West Platte seniors Avery Holmes and Maddie McMillan hug after losing in districts on Oct. 19.
FAUCETT – Three years in a row, the West Plate volleyball team (17-9-3) has been eliminated by the same team, East Buchanan (26-6-1), in districts on Oct. 19.
In 2021 and 2022, the postseason tournament was at East Buchanan High School with the Lady Bulldogs having a tough home crowd that impacted the matches against West Platte, which were both sweeps in the district championship. This year, the Class 2 District 16 Tournament was at a neutral location, Mid-Buchanan High School.
East Buchanan was the No. 2 seed and West Platte was the No. 3 seed and both swept their first-round opponents. Meeting in the semifinals, the winner was set to advance to the championship and the loser was set to be eliminated.
East Buchanan took control early, leading 7-3 in the first set before West Platte eventually fought back to tie it at 18. From that point on, the Lady Blue Jays failed to score another point and lost 25-18.
The Lady Bulldogs went up 7-3 once again in the second set and held a comfortable lead the rest of the way before putting the Lady Blue Jays down 2-0 in the match with a 25-15 victory. West Platte bounced back in the third set, despite falling behind early, 6-2.
East Buchanan gave up the lead shortly after both squads scored double digits, calling a timeout when West Platte went ahead 12-11. Set three went down to the wire and the Lady Blue Jays survived to play another set, winning 25-23.
With East Buchanan leading the match 2-1, West Platte needed to win the fourth set or would be eliminated. The set was tight at the end with the Lady Bulldogs pulling out a 25-23 victory to win the match in four sets.
Arianna Nower had a nice outing in the last match of her junior campaign with 13 kills and eight digs. In their final match for West Platte, Avery Holmes had 19 digs and Maddie McMillan dished out 31 assists.
Ahead of the district semifinal, West Platte took down Northland Christian on Oct. 18. Nower had 11 kills, six aces and a block, while Holmes led the team with 13 digs and McMillan ended with 21 assists.