KCKCC, Johnson County Win NJCAA D2 Volleyball Plains District Tournament Titles
COLBY, Kan. – NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball Plains District Tournament Titles were won by Kansas City Kansas Community College and Johnson County Community College as both teams earned automatic berths into the 2025 NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball National Tournament.
The Blue Devils punched their ticket on their home floor on Sunday afternoon by sweeping Highland Community College 3-0 on Breidenthal Court to win the Plains District “A” Title, while Johnson County surmounted an improbable 3-2 victory over Cowley College inside W.S. Scott Auditorium in Arkansas City, Kansas after being down 2-0 in the match to win the Plains District “B” Tournament Championship.
For Kansas City Kansas, the Plains District Title adds to an already historic season for the Blue Devils, as KCKCC has been ranked as high as number two in the NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball Poll, won a share of their first Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division 2 Volleyball title since 2000, and advancing to the NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball National Tournament for the second-straight year. The Blue Devils made quick work of both of their opponents in the Plains District Tournament, defeating number seven-seed Labette in straight sets (25-15, 25-8, 25-22) before going on to defeat Highland for the second time in 11 days by scores of 25-22, 25-14, and 25-19.
Johnson County, on the other hand, very much took the more difficult path as the Cavaliers finished third in the KJCCC regular season standings and faced two road matches in the Plains District “B” Tournament on their way to picking up a sixth-straight NJCAA Plains District Tournament title. Opening their postseason run on the road at NJCAA Region 2 Champion Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, JCCC won a tightly contested matchup between nationally ranked opponents by earning a 25-22 opening set win followed by a 28-26 set two victory. After dropping the third set by a score of 26-24, the Cavaliers slammed the door on the match with a 25-23 win in the fourth set to advance to the Championship match. In a rematch of a conference battle that took place on September 17th and was won in straight sets by Cowley, Johnson County initially looked destined for a similar fate after dropping the opening two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-20. Turning momentum around with a 25-17 win in the third set, the Cavaliers held off the Tigers from ending the match in the fourth by earning a 25-23 win to force a winner-take-all fifth set before going on to take the match with a 15-13 win to hand Cowley their second home loss of the season.
Both Kansas City Kansas and Johnson County will await their official tournament seeding for the NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball National Tournament, with the 20-team bracket set to be revealed at 1 PM (CST) on Wednesday, November 12th. 16 automatic qualifiers will be joined by four at-large selections to make up the field, with the tournament taking place November 19-22 inside Allliant Energy Powerhouse Arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Last season, the KJCCC had three teams finish in the top four as Cowley and Johnson County met in the National Championship match while Kansas City Kansas battled back from an opening round loss to take fourth place.
