After a couple of difficult obstacles out of the gate, the Platte County girls tennis team has shown that those early-season defeats have prepared them to challenge for a conference championship this fall.
The Pirates opened the season with a 9-0 defeat to Liberty North on Sept. 2, but had a promising showing at the Platte County Invitational on Sept. 5 and a matchup against Park Hill on Sept. 9. In singles of the Platte County Invitational, No. 1 player Ellie Kaser and No. 5 Jayne Muir both finished second while No. 6 Macy Doll earning third.
While facing a 6-3 defeat against Park Hill, Kaser was victorious with an 8-2 win in No. 1 singles after joining sophomore Macie Keith for an 8-6 doubles triumph. Junior Macy Doll and freshman Clare Hayter also won their match by the same scoreline to help the Pirates secure two of three doubles matches against the Trojans despite the team defeat.
Since then, Platte County has won three consecutive conference matches, beginning with a 5-4 triumph against Belton on Sept. 11. After losing two of the three doubles matches, Platte County needed to take the singles to give Scott Blakely his first win since taking over as head coach this season. Kaser and Muir cruised through their singles matches while Doll edged out her opponent 8-6.
It came down to the wire with sophomore No. 2 singles player Keith needing to deliver the final match, which she did in the tiebreaker after fighting off three match points.
The Pirates also played well at the Warrensburg Doubles Tournament, finishing third as a team on Sept. 12. The tandems of Keith/Kaser finished third, Addison Hayter/Fleming seventh, Doll/Lillian Goodale second and Jayne Muir/Katelyn Newberry first in their respective flights.
Platte County earned its second team win of the season against William Chrisman in dominant fashion with a 9-0 sweep on Sept. 15. In doubles, Kaser/Keith and Goodale/Doll both earned 8-2 victories while Muir/Newberry won 8-3. In singles, the trio of Kaser, Fleming and Muir won 8-1 while Keith and Doll earned 8-2 victories with Goodale taking her No. 4 singles match 8-6.
On Sept. 16, the Pirates cruised to an 8-0 sweep of Ruskin in a dual cut short due to weather. The Pirates also competed in the Liberty Invitational, where they faced defeats against Liberty (9-0), Kickapoo (6-3) and Central (5-4).
They return to the court this week for matches with Truman Sept. 22, away to St. Pius X (Sept. 23) and back home against Grain Valley (Sept. 25).