Thanks to a clean sweep over Kearney, Platte County earned the Suburban Conference Blue Division title on Monday, April 30.
The Pirates posted a 9-0 victory against Kearney at home. The win was the second conference title in three years for Platte County but unlike in 2016 when the team shared with Kearney and Winnetonka, this is an outright title.
It is believed to be the first in school history.
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
Platte County’s Nathen Mair watches a return in the Pirates dual against Kearney on Monday, April 30 at the Platte County Tennis Courts in Platte City, Mo.
“I’m so very excited for these young men,” said Platte County coach Anna Nutt, who is retiring and leaving coaching at the end of the season. “They have worked so hard all season. They come to practice ready to put the work in and come to the matches ready to play. Many stay after and hit extra which is something we’ve never been able to do until we got the courts. The goal we set in March was to be undefeated conference champions and it was amazing to be able to achieve that yesterday.”
The Pirates went up 3-0 after doubles. Noah Singer and Spencer Klopfer won 8-2 at No. 1 doubles. Nathen Mair and Porter Curtis and Trenton Percival and Isaac Cook won 8-5 at No. 2 and 3 doubles, respectively.
Singer and Curtis posted 8-0 wins in singles. Percival won 8-2, while Klopfer won 8-4. Mair won 8-6, while Cook won 9-7.
Suburban North
Tournament
Park Hill South took eighth and Park Hill was ninth at the Suburban North Tournament held on Saturday, April 28.
The Panthers had a pair of fifth-place finishes, part of their 19 points.
Andrew Robaska played in ‘A’ singles and lost his first match, but came back with three straight wins to medal. He beat Kearney’s Brady Keys, Liberty’s Briggs Hall and North Kansas City’s Cooper Harmon.
In his place match, Robaska won 8-3 against Harmon, who lost his opening match against Hall.
In ‘B’ singles, Gavin Lee opened with a 10-8 victory against Park Hill’s Trey Safford, but lost 10-8 to Staley’s Mason Gates in the quarterfinals. In the consolations side, he beat Kearney’s Adam Szymala before besting North Kansas City’s Nathan Pham, 8-5, in the fifth-place match.
Park Hill’s double team of Griffin Koski and Blake Harris placed third in ‘B’ doubles.
The two won 10-3 against St. Joseph Central’s Cade Alden and Clayton Mikesch, but lost to Liberty’s Noah Koch/Cameron Duello, 10-6.
Koski/Harris own 8-2 against Truman’s Keegan Welch and Nestor Olivas in the consolation side. In the place match, Park Hill won 8-6 against the Central double team in the second matchup.
Liberty won the team title with 51 points and had the champion in the ‘B’ singles as well as both doubles.
North Kansas City 5, Park Hill 4
The Trojans got off to a good start with a pair of wins in doubles but the Hornets surged ahead to win by one on Thursday, April 26.
Gabe Rau and Carl Laude won 8-6 at No. 1 doubles, while Griffin Koski and Vince Gelbolinga posted a 9-8 win — after winning the tiebreaker — at No. 2 doubles.
In singles play, Koski won 10-5 at No. 2 singles, while Trey Safford posted an 11-9 win at No. 5.
The loss dropped Park Hill to 1-12-1 on the season.
Platte County 8, Belton 1
The Pirates took a step closer to winning the conference title with a blowout win against Belton on Tuesday, April 24.
Platte County swept the doubles — 8-1, 8-2 and 8-4 — to build an early 3-0 advantage.
Noah Singer posted an 8-0 win at No. 2 singles, while Spencer Klopfer won 8-1 at No. 1 singles. Porter Curtis and Trenton Percival both won 8-2, while Isaac Cook won 8-4 at No. 6 singles.
The only win for Belton came at No. 3 singles.
Park Hill South 6
Liberty North 3
Cooper Hayes and Andrew Robaska each won in singles and the duo helped picked up a double win for the Panthers in a win at home on Tuesday, April 24 against the Eagles.
Hayes won 8-1 against Brinkley Wilson at No. 1 singles, while Robaska posted a 9-7 victory against Thomas Philpott. Hayes/Robaska won 8-2 against Wilson/Philpott at No. 1 doubles.
Gavin Lee and Luke Saylor, at No. 4 and 5 singles, respectively, also posted 8-4 wins for Park Hill South. Lee beat Jack Brown and Saylor topped Chase Mason.
Lee joined Brandon Crabtree for an 8-4 win against Brown/Mason at No. 2 doubles.
Park Hill South 6
Liberty North 3
The Panthers posted a Suburban Conference Red victory at home on Tuesday, April 24.
Park Hill South took a 2-1 lead after doubles and then won at Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 singles to lock up the victory.
Cooper Hayes and Andrew Robaska combined for an 8-2 win against Brinkley Wilson and Thomas Philpott at No. 1 doubles. Brandon Crabtree and Gavin Lee won 8-4 against Jackson Brown and Chase Mason at No. 2 doubles. The Eagles avoided the sweep in doubles with an 8-3 at No. 3.
Hayes won 8-1 against Wilson at No. 1 and Robaska took a 9-7 win against Philpott at No. 2. Lee (vs. Brown at No. 4) and Luke Saylor (vs. Mason at No. 5) each won 8-4.