Platte County ran its winning streak to eight in a row before falling to St. Pius X in the semifinals of the Grain Valley Spikefest on Saturday, Oct. 13.

In their final game, the Pirates lost 25-16 and 25-22 to the Warriors, a Class 3 powerhouse that has made nine straight trips to the postseason.

Sophomore Bryn McGehe led the Pirates with eight kills, while Molly Duggan had two of the team’s four aces. Carli Hensley led a trio of players in double figures in digs with 17, while Aly Anderson and Mcgehe had 12 each. Ashley Bell dished out 12 of the team’s 22 assists.

Platte County opened the tournament with a 2-0 win against Cole Camp (25-18, 25-15) in pool play. Harper Sinclair had seven kills and Mcgehe had six kills. Anderson had 15 digs, while Bell had seven assists, one more than Mcgehe, for the team lead.

The second round of pool play had the Pirates playing conference foe Grandview and winning 25-11 and 25-18.

Freshman Kate Brown had six kills, while sophomore Anderson had five to lead the Pirates’ offense and Mcgehe and Bell each had two aces. Hensley had seven digs and Mcgehe had seven assists, one more than Bell.

Pool play ended with a 25-22 and 25-17 win against a solid Pleasant Hill team.

Mcgehe and Sinclair had six and five kills, respectively for Platte County. Anderson and Duggan each had eight digs, while Bell had 11 assists.

In the opening round of the bracket play, the Pirates dispatched conference for Smithville, 25-22 and 25-17.

Anderson and Brown had seven kills each, while Sinclair and Mcgehe had six each for the Pirates. Hensley provided 21 digs, while Anderson had 15. Bell had 15 assists and Mcgehe added 11 for the Pirates.

Truman Tournament

Park Hill went 2-2-1 at the Truman Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 13 in Independence, Mo.

The Trojans swept Ray-Pec and Kearney for their victories in the tournament. Park Hill won 25-23 and 25-20 against Ray-Pec, a Suburban Conference Gold Division foe.

Sabrina Lane had nine kills, while Landyn Powell provided 10 assists. Kori Smith had seven digs and three aces.

Park Hill beat Kearney 25-22 and 25-19 for its other victory.

Oklahoma commit Kristen Birmingham had nine kills. Sabrina Lane had 10 digs and Kori Smith added nine for the Trojans. Aliyah Lyons (13) and Landyn Powell (11) both finished in double figures in assists and Rachel Pella had three blocks.

Park Hill lost in two sets to Marquette (25-17, 25-18) and in three to Lee’s Summit West (22-25, 25-16, and 15-25).

Smith had 12 digs and Birmingham had nine kills each Marquette. In the loss to West, Birmingham had 14 kills. Lyons had 22 assists and Lane had 10 digs.

Park Hill split with Liberty, losing 25-23 and winning 26-24.

The Trojans had 26 kills, led by seven each from Birmingham and Lane. Alyssa Ramos had nine digs and Lyons had 15 assists.

Other games

Platte County 2, Grain Valley 0

The Pirates won 25-20 and 25-23 against the visiting Eagles on Thursday, Oct. 11, which was Block Out Cancer and Parents Night at the high school.

Each of the players dedicated the game to someone close to them that has been affected by cancer, while the team did a freewill donation in honor of the late Jason Acker, the father of a currently player Gracie, who passed away this summer from cancer. Money raised will be donated to KU Med in Jason Ackers’ honor.

“This was a big game for us,” Platte County coach Katlyn Donovan said. “We told the girls that this game we were playing for something bigger than ourselves and the game. Our emotions might have been a little high from our pregame activities of our Parent’s Night and Block Out Cancer game but we came out and got the job done.”

This was the third win this season against Grain Valley. Platte County held a 20-13 lead against the Eagles in the first set before the visitors rallied within 21-18 and later 23-20, but kill by Riley Stehlik and a return error gave the Pirates the win. In set two, the Pirates held a 20-15 lead only to see Grain Valley pull within 21-19 and then 24-23, before a kill by Harper Sinclair ended the match.

“Overall, I thought we played well but there were too many times where we had ups and downs and inconsistency with our play,” Donovan said. “We would start the game out strong but seemed to let down in the middle and a couple time found ourselves having to gain the lead back. I was pleased with our ability to fight back and continue to be aggressive when we were down.”

Aly Anderson had seven kills to led the Pirates’ attack. Carli Hensley had 18 digs, while Ashley Bell had 10 assists and three aces.

Park Hill South 2, Truman 0

A balanced offensive attack led the Panthers to a 25-6 and 25-13 sweep over the Patriots in a Suburban Conference Red Division game in Riverside.

Michelle Dvorak had nine kills, while Rachel Francis and Abbie Day had five each. Francis had five blocks, while Alex Dvorak and Michelle Dvorak had four each. Kacy Lewallen had 12 digs and Adah Anderson added 10 digs, while Arley Anderson had all 21 assists for Park Hill South, now 20-10.

Blue Springs 2, Park Hill 1

The Wildcats won the decisive third set, 26-24 on Thursday, Oct. 11 in Suburban Gold play.

Sabrina Lane had 13 kills and 26 digs, while Kori Smith led Park Hill with 28 digs. Landyn Powell (17) and Aliyah Lyons (11) paced the Trojans in assists.

Park Hill South 2, Liberty North 0

The Panthers swept the Eagles, 25-21 and 25-17, on Tuesday, Oct. 9 in Suburban Conference Red Division game in Liberty, Mo.

Michelle Dvorak and Abbie Day had six kills each to pace the Panthers’ offense, while Arley Anderson had 20 assists. Day had 18 digs, while Dvorak and Adah Anderson had nine each. Rachel Francis added three blocks for Park Hill South.

DISTRICT Tournament

Platte County earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Class 4 District 16 tournament that will be hosted at St. Joseph Central, starting on Monday, Oct. 22.

The Pirates earned a first-round bye and will play the Staley/Oak Park winner at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

On Monday, Oct. 22, Park Hill South plays North Kansas City — one of two teams team with a losing record — at 5:45 p.m. and then Park Hill plays Central at 7 p.m.

The winner of those games match up in the other semifinal game on Oct. 23, at 6:15 p.m.

The championship game is set for 6 p.m. on Oct. 24.