two 5-4, earning the No. 1 seed. Kresovic did not play in that dual, having not yet met the minimum practice requirement for eligibility.
Park Hill South and St. Teresa’s Academy are scheduled to play in the final at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27 at Barry Park with the winner moving on to sectionals.
Kresovic and Chloe Norris dominated Park Hill’s top doubles team Kansas Dreps and Ruth Francis in an 8-2 win. Park Hill South’s No. 2 team of Abby Norris and Nixon won 8-3, while Suzanne Brown and Cydney Wuebben were 8-4 winners at No. 3.
The win improved Park Hill South to 10-3 overall, having closed the regular season with wins against Blue Springs South (8-1) and Pembroke Hill (9-0) last week.
Park Hill finished the season at 10-8, sweeping duals against Blue Springs (6-3) and Oak Park (8-1) to finish the regular season last week. The Trojans dominated North Kansas City 5-0 in the first round of districts on Monday to earn the rematch with Park Hill South.
The District 15 individual tournament will be later this week.
Platte County 5, St. Joseph Central 2
The Pirates came back from a 2-1 deficit after doubles to advance to the Class 2 District 16 final with a win Tuesday, Sept. 27.
Madalyn Ivy and Hannah Valentine lost in a tiebreker at No. 1, and Stephanie Laures and Rachel Valentine escaped with a 9-1 victory at No. 2 to avoid letting Central sweep the first three matches. Platte County then won all four singles matches that were finished.
Ivy (No. 2), Hannah Valentine (No. 3) and Laures (No. 4) were all dominant in sweeps, while No. 5 Lauren Laderoute closed the dual with a 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 victory.
Platte County advances to face Liberty in the championship dual, scheduled for 4 p.m. at Clayview Country Club in Kansas City, Mo. The Blue Jays are the No. 1 seed and defending district champion.
Suburban Conference Blue Division Tournament
Platte County dominated the first Suburban Conference Blue Division Tournament held Wednesday, Sept. 21 at Winnetonka High School in Kansas City, Mo.
After dominating the regular season duals for the team title, the Pirates put all four individual entries into the league brackets in the top four. Rachel Valentine won the singles title, while Madalyn Ivy and Hannah Valentine topped the doubles field.
Rachel Valentine beat teammate and doubles partner Stephanie Laures in the singles final, while Ivy and Hannah Valentine upset Kearney’s top-seeded team in the semifinals on the way to the victory. Mikayla Landers and Lauren Laderoute — Platte County’s other entry — lost to Kearney in the third-place match and finished fourth.
Laures topped Winnetonka’s No. 1 player in the semifinals to earn the spot opposite Rachel Valentine in the single championship match.
Platte County went 4-0 in Blue Division duals during the season, taking 35 of 36 matches overall. Each team put two entries into each of the league tournament’s brackets to help better determine all-conference honors.