Platte County’s 2026 girls tennis team officially became historic on Oct. 20. They became the first team in the girls program’s 19-year history to punch a ticket to the State Final Four.
To earn that first-ever ticket to Class 2 State, the Pirates had to overcome a traditionally strong Barstow team — which has won state in Class 2 twice since 2021 — in the quarterfinal matchup at Platte County. They extinguished Barstow with ease, using numerous timely performances to clinch a 5-1 victory.
“It feels really good, I don’t know how else to say it other than that,” Platte County head coach Scott Blakley said. “I’m just so proud of them because, as I’ve learned from my predecessor, I did not hit one tennis ball in a match this season that counted. It’s really the girls, and their willingness to fight through it, overcome and get it done when it mattered most.”
Platte County led 2-1 early with a pair of 8-3 victories at No. 1 doubles from Ellie Kaser/Macie Keith and No. 3 doubles from Katelyn Newberry/Jayne Muir. Barstow got on the board with a No. 2 doubles triumph over Clare Hayter/Macy Doll.
Needing to win three of the final six matches, Platte County found itself in a similar position they were in for the district championship against St. Pius X. While the Pirates escaped late-match dramatics with Bartow, they did face a little scare to start the singles matches before quickly correcting course.
Kaser and Keith both got off to a winning start in singles, but the remaining four all lost their first game. Doll and Muir led the turnaround from the bottom of the lineup.
At No. 5 singles, Doll dropped her first game before winning four straight and taking her first set 6-2. In No. 6 singles, Muir trailed 2-0 but won six of the final seven games to take the first set 6-3.
Meanwhile, Kaser thoroughly dominated her singles match against District 7 champion Anya Stanojevic to set an early tone. She raced to the finish line with a win of 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, then immediately turned her focus to supporting her teammates.
“I was mainly just worried about everyone else’s score,” Kaser said. “I was just super-excited about everything, thinking about State, thinking we were going to win, and it happened.”
Newberry, who lost the first set of No. 4 singles, bounced back to take a lead in the second set. Hayter also lost the first set at No. 3 singles, but managed to take a lead in her second set.
Senior Macy Doll won at No. 5 singles 6-2, 6-0.
Doll and Muir made sure those efforts were used for insurance, as Doll sprinted through the second set with a sweep to win 6-1, 6-0 as Platte County moved one win away with a 4-1 lead.
Muir took an early lead in her second set and built momentum with another break before taking her match 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the team’s 5-1 victory.
“They don’t lose,” Blakley said of Doll and Muir. “You can count on them winning like you can count on Monday when the weekend’s over.”
Junior Jayne Muir’s win at No. 6 singles clinched Platte County’s first-ever spot in the State Final Four.
Muir’s win halted Newberry and Hayter’s progress. At No. 2 singles, Keith won her first set 6-2 and was a game away from clinching the match in her second set.
Kaser’s previous experience with Barstow came her sophomore year, when she partnered with Lilly Fish in a match that quickly got away from them. This time, Kaser was pleasantly surprised with the final scoreline.
“I was just so excited for everybody because everybody did so good,” Kaser said. “I was not really expecting this outcome, but happy to see it happen.”
For a program that takes great pride, as displayed with program alumni regularly returning to watch, the victory was the result of the team’s hard work. Blakley praised his team’s effort over the summer, and is delighted with the results he’s seen since.
“Hats off to the girls,” he said. “They worked so hard over the summer. They’ve been excellent all year. I would say they’ve earned this right, and today we finished off the right to go to State against a good Barstow team.”
The results are a product of the program’s foundation, established by Blakley and former head coach Zach Keith, who handed the girls’ program to Blakley before last season and was on hand to support the girls’ efforts against Barstow. The team remained in a state of shock on accomplishing what seemed unthinkable.
Senior Ellie Kaser won at No. 1 singles 6-0, 6-0.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable,” Kaser said. “I’m just so excited and cannot believe this is actually happening. I’m going to State with my best friends, it’s going to be so fun.”
Platte County has now won 11 straight matches and enters the Final Four with a 15-2 record.
The Pirates have two guaranteed matches remaining on Thursday, Oct. 29, at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.
They will start with a semifinal against Thomas Jefferson Independent Day (11-0) at 9 a.m. Thomas Jefferson Independent Day, a private school from Joplin, returns to State after two previous fourth-place finishes in 2023 and 2024.
“We’re all going to lean on each other,” Kaser said. “Just like today. Hopefully get some medals.”
The championship and third-place matches are scheduled for 3 p.m. against Parkway West and St. Dominic.
“We’ll just have to go out, do what we can, play our good tennis, and hopefully we’ll find ourselves in the state championship,” Blakley said.