Platte County’s A Karlee Riggs spikes the ball over the net in the Lady Pirates’ home loss to St. Michael the Archangel on Aug. 31.
PLATTE CITY – After matching up in the Class 4 State Quarterfinals 306 days prior, the Platte County volleyball team (4-2) and St. Michael the Archangel (3-0) met again but this time it had a different result.
Last postseason, Platte County swept St. Michael to punch a ticket into the Class 4 State Final Four and the squads had an early season rematch on Aug. 31. The Lady Pirates lost 3-1, winning the second set.
Set one was tight with Platte County holding onto a 12-10 lead midway through before St. Michael scored six straight. Coming out of a timeout, Avery Walter set up Kendall Johnson for a kill to end the run.
The Lady Pirates eventually fought back to tie the set at 20, regaining the lead twice when Malin Cole and Tatianna Murray both had kills. The Lady Guardians went on to win the set, 25-22.
Platte County tied the match up by coming out on top in the next set by the same score, but the third and fourth sets weren’t as close. St. Michael came away with the victory, taking set three 25-15 and set four 25-17.
Johnson had a team-high 15 kills and Jenna Wheeler led the way in digs with 17. Murray and Cierra Poldberg both had two blocks.
That was Platte County’s first loss in the new Pirate Fieldhouse, after beating Staley (1-2) in four sets in the home opener on Aug. 29. Johnson had 11 digs and 13 kills, while Walter had 10 digs and Murray finished with 13 kills.
Platte County opened the season out of state, heading to Nebraska to compete in the Lincoln Northeast Tournament on Aug. 26. The Lady Pirates fell 2-1 in the season opener against Beatrice (4-1).
Platte County went on to win the next two matches in the tournament – 2-1 against Lincoln Southeast (3-3) and 2-0 versus Lincoln Northeast (1-4) – and extended that win streak to four after getting back in the Show Me State. The Lady Pirates headed to Kearney (5-3) and came away with a 3-0 victory on Aug. 28.
Platte County looked to bounce back from the loss to St. Michael when it headed to Raytown (1-0) on Sept. 5. The Lady Pirates will host Grain Valley (1-1) on Sept. 7.