For the first time in school history Platte County Lady Pirates’ head volleyball coach Katlyn Donovan and her team are headed to the Missouri Class 4 state championship that begins tomorrow Thursday, Nov. 5, in Cape Girardeau.
Platte County got a three-set win in the quarterfinal round over Grain Valley on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Winnetonka High School, to advance by scores of 25-20, 25-15 and 25-20. Donovan credited her seniors’ leadership for the run.
“They worked so hard and they always push each other and it’s just a great group,” Donovan said after the game. “They deserve everything they’ve gotten this year.”
Donovan said her group of seniors has been part of some great teams which has led to this point.
“They’ve been close before but they’ve never actually punched their ticket,” Donovan said. “These seniors have been working hard for four years and they’ve been a part of great teams the last four years. I thought we had a good chance to make it to state with moving to five classes. That’s been our ultimate goal all year and I just can’t believe we’ve done it.”
Grain Valley didn’t give away the third set easily. Donovan called a timeout late in the set with the Lady Eagles making a run.
“I felt them getting a little tense. I told them we need to relax and play our game and do what we need to do and control what we can control,” Donovan said. “I figured Grain Valley would start tipping and roll shooting a little more once they were getting out of their system. We wanted our defense to be ready for that. I knew if we could get that tip up, we would be in system and get a good swing from any one of our hitters.”
Versus Grain Valley the Lady Pirates were led by junior Kate Brown who had 13 kills followed by senior Bryn McGehe who had 12 kills. Brown also had 12 digs and the team was led by senior Aly Anderson who had 19 digs. Senior Presli Firkins also had 12 digs. Junior Emerson Walter led the team with 22 assists.
Donovan said the real test for her team came in the sectional round versus Pembroke Hill who came into the match undefeated at 18-0.
“I think beating that Pembroke Hill team today and them being undefeated, I think we knew we had a pretty good chance,” Donovan said.
Platte County won the first two sets versus the Lady Raiders by scores of 25-21 and 25-18 before Pembroke Hill came back to force another set with a 25-21 third-set win. The Lady Pirates closed out the match in the fourth set with a 25-19 win.
Versus Pembroke Hill, the Lady Pirates had 60 kills led by McGehe with 19 followed by Brown with 14 kills and Anderson with 13 kills. Brown also had five of Platte County’s 11 aces. McGehe led the team with three blocks. Five Lady Pirates had double digit digs led by Anderson with 18 followed by Firkins with 16 digs, Brown with 14 digs, Walter with 12 digs and McGehe with 11 digs.
During district play the Lady Pirates got an opening round bye as the top seed before beating Excelsior Springs in three sets 25-14, 25-4 and 25-17 on Tuesday, Oct. 27. Platte City beat rival Kearney in four sets on Wednesday, Oct. 28, for the district championship. Kearney took the first set 25-23 before Platte County took the next three sets 25-18, 25-20 and 25-20. Donovan said beating good teams isn’t easy but sometimes her team can make it look that way.
“Those girls do make it look so easy,” Donovan said. “I feel like sometimes I just get to sit back and watch and feel like I’m one of the fans.”
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