It was an action-packed weekend of volleyball in Dodge City for the Region 6 tournament with the semifinals and championship games all three going five sets. Dodge City volleyball claimed their second region championship in school history, first at the NJCAA Division I level.
The Conquistadors moved to 29-5 on the season by beating Hutchinson 3-2 (24-26, 25-15, 25-16, 17-25, 15-7) in the Region 6 Semifinals to earn their first trip to the region title game since 2004, then beat #11 Colby 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 25-19, 15-25, 15-7) to win the Region 6 Championship.
The Conqs are headed to the national tournament for only the second time in school history and first time at the NJCAA DI level. They await the announcement of the bracket to learn their seed; the bracket announcement is set for 4:30 pm on Wednesday, November 11
th on the NJCAA Network streamed on YouTube. The NJCAA DI National Tournament is slated for November 18
th-21
st in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Won 3-2 vs Hutchinson
The Conqs opened the night strong working quickly to a 7-2 advantage forcing Hutchinson into an early timeout and the lead continued to grow as the Conqs led 20-11. Hutchinson didn't go away as went on a 12-2 run to pull even at 23-23 and the Blue Dragons went on to snag the first set 26-24. Looking to respond the Conqs jumped up 4-0 in the second set and the lead just continued to grow as the set progressed going up 12-6, 17-10, and then 22-12 before the Conqs wrapped it up 25-15. In the third set it was back-and-forth in the early points before the Conqs went up 8-5 and then 10-5 behind a 6-0 run. Hutchinson closed the game with a 5-1 run, making it 11-10, but the Conqs responded again to win the third set 25-16. The fourth set saw Hutchinson take an early lead and then stretch it out winning the set 25-17. A big block set things in motion for the Conqs in the fifth set as they lead 5-4 after the block and went on a 4-0 run, but Hutchinson countered with a 3-0 to make it 8-7. The Conqs went on to score the final seven points of the match and win the fifth set 15-7.
Kayla Cantrill had a monster performance, hitting .419 with 22 kills while adding six digs, two aces, and two block assists.
Sunni Skipps added 11 kills along with nine digs, while
Anete Celnova chipped in 10 kills, nine digs, and five block assists.
Chelsea Durbridge tallied 49 assists, adding six block assists, two aces, and three kills, while
Delaney Childs finished with eight kills, two solo blocks, and nine block assists.
Won 3-2 vs #11 Colby
The Conqs looked dialed in as
Chaehee Baek served an ace for the first point of the championship match, but Colby answered, scoring eight of the next nine points to lead 8-2. The Conqs answered to tighten things back up and then took a 19-16 lead, but the match would work to a 20-20 tie, and then a 21-20 Colby lead as the Trojans closed out the set on a 9-3 run to win it 25-22. In the second set, the Conqs got an ace from Cantrill to go up 12-9 and held Colby at arm's length before working to a 20-14 lead. Looking to close out the second set the Conqs saw Colby close the gap with a late 5-0 run but were unable to hold them off for the 25-23 set win. In the third set the lead changed hands several times until the Conqs worked to a 16-14 lead and Colby called a timeout. The Conqs went on to take the third set 25-19. In the fourth once Colby established control, they were able to keep the Conqs at arm's length in the set taking it 25-15. The fifth set saw the Conqs come out hot with three straight points, then jump to a 9-2 advantage as Celnova had three straight aces. The Conqs went on to secure the match with a 15-7 fifth set win.
Celnova and Skipps' double-doubles helped lead the Conqs in the championship matchup. Celnova tallied 14 kills and 13 digs, adding five aces, while Skipps posted 12 kills and 13 digs. Durbridge added a double-double as well with 44 assists and 10 digs, while also recording three aces and two kills. Cantrill finished with 14 kills and eight digs, and
Rian Muntaner finished with 13 digs and five assists.
