The Platte County volleyball team (6-3) crossed the state border to compete in the 28th Annual Lansing Volleyball Invitational where the Lady Pirates took fifth place on September 10.
Platte County took on some tough competition in the tournament and finished in third place in the pool play. The Lady Pirates won their Power Play Match to finish with a record of 3-2 on the day.
Platte County started the fall off on the wrong side of a sweep against Kearney (2-1-3) on August 29. The Lady Pirates lost their first set 25-13, before progressively improving on the ensuing two sets.
Platte County scored 17 in the second set before falling just short in the final set by a score of 26-24. Kendall Johnson hasn’t lost a beat in transitioning to an outside hitter as she led the team with eight kills in the match, while Ava Wheeler collected 13 digs and Emma Harned dished out 26 assists in her first career start.
Platte County bounced back with a sweeping victory in the first road match of the season when the Lady Pirates took on Staley (1-4) on August 30. The Lady Falcons were unable to win a single set, with the Lady Pirates winning by scores of 25-15, 25-9 and 25-17.
Johnson once again led the team in kills with 11, while Karsyn Stehlik had eight kills and five digs. Harned was once again a solid facilitator, passing out 24 assists.
In its third match of the season, Platte County dominated Raytown (2-3) with a sweep on September 6. The Lady Pirates set the tone for the match with a 25-6 win in the opening set.
Platte County outscored Raytown 25-11 and 25-13 in the closing two sets to complete the second consecutive sweep. Karlee Riggs had 13 kills, while Wheeler and Harned both had 10 digs.
The Lady Pirates rattled off their third straight sweep – and the second White Division victory – when they defeated Grain Valley (3-2) on September 8. The first set was the most competitive with Platte County taking a 2-point lead to end the game, 26-24.
The Lady Eagles progressively got worse throughout the match, only scoring 14 and 11 points in the closing sets when Platte County became 4-1 and 2-0 in the conference. The Lady Pirates will head to Belton (5-1) for a White Division match on September 15.