KJCCC
COLBY, Kan. – 2024 NJCAA Division 1 Volleyball National Tournament third-place finishers Colby Community College has been picked to win the 2025 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division 1 regular season crown following a vote of league coaches as part of the annual preseason order of finish poll.
After being picked to finish second in last year’s poll and living up to the hype with a second-place finish in the regular season and NJCAA Division 1 Volleyball Plains District Tournament runner-up finish, the Trojans earned an at-large berth to the 2024 National Tournament with the number 13 seed before going 3-1 with a win over rival Barton in the third-place match to claim their best finish in program history at the National Tournament. Colby earned 61 total points and five of the eight first-place votes that were cast to top the poll.
A tie for second place in the poll found both Barton and Dodge City receiving 56 total points with the two-time defending regular season champion Cougars picking up two of the remaining three first-place votes while the Conquistadors earned one first-place vote. Barton earned the Plains District automatic berth to the NJCAA D1 Volleyball National Tournament last year where they finished fourth and will be led by head coach Jim Cartisser, who will be in his first season with BCC in 2025. Dodge City, meanwhile, finished third last season under now third-year head coach Erin Mellinger after going 21-14 last season with an 11-5 mark in KJCCC play.
Butler Community College follows the Cougars and Conquistadors by being picked fourth with 43 total points to edge out Hutchinson in fifth place with 41 total points as the Grizzlies look to bounce back from a fourth-place finish in the KJCCC last year and having their streak of three consecutive appearances in the Plains District title match snapped. Hutchinson will be under the direction of first-year head coach Dayana Acevedo Trent who makes the move to the KJCCC following a four-year stint at Odessa College which included a 10th-place finish at the 2024 NJCAA D1 Volleyball National Tournament.
The rest of the KJCCC preseason poll finds Garden City picked sixth with 34 total points, Seward County in seventh after receiving 25 total points, Pratt picked eighth with 19 total points, and Cloud County rounding out the poll in ninth with 17 total points. Each KJCCC team will play a 16-match conference schedule this season, with the top eight teams advancing to the Plains District Tournament. After having opening round matches held at higher seeds, the semifinals and finals of the Plains District Tournament will move to a neutral site and Gross Memorial Coliseum on the campus of Fort Hays State University, November 8-9.
Pratt will hold the honors of being the first KJCCC D1 volleyball team to hit the court in the regular season this year as the Beavers will open their 2025 campaign on Thursday, August 21st, with a triangular at Cowley College. The remaining eight teams will all open their seasons the following day as teams travel to numerous locations spread across the nation, which include Weatherford, Texas, Ranger, Texas, Midland, Texas, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, in addition to Garden City hosting a home tournament during opening weekend. Conference play begins the following Tuesday with a match between Barton and Butler in El Dorado and will continue all the way through Saturday, November 1st.
