Grizzlies win share of Jayhawk Conference title with dominating 3-0 sweep of Blue Dragons

The Butler Grizzlies secured their share of the Jayhawk Conference title for the second straight year and won their second match in a span of three days when they dominated the Hutchinson Blue Dragons in the final match of the regular season at the Power Plant on Friday night.

The Grizzlies cruised to the victory, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the first set and never looking back. Butler led the entire match, quickly taking the first set by a score of 25-13. The Grizzlies again jumped out quickly in the second set, with a 7-2 run to open things up and forcing Hutch to use both their timeouts before winning 25-14. Set three was more of the same with a 10-1 run to open the third set and it was curtains from there, as Ivy Fink secured the victory with a 25-12 set three win. 

The Grizzlies were led by Carrie Roe who played in her final regular season match as a Grizzly and starred with 11 kills. Kennedy Kelly matched her with 11 and Ivy Fink was close behind with 10. 

Rainey Aven, fresh off breaking the Butler record for career assists, also claimed the record for most assists in a season in the second set, as she breaks Shannon Mandarin's record of 1,125. Aven claimed the record with another stellar night, finishing with 41 assists bringing her season total to 1,148. She also led the team in digs with 17. 

The win improves Butler's record to 23-11 on the year and 14-2 in conference play. The win means that the Grizzlies are now 8-0 on the year at home, and it's the second straight season the Grizzlies have gone unbeaten at the Power Plant. The Grizzlies have now won 24-straight matches in a row at home dating back to the spring 2020 season. 

Butler's victories over Seward and Hutchinson means that they will be KJCCC Co-Champions but it will be Seward who takes the top seed of the Region VI tournament next week using the tiebreaking formula. Seward wins the tie breaker via set wins in the two matches against Butler this year. A win on Wednesday at home in the opening round would then send the Grizzlies to Liberal for the Region VI tournament next weekend as the second seed with a chance to secure their second consecutive trip to the national tournament.