The Butler Grizzlies survived and advanced, somehow, to the Region IV semi-finals after a thrilling 3-2 nailbiting victory (25-13, 21-25, 25-20, 14-25, 17-15) against the Colby Trojans in the last game at the Power Plant this season.
The Grizzlies will move on to face Hutchinson on Friday in The Greenhouse at Seward in Liberal, Kansas. The Blue Dragons are the third seed in the tournament and move on after a sweep against Cloud County.
The Grizzlies got a scare, and they needed every single point. M'Kenzee Nkansah tied the fifth set at 9 with a massive block, and two points later Sydney Lentz tied it again with a another clutch block. Colby had match point at 15-14, however, and the Grizzlies were on the brink of elimination and a potential season ender. Butler managed to survive to retake the lead and a service ace from Sydney Morrow put the Grizzlies ahead, finally, and for good.
It was the Carrie Roe show, propelling the Grizzlies over the hump whenever they needed it. She finished with 17 kills, just two short of a season high. Ivy Fink was close behind, finishing with 12 kills. Fink ups her career total to 669 on the year, just 71 short of breaking the program record for kills set by Crystal Blue.
Rainey Aven, the leader for Butler assists in every category, was again strong, finishing with 41 assists on the night. She also led the team in digs with 24 The Grizzlies got a strong performance out of Sydney Morrow in service as the libero finished with four aces to lead the Grizzlies, including the match winner.
It's the second time the Grizzlies and the Trojans have gone to five sets, as the Trojans nearly ended a nearly two year regular season home winning streak when they took the Grizzlies to five sets at the Power Plant when the two teams faced off in El Dorado on September 7th. Butler found a way to win that day, and they again managed to find a way tonight.
The Grizzlies improve their record to 23-11 on the year and are now two victories away from a second consecutive trip to the national tournament. Butler will play Hutchinson for the third time this season, after sweeping the Blue Dragons in both matches in the regular season.
