The Platte County volleyball team (13-3) has been on fire lately, winning its last 10 matches, en route to being the Winnetonka Invitational champions on September 17.
Platte County’s Madison Hoyt spikes the ball over the net against Lawson in the Lady Pirates first game of tournament play on Sept. 17.
The Lady Pirates dominated in the tournament, not losing a single set, and entered tournament play against Lawson (12-2) after going 3-0 in pool play. Platte County took down Oak Park (2-9-1), Maryville (9-4) and Fort Osage (2-5) all by a score of 2-0.
After a short break for reseedings, the Lady Pirates eliminated Lawson in two sets, winning by comfortable scores of 25-13 and 25-12. Emma Harned dished out 30 assists along with two aces in the match, while Ava Wheeler had 12 digs and Kendall Johnson ended with 10 kills.
Platte County moved on to take on Pembroke Hill (8-3) in the semifinals in a more competitive match. The Lady Pirates won both sets, but they were tighter scores of 25-17 and 25-18.
The victory over Pembroke Hill let Platte County advance to the championship, where it took on St. Pius X (8-2). Harned’s eight digs and 22 assists helped the Lady Pirates to their sixth straight win in the tournament by a 2-0 match score.
Platte County pulled out set one 25-20 before clinching the match and becoming champions with a 25-19 victory. Avery Walter had seven digs, Ava Wheeler had 13 receptions, Jenna Wheeler had 12 receptions and Madison Hoyt had six blocks.
Park Hill (6-5-1) was also in the Winnetonka Invitational and was eliminated in the start of pool play when Grain Valley (4-4) won in three sets after going 2-0-1 in pool play. With only two sets being played in pool play, the Lady Trojans tied their first match when they took on North Kansas City, who was 6-0 at the time.
The Lady Trojans won set one 25-14 before the Lady Hornets took set two 25-20. Park Hill senior Shaye Koski had nine kills and Emily Jones passed out nine assists in the opening match.
Park Hill bounced back with back-to-back 2-0 sweeps over Raymore-Peculiar (2-5) and Hickman (14-5-3).
Koski stuffed the stat sheet in the final two pool play matches, finishing with 20 digs, 14 kills, two aces and one block. Emily Jones had 22 assists and Boston Wand had two blocks.
In Park Hill’s final match, it pulled out set one 25-22 before falling in the final two sets by 25-20 and 25-22 to lose in three sets. The Lady Trojans will head to Oak Park (2-9-1) and Platte County will host St. Joseph’s Central (6-7) on September 22.