Hutchinson CC Sports Information

One of the oldest sayings in the world of sports is that it's tough to beat a team three times in one season.

The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team is looking to make sure that holds true on Friday in the Region VI Tournament semifinals.

Third-seeded Hutchinson (18-9) takes on the second-seeded Barton Cougars (24-4) in the second regional semifinal at the Green House in Liberal. Jayhawk West champion and top-seeded Seward County plays fourth-seeded Colby at Noon. The Hutchinson-Barton match is slated to begin 40 minutes after the completion of the Seward-Colby match.

The championship match will be one hour after the completion of the Hutchinson-Barton match.

While the Blue Dragons own a victory over the tournament top-seeded Saints, they have yet to solve the Cougars in two tries this season.

Hutchinson dropped an 18-25, 15-25, 25-22, 27-29 match to the Cougars on February 2 at the Sports Arena. The Blue Dragons then fell in five sets – 27-25, 18-25, 26-24, 25-27, 10-15 – on March 3 in Great Bend.

In both of those losses, service reception issues were a key factor for the Blue Dragons.

Hutchinson advanced to Friday's semifinals with a five-set win over Garden City. Jenna Thorne had 21 kills, while Kristina Head had 16 kills and Shadee Briggs had 13 of her 15 kills in the final three sets.

Barton swept Pratt in the opening round on Tuesday in Great Bend. Mylena Testoni had 16 kills to pace the Cougars.

The Blue Dragons are making their 11-straight appearance and 19th berth in the last 20 seasons in the regional semifinals. The Blue Dragons are looking for their first Region VI championship since 2017, which was won at the Green House when the Blue Dragons swept then-No. 3 Seward County in the championship match.

A victory over Barton would put Hutchinson into its 15th Region VI championship match since 2001. Two victories on Friday would give Hutchinson its 10th Region VI title in team history.