Two days after defeating North Kansas City (12-9-3) in three sets to win the first postseason game under head coach Jackie Rathke, the Park Hill South volleyball team (15-9) was on the opposite side of a sweep against Liberty (35-2) on Oct. 22.
Entering the Class 5 District 8 Tournament as the No. 4 seed, Park Hill South were tasked with taking on the No. 1 seed who had won 15 of its last 16 matches – who is also ranked as the fourth-best team in all of Class 5 – in the semifinals. The Lady Blue Jays narrowly defeated the Lady Panthers in five sets in the regular season matchup on Oct. 4, but the postseason contest was a different story.
Park Hill South played Liberty tight in the first two sets, coming up short 25-14 and 25-21 to trail 2-0 in the match. The Lady Blue Jays scored the opening four points of the third set to take control early, pushing the margin to double digits at 14-4.
After trailing 16-7, the Lady Panthers scored two of the next three points, but the Lady Blue Jays flew to a 25-12 win in the set to sweep the match. Park Hill South’s second season under Rathke came to an end with a 15-9 record.
The Park Hill South volleyball team walks off the court at Liberty High School after falling 25-21 in the second set against Liberty in the Class 5 District 8 Semifinals as the Lady Panthers lost in three sets to end their season with a 15-9 record on Oct. 22.
To make it to the Class 5 District 8 Semifinals, Park Hill South won in three sets over fifth-seeded North Kansas City on Oct. 20. While the Lady Panthers won all three sets, they were all close.
Park Hill South won the three sets by scores of 25-19, 25-21 and 25-20 to win its first postseason match since 2020. The Lady Panthers was in full stride ahead of districts, winning five straight matches and eight of their last 10.
Starting the fall with a 3-12 record, Park Hill South turned its season around at the midway point when playing in the Blue Springs South Tournament on Oct. 1 as the Lady Panthers went 3-3. After the tournament, Park Hill South split its next four games – including a five-set victory over Park Hill (14-11-1) when trailing 2-0 – before bringing back some hardware in the Ozark Grand Slam Invite on Oct. 15 and closing out the regular season on a high note.