Platte County finished off a second straight unbeaten run through the Suburban Conference Blue Division with a 9-0 shutout of Belton on Tuesday, Sept. 12 in Platte City.
Lauryn Klein stepped in for an injured Jaycie Call (wrist) and had wins at No. 6 singles, while pairing with Mikayla Landers at No. 2 doubles for Platte County, which was never threatened in the fourth of four league duals. Platte County lost only two matches during a second straight unbeaten run through the Blue Division — running the streak of conference titles shared or won outright to six straight.
Raytown South has not fielded a team in recent years, limiting the conference schedule.
In addition to Klein filling in, Brittany Alvarado — a senior — played up at No. 5 and recorded a win for Platte County in the sweep, while Grace Lewis won at No. 4 in Call’s spot. Lewis normally plays No. 5.
Platte County has won eight straight in league competition since splitting two duals with Kearney in 2015. The Blue Division used to play a double round robin before switching formats to one dual with each team prior to last season.
Staley 6, Platte County 3
Pirates junior No. 1 Hannah Valentine held on for a 10-8 win over Staley freshman Claire Thigman in a nonconference dual Thursday, Sept. 14 in Kansas City, Mo. The Falcons reversed the score of a loss to Platte County last season.
Suburban North Tournament
Platte County put half its entries into the championship bracket and half into the consolation side Saturday, Sept. 16 in Kansas City, Mo.
Valentine and Crystal Billings — both juniors — reached the championship match of A doubles after an 11-10 (3) tiebreaker win over Park Hill’s Elise McFee and Lauren Steckelberg in the semifinals. The Pirates’ top duo were then shut out in the championship and ended up second.
Call reached the semifinals of the B singles flight but dropped her final two matches to finish fourth.
Platte County’s final two entries both ended up sixth.
Mikayla Landers came back from a first round loss to reach the consolation final at A singles, as did Lewis and Alvarado in B doubles. Lewis and Alvarado nearly took fifth but lost 9-8 (6) in tiebreaker to Park Hill’s Lily Cota and Casey Lasater.
Platte County totaled 36 points in the tournament and finished fifth out of eight teams. St. Joseph Central was fourth with 37 points.
St. Joseph Central 7, Platte County 2
With the dual result already decided, Valentine still fought back for an 11-9 win that took nearly two hours Monday, Sept. 18 in Platte City.
The match with Olivia Tewell at No. 1 lasted nearly two hours, and Valentine trailed 8-3 before forging her comeback. Central led 3-0 out of doubles and were up 7-1 after Alvarado earned a 10-4 victory at No. 6 for the Pirates’ only other win.
Platte County owns a 5-5 overall record and has lost three of four.