Drew Aggus
Special to the Citizen
The Park Hill South Panthers were able to notch four victories at the Blue Springs South Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 5 at the Blue Springs Fieldhouse.
In pool play, the Panthers went undefeated, beating St. Teresa’s Academy (Kansas City) 2-1, St. Dominic (O’Fallon) 2-0 and Cor Jesu Academy (St. Louis) 2-1.
Once bracket play began, Park Hill South found themselves playing a pretty tough Eureka Wildcats team. The Panthers took the first set 25-18, but the Wildcats took the second set 25-19. In the final set, Park Hill South was able to come back and defeat Eureka with a final score of 25-18.
Rachel Francis had 11 kills against Eureka with Isabel Day contributing eight, as well. In addition, Emma Gillespie had two aces, and Arley Anderson led the team with 27 assists. On defense, Alex Dvorak had four of the team’s five blocks, while Keegan Good had 16 digs.
The Panthers now found themselves pitted against the Nixa Eagles.
In a competitive game, Nixa took the first set 25-21, and Park Hill South responded, winning the second set 25-20. And in an extremely close final set, Nixa pulled out a 25-23 victory over the Panthers. Nixa would go on to win the tournament.
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
Park Hill South’s Abigail Day digs the ball during a match against Eureka on Saturday, Oct. 5 at the Blue Springs South Tournament in Blue Springs.
Francis led the offense again with 10 kills, and Isabel and Abigail Day each contributed three aces. Anderson, again, led the team in assists — this time, with 21. Defensively, Good led the way with 19 digs with Isabel Day having 18 digs, herself, and Dvorak led the team again with four blocks.
Despite not winning the tournament, Park Hill South coach Samantha Williams was very proud of the team’s performance.
“That tournament gave us a huge boost of confidence as we head into the final stretch of regular-season play and a great jump start to the postseason,” Williams said. “Our successes on Saturday can be attributed to the girls staying consistent and leading each other with high levels of effective communication. [I’m] very proud of their efforts and the outcome.”
Platte County 2, Winnetonka 0
Platte County defeated the visiting Winnetonka Griffins 2-0 on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
The Lady Pirates won the first set 25-14 and the second set 25-20.
Bryn McGehe led the offense with 11 kills, while Ashley Bell helped out with three of the team’s six aces. Bell and McGehe also led the team in assists with 17 and 10, respectively.
On defense, Presli Firkins led the way with 12 digs, while Aly Anderson contributed eight.
Staley 2, Park Hill 1
Park Hill dropped a road game at Staley, losing 2-1 on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
In a competitive game, Staley won the first set 28-26 with Park Hill winning the second set by the same score. The Falcons prevailed in the third set, winning 27-25 and handing the Trojans their third consecutive loss.
Offensively, Kristen Birmingham led the team with 13 kills with Aisha Aiono, Shaye Koski and Hannah Graves each contributing six of their own. Aliyah Lyons had a team-high 15 assists, while Adriana Villegas chipped in with 10.
Koski and Birmingham also led the team on defense, racking up 16 and 14 kills, respectively. Graves led the team in blocks with eight, while Aiono was second on the team with six.
Park Hill South 2, St. Joseph Central 1
Park Hill South defeated visiting St. Joseph Central 2-1 on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
The visiting Indians won the first set 25-23 before the Panthers stormed back and won the second set 25-21. In the extremely competitive final set, the Panthers were able to beat Central 27-25.
On offense, Isabel Day led the team with 19 kills while Abigail Day and Alex Dvorak chipped in with 13 each. Arley Anderson led the team in assists with 46.
Defensively, Keegan Good and Abigail Day led the team in digs with 30 and 26, respectively. Dvorak contributed on all four of the Panthers’ blocks.
Platte County 2, Kearney 0
Platte County found a way to beat the visiting Kearney Bulldogs 2-0 on Thursday, Oct. 3 in Blue Division play.
The Pirates coasted to a 25-12 win in the first match, but the Bulldogs battled back and made Platte County earn the second set with the final score being 27-25.
Aly Anderson led the Pirates in kills with nine, and Kate Brown chipped in with six kills. Bryn McGehe led the team in both aces with two and in assists with 13.
Ashley Bell (10), Presli Firkins (9), Anderson (8) and McGehe (8) combined for 35 digs in the contest. In addition, McGehe, Brown and Nicola Kingery each had two assisted blocks.
Park Hill 2, Lee’s Summit North 1
Park Hill managed to defeat the visiting Lee’s Summit North Broncos 2-1 to snap a three-game losing streak on Thursday, Oct. 3.
The Trojans won the first set by a score of 25-20, but the Broncos came back and won the second set 26-24. In the final set, the Trojans battled through and were able to beat the Broncos 25-22.
On offense, Shaye Koski and Kristen Birmingham led the team with eight kills apiece, while Aisha Aiono and Hannah Graves were each able to get six, as well. Koski also had three of the team’s four aces, and Aliyah Lyons had a team-high 14 assists.
On defense, Birmingham (15), Lyons (14) and Koski (13) combined for 42 digs on the night. Aiono had a team-high six blocks, while Graves had five.
Park Hill South 2, Staley 0
Park Hill South was able to hold off the visiting Staley Falcons on Thursday, Oct. 3 with a final score of 2-0.
In the first set, the Panthers won 25-12, and in the second, they won 25-15.
Rachel Francis had a team-high 11 kills, while Gracie Painter chipped in with six. Arley Anderson had all 23 of the Panthers’ assists.
On the defensive side of the net, Keegan Good led the way with 16 digs, and Isabel Day helped out with 13 of her own.
Raymore-Peculiar 2, Platte County 1
Platte County dropped a road game at Raymore-Peculiar on Monday, Oct. 7.
After winning the first set 25-20, the Lady Pirates dropped the second set 25-15 and the final set 25-10.
Kate Brown had seven kills and three blocks, while Bryn McGehe added six kills for Platte County. Ashley Bell contributed 15 digs.
Aly Anderson had 13 digs and Presli Firkins added 11.
Park Hill South 2, Park Hill 0
In a major rivalry game, the Park Hill South Panthers defeated the visiting Park Hill Trojans 2-0 on Monday, Oct. 7.
Despite being a major rivalry, the schools came together for #digpink, a game to raise awareness for breast cancer and to raise funds to fight it. Over $2,400 were raised for Jill’s Hope, a local foundation that supports those who are battling breast cancer.
With both teams wearing pink jerseys, the Panthers won the first set 25-15 and the second set, as well, 25-19.
The Trojans were led on offense by Shaye Koski, who had eight kills, and Kristen Birmingham who had six. Aliyah Lyons had a team-high 11 assists in the loss.
On defense, Koski led the way with a team-high 10 digs, while Lyons had the second-most on the team with nine. In addition, Birmingham, Hannah Graves and Aile Aiono each contributed two blocks.
Stats for Park Hill South weren’t posted by press time.
Up Next
Platte County: The Pirates travel ed to Raytown South on Tuesday, Oct. 8 before returning home to host Smithville on Thursday, Oct. 10.
Park Hill: The Trojans played at Blue Springs South on Tuesday, Oct. 8 prior to hosting Lee’s Summit West on Thursday, Oct. 10.
Park Hill South: The Panthers will visit Liberty on Thursday, Oct. 10 before traveling to Oak Park in Kansas City on Monday, Oct. 14.