Box Score WEST PLAINS, Mo. (April 15, 2021) -- No. 3 Snow College defeated Barton County C.C. (Kan.), 3-1, on Thursday morning to record its first, first-round victory at the NJCAA National Championship Tournament. With the victory, the Badgers will advance to the semifinals to face No. 6 Florida Southwestern State Thursday evening at 6 p.m. (CDT).

Snow came out strong against the Cougars, winning the first set, 25-14. In the second set, the Badgers started strong, withstood a Barton run, and held on for the 25-21 victory. In the third set, the Cougars came alive and capitalized on a number of Snow College miscues. Barton won the third set, 25-23. In the final set, the Badgers were running on all cylinders and shut down any chance of a Barton run with a decisive 25-12 victory. 

"The first two sets were outstanding," Snow College head coach Jeff Reynolds said. "Our team came out strong and focused. Besides some passing issues early on, I thought we did a nice job of controlling the match. In the third set, I think we found ourselves a little complacent, but Barton is a good team and came out fighting. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead and we couldn't get back in the match after that. I think that was exactly what the doctor ordered because in the final set, I don't think our team was having anymore of that. It was one of the most complete sets we've played all season,"

In the fourth and decisive match, the Badgers hit a stellar .552 with 19 kills on 29 attempts with only three errors. The Snow defense held Barton to a .083 hitting percentage. For the match, the Badgers hit a complete .359 with 65 kills on 131 attempts. The Cougars hit just .095. Snow recorded 11.0 blocks to the Cougars 2.0.  

Snow College had a total of five players with double-digit kills, including sophomore Lydia Montague who racked up a match-high on16 kills on 29 attempts to hit .414 for the match. Montague also had a match-high seven blocks. Freshman Kjersti Strong hit a season-high 13 kills on 15 attempts (.800), while freshman Macie Gordon tacked on 12 kills on 22 attempts. Outsides Camden Strain and Bridgett Talia combined for 21 kills, including 11 and 10 respectively. Freshman setter Macy Short was credited with 49 assists and 15 digs -- her 12th double-double of the season. 

Snow College will take on the No. 6 seed Florida Southwestern State on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. (CDT). The Buccaneers advanced after Navarro was unable to attend the tournament due to COVID concerns.