Nabbing the last at-large bid available, the Neosho County Panthers earned a ticket to the NJCAA Division II Volleyball National Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday afternoon.
Four teams from the Kansas Jayhawk Conference — Kansas City Kansas, Johnson County, Cowley and Neosho County — earned bids to nationals.
“It’s incredible,” Neosho County head coach Lisiane Matsdroff said. “When I knew, I couldn’t believe it. I knew we had a good chance, but I was worried about having so many teams from Region 6. I was worried if the committee would give us a bid. But there’s no doubt that our strong schedule helped. We played really well. It’s fantastic. It’s incredible. I’m so proud of all of the girls’ accomplishments. This is something I dreamed about.”
Neosho County earned the No. 14 seed in the national tournament and will face No. 19 St. Clair County in the first round. The winner of that match will play No. 3 Parkland.
The Panthers spent much of the season ranked and finished the year 22-11, with marquee wins over Heartland, NEO A&M in non-conference play. Neosho County finished fourth in the KJCCC.
Cowley, Gulf Coast State, Pensacola State and Neosho County were the four teams to earn at-large berths in the 20team field.
Neosho County last made the national tournament in the spring of 2021 — the fall 2020 season was delayed to the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This bid means a lot,” Matsdorff said. “We’re coming off a really bad season in 2024. We expected to win more last year, but there were unfortunate things that happened we couldn’t overcome. I’m proud because after that bad season, we came back to have an opportunity with a really strong schedule. I’m really proud because this bid, they deserve it. Our conference is so strong. Our bid isn’t because of good luck. We played against great teams all year. It was a tough, complicated year. This is special.”
The Panthers were upset in the district semifinals at home against Highland, a loss that put hopes for an atlarge bid in peril.
“I knew we had a chance to go over the weekend, so we started practicing on Monday,” Matsdorff said. “We’re doing our best to keep the girls focused and motivated. Everything is open now. Our players will make the adjustments they need to make. Now is the time to play for everything. It’s historic. We’re going because we deserve it.”
Neosho County sports a roster with two players that earned All-KJCCC honors. Ella Bryan and Trinity Collette were both second team honorees.
“This week, we’re working on situations where we’ll have to change our defense,” Matsdorff said. “We’re always learning from our mistakes so we can do the right things. All the mistakes we saw against Highland is the best way to learn. We’re talking about behaviors and what we need to do on the court. We want to represent Neosho County. This is an honor. We want to represent our region, too.”
Matsdorff is aiming for the Panthers to finish among the top 10 — the national tournament is a double elimination format with a consolation bracket.
“We’ll scout and do everything we can to be prepared,” Matsdorff said. “We have to take it step by step. Our main goal is to be one of the 10 best teams in the nation. We want to win the first match and see what can happen. The moment we overcome the first game, it’s an open battle.”
Neosho County plays St. Clair County on Wednesday in Iowa.
