Story by Wyatt Ebersole:
Butler Volleyball wrapped up their regular season last week with a pair of sensational victories and are moving into the Region VI Playoffs as KJCCC Co-Champions with Seward County and the #2 seed in the upcoming postseason. The Grizzlies picked up probably their biggest and most dramatic victory this season last Wednesday against #13 Seward County in a phenomenal 3-2 come from behind victory over the Saints. The win along with the Grizzlies dominant sweep of third place Hutchinson the following Friday, crowned the Grizzlies as Conference Co-Champions.
Despite the Grizzlies fantastic victories, Seward will host the Region VI Final Four based on Seward holding the third tiebreaker over the Grizzlies based on Seward winning more total sets over the Grizzlies in their two matchups this year (Seward has won 5 sets against the Grizzlies compared to Butler's 4). With that being said, the #2 seeded Grizzlies will still host a Region VI first-round playoff game on Wednesday when the #7 seeded Colby Trojans come to town for a 6:00 pm first serve. If the Grizzlies win Wednesday, they will advance to the Region VI Final Four which will be played iin Liberal, KS.
The Grizzlies have now won 24-straight home matches dating back to the Spring 2021 season.
RECORD WATCH:
After last week, #4 Rainey Aven now holds all three major set assist records in the history of the Butler Volleyball program. Rainey broke the set assists in a career record on October 7th?against Trinity Valley and is currently sitting at 1,780 assists in her Grizzly career. Rainey's most recent record break is the set assists in a season record which she broke on Friday against Hutchinson, breaking Shannon Mandarin's record of 1,125. Rainey is currently at 1,137 set assists this season. Aven?also broke the record for set assists in a match with 52 against Tyler Junior College on October 8th.
#15 Ivy Fink is currently chasing the record for kills in a career which is currently set at 740 by former All-American Crystal Blue. Ivy is getting close to that number currently sitting at 657 kills in her career.
#20 Kennedy Kelly currently leads the NJCAA in hitting percentage by a wide margin at a crazy high .405 attack percentage. Kennedy is well on pace to break the Grizzly record for hitting percentage in a season which is a record currently held by Amanda Newlin's 2010 season where she hit .378.
LOOKING AT COLBY:
The #7 seeded and 14-13 Colby Trojans travel to El Dorado to face off with the #2 seeded, 23-11, and now 13th ranked Butler Grizzlies on Wednesday at 6:00 pm. Butler swept the Trojans in both of their conference matchups earlier this season, but it certainly was not easy. The Grizzlies beat Colby 3-1 at Colby on August 26th. After splitting the first two sets, Butler and Colby had a pair of fierce, competitive third and fourth sets, but the Grizzlies ultimately won both 25-23 and 26-24 respectively. Two weeks later, on September 7th, Colby came to El Dorado and again nearly pulled off an upset of the Grizzlies with the Grizzlies winning in five sets. Colby took a 2-1 match lead, the first time the Grizzlies had trailed in a conference match in nearly a year at the time, but the Grizzlies roared back winning set four and then taking a close set five 15-12 and the Grizzlies won the match 3-2. The Grizzlies hit .169 in the first matchup with Colby and .239 in the second match, two of their worst marks of the season.
Other than Seward, Colby is the only KJCCC team to take at least a set from the Grizzlies in each of their matchups this season. Butler is 1-3 against Colby in Region VI postseason play with the only win being last season. Butler has won 5 of the last 6 matchups against Colby since the Spring 2021 season and Colby has not won in the Power Plant since the 2019 season. Colby is 1-8 this year against teams that have appeared in the NJCAA weekly poll at any point this season with the lone win being a 3-2 victory over Iowa Western on October 7th.
The Trojans and 13thyear head coach Carey Jones are having an uncharacteristic down season. For the past seven seasons, Colby has been a contender for both the conference and region title, never finishing lower than tied for fourth in the KJCCC standings over that time. If Colby loses to Butler, they will finish the year 14-14, their worst finish since 2015 where they went 14-19, and it would be the first time Colby does not finish with a winning record since 2015. Colby also has not lost a first round Region playoff matchup since 2015.
The winner of the match will earn a place in the Region VI Final Four and will play on Friday.
FINAL KJCCC/REGION STANDINGS :
t-1st. Seward 14-2: Holds region seeding tiebreaker over Butler based on sets won between the teams
t-1st. Butler 14-2
3rd. Hutchinson 12-4
4th. Dodge City 10-6
5th. Garden City 8-8
t-6th. Cloud County 5-11: Holds region seeding tiebreaker over Colby based on points scored in matches between the teams
t-6th. Colby 5-11
8th Barton 4-12
Did not qualify: Pratt 0-16
REGION VI FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS:
#8 Barton at #1 Seward County
#7 Colby at #2 Butler
#6 Cloud County at #3 Hutchinson
#5 Garden City at #4 Dodge City
Winners advance to final four. Final four is hosted at Seward County CC in Liberal, KS.
LOOKING AHEAD:
With a win, Butler will move into the Region Final Four and will play on Friday against a TBA opponent, with a loss at any point in the Region VI Tournament, the Grizzlies will have to hope for an at-large bid to the NJCAA National Tournament in West Plains, Missouri.
