Two-time national champs picked to finish first in the conference
Adding a second-straight NJCAA Division 2 Volleyball National Title and ending the season with their winning streak reaching 81 consecutive matches, the Cowley College volleyball team has been picked to defend their Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division 2 Volleyball regular season title as part of the annual preseason order of finish poll that all 10 league coaches voted on.
The Tigers received 90 total points and nine of 10 first-place votes after going 41-0 last season on the way to their fourth NJCAA volleyball title in program history. Returning six players from last year's squad, Cowley will have NJCAA D2 Volleyball first-team All-American Hanna Darvas back to lead the offense after leading the NJCAA last season with 12.31 assists per set.
Following Cowley in the poll is 2024 NJCAA D2 Volleyball National Runners-Up, Johnson County Community College, as the Cavaliers advanced to the National Title match last season before falling to Cowley in a battle of KJCCC teams. JCCC received 80 points and the lone remaining first-place vote while being picked no lower than third by any of the other coaches in the league. Last season, the Cavaliers went 30-7 overall and have finished no worse than fourth at the NJCAA D2 Volleyball National Tournament in the past five years, including the 2020 NJCAA D2 Volleyball National Title.
Kansas City, Kansas Community College is picked third with 76 total points. The Blue Devils placed fourth at the NJCAA D2 Volleyball National Tournament last year after receiving an at-large berth to the tournament as part of a 28-9 season in 2024. Following KCKCC and picked fourth is Allen (58 total points), followed by Highland (57 total points) in fifth place, while Neosho County was picked sixth (53 total points). The rest of the preseason order of finish saw Labette picked sixth with 42 points, followed by a three-way tie for eighth with Coffeyville, Fort Scott, and Independence each receiving 28 points in the poll.
The 2025 KJCCC D2 volleyball season will begin on Thursday, August 21st, with two-time defending national champions Cowley hosting a triangular before seeing 16 matches occur across three sites hosting opening weekend tournaments. Highland will be the lone team in the conference to wait until Saturday, August 23rd, to begin their season when the Scotties play a pair of matches across another day packed full of action that will see 15 matches take place across the conference. Conference play will begin on Wednesday, August 3rd, with all 10 teams in action as the 2025 conference schedule will feature each team playing a nine-match conference schedule.