HAYS, Kan. – A championship match that lived up to the hype between two teams that split the regular season series, the Barton Community College volleyball team outlasted Colby Community College in a thrilling five-set match that needed extra points in the fifth set for the Cougars to Claim the 2025 NJCAA Division 1 Volleyball Plains District Tournament Title inside of Gross Memorial Coliseum on the campus of Fort Hays State University on Sunday, November 9th.

Advancing to the NJCAA Division 1 Volleyball National Tournament for a second-straight year, Barton will make its 25th all-time appearance at the NJCAA Division 1 Volleyball National Tournament while holding a 31-5 overall record. The Trojans, meanwhile, will await the possibility of an at-large berth for a third-straight trip to the National Tournament after dropping to 24-7 overall this season following their second five-set loss to Barton in as many weeks.

After being held to their lowest point total in any set this season in a 25-14 opening set loss, Barton bounced back in the second set to take a 25-22 and even the match at 1-1. Things stayed close throughout the rest of the match as the Trojans overcame a 9-5 and 15-13 Barton lead with a 9-0 run to gain control at 22-15 and eventually take the set by a score of 25-21 as Colby was looking for their second Plains District Title in three years. The Cougars had other ideas, however, as Barton overcame a deficit of 17-14 midway through the set by going on a 6-0 run to hold off Colby from any potential celebration with a 25-20 set victory to force a winner-take-all fifth set between teams for the third time this season.

For as close as things had been all season between Barton and Colby during both regular season matchups, the trend carried over in the biggest match of the year for both squads as an early back-and-forth start to the fifth eventually made way for Colby to jump out to a 9-4 lead and close in on ending the match. Undeterred, by the deficit, Barton’s poise and determination allowed the Cougars to get back into the set with Caroliny Cristiny capping off a 3-0 run to put Barton up 13-12 and on the cusp of a second-straight District Title. Two separate match points for the Cougars were thwarted by the Trojans, sending the decisive set into extra points as the back-and-forth continued on with neither team wanting to give in. Tied at 18-18, Barton’s Indigo Pruitt proved that her region-best .414 attack percentage was the needed spark for the Cougars in crunch time by having a hand in each of the final two points of the match to give the Cougars a 20-18 set-five win claim the trophy.

Barton now awaits their official seeding for the 2025 NJCAA Division 1 Volleyball National Tournament, which is set to take place November 19-22 in Clarksville, Tennessee on the campus of Austin Peay State University. The Cougars are one of 12 district champions to earn automatic berths into the 16-team tournament field, with four at-large berths still to be determined. The NJCAA Division 1 Volleyball National Tournament bracket release is scheduled for 1 PM (CST) on Wednesday, November 12th.