The Park Hill volleyball team fell short against Platte County as the Pirates won their home opener when they defeated the Trojans three sets to none on Aug. 31.
Platte County senior Karsyn Stehlik spikes the ball over the net as the Park Hill duo of Makenzie Ryerson and Madison Haugsven jump up to try and block it during the match-up between the Pirates and Trojans on Aug. 31.
The Pirates and Trojans were in a close first set before Platte County pulled it out and stole set one, 25-17. The packed gym full of Pirate fans for the first time since 2019 helped energize Platte County.
“It was a complete turnaround from last year when there was only two people allowed per athlete,” Platte County head coach Katlyn Donovan said. “The crowd and student section were amazing tonight and I know that the girls are really happy being able to compete in a full gym again.”
The second set was much more competitive with 11 ties and lead changes before Park Hill began to take control. After being knotted at 12-12, the Trojans started to pull away and extended their lead to 19-15.
“I felt like our defense picked up when we figured out their offense a little bit better,” Park Hill head coach Linsey Hood said. “It caused them to try to mix some more things up.”
Platte County called a timeout and fought their way back, tying it at 19 and eventually taking a 24-23 lead. After matching points, the Pirates came out on top 26-24 when a hit by Trojan junior Shayne Koski hit the ceiling and came down quickly to the floor giving Platte County a 2-point lead to take set two.
“The ceiling can get us some points since it is so low, and we are used to it. A lot of teams come in and aren’t used to the low ceiling, so we took that to our advantage,” Donovan said.
Platte County took an early 5-2 lead and never looked back in the final set as Park Hill never took the lead. The Pirates led 20-10 and the Trojans made an attempt to comeback before falling 25-16 and giving Platte County the sweep.
“It was a good start to our home season; Park Hill is always a tough competition since they have such great athletes. Coming in, our focus was to play good and clean volleyball and I think we did that pretty well,” Donovan said.
Park Hill and Platte County will both be back at it against different opponents on Thursday, Sept. 9. The Pirates will head to Kearney to take on the Bulldogs as the Trojans will be hosting Liberty.