Platte County’s starters hold up the district plaque after winning the third championship since 2020 after knocking off No. 1 seed St. Pius X in four sets on Oct. 24.
PLATTE CITY – Having only three losses to Missouri schools all year long, the Platte County volleyball team (22-8-2) got a chance to rematch two of them in the postseason en route to winning its third district title since 2020.
Making deep runs in the postseason has been a recurring thing in recent memory for Platte County who won back-to-back district championships in four sets – before being eliminated in the state quarterfinals – against top seeded St. Pius X (26-7). The Lady Pirates were beaten 2-0 early in the year by that same team, but the result was different in the Class 4 District 8 Tournament on Oct. 24.
The final set of the match was as tight as it could be with 14 ties after the score was 18-18 and neither squad having more than a one-point lead until the last play. Platte County and St. Pius both broke 30 points in the set and there were seven set-clinching serve opportunities down the stretch after being tied at 25.
Platte County celebrates after scoring a point in the Class 4 District 8 Championship Match against St. Pius X.
“We were down most of the fourth set, but we told our girls just control our side and limit our errors,” Platte County volleyball coach Katlyn Donovan said. “We called a timeout and we had given them 12, so we had 12 errors on our side. That’s too many so in the second half of that set we did a good job of controlling our side of the net and limiting our errors.”
St. Pius had the upper hand to push the margin to two points and win the set – and tie match, given a 2-1 lead by Platte County up to that point – on five consecutive occasions but its last lead was 30-29. Ava Filger set up Tatianna Murray for a kill to put the Lady Pirates up 31-30 for their first time ahead since 24-23.
The Lady Warriors scored the ensuing point to tie the set once again, but Murray responded with another kill. Platte County led 32-31 and was finally able to push the margin to two points when Karlee Riggs set up Kendall Johnson for the district championship-clinching kill.
“That was awesome from both teams that went up to battle back, that was crazy. I told the girls if they ever told me that we would have our middle hitter playing middle back defense and our outside that plays three rotations setting the ball to Kendall (Johnson) on the outside to win us the game, I never would have imagined that,” Donovan said.
Kendall Johnson had 17 kills in the third district championship match that the Lady Pirates have won since 2020 on Oct. 24.
It was an impressive comeback for Platte County, who never led in the first set and lost 25-23 and started off down 0-1 in the match. After the second set was tied 1-1, the Lady Pirates rattled off seven straight and held a comfortable cushion en route to a 25-19 win.
With the match tied, the third set was pivotal, and St. Pius took a 17-13 margin but Platte County responded with a 12-5 run to win the set 25-22. Malin Cole had a kill to give the Lady Pirates a 21-20 lead and Murray had the set-winning kill.
“We’re notorious for digging ourselves in a hole and having the ability to dig ourselves out. When you’re in a hole, a lot of times teams will start tipping, will start roll shutting and not trusting the practice that they’ve done. We do a good job of swinging away and keep believing in what we can do, so that was that was great to see,” Donovan said.
This was the fourth straight trip to a district championship for Platte County – who holds a 3-1 record in such games – including back-to-back titles. The Lady Pirates moved on to the Class 4 State Quarterfinals for the second straight season to play St. Michael the Archangel on Oct. 28.
Karlee Riggs led the match with 28 kills en route to leading Platte County to the 3-1 victory.
“We have eight seniors on the team this year, they’ve worked hard all four years. It’s a testament to the hard work and the dedication that these girls put in to be in a district championship four years in a row. Some schools don’t even get to one, and we’ve been in it four times when we’ve won three, so kudos to them,” Donovan said.
Riggs led the match with 28 kills, followed by Murray with 21 and Johnson’s 17. Jenna Wheler had three aces along with 19 digs and Ava Wheeler erupted for 64 assists.
Platte County went on to play St. Michael the Archangel (27-5) in the Class 4 State Quarterfinals for the second straight season. While the Lady Pirates won the match last season to take third place at state for the second time in three years, the Lady Guardians came out on top 3-1 early this fall.
“I told the girls it’s like a redemption week course. St. Pius took us in the Winnetonka Tournament and St. Michael’s took us early in the year. We’re a completely different team from the beginning of the year and I’m sure St. Michael’s is too but if we can come in and control our side, then do what we need to do, I think we’ll be fine,” Donovan said after the district championship.
Platte County dropped the first set 25-17, tied the match with a 25-20 second set victory then fell behind again when it lost the third set, 25-14. The Lady Pirates bounced back to force a fifth set before ultimately being eliminated from postseason play.
Platte County had eight talented seniors who left quite the legacy on the program, having at least 22 wins each of the last four years. The Lady Pirates will have some young talent coming back but have some big shoes to fill.