The Barton Community College volleyball team got its first road test of the season coming away with four wins in the Little Ceasar's Classic held over the weekend in Lamar, Colorado. The Cougars began play on Friday with a dominant sweep of Trinidad State Junior College 25-14, 25-21, and 25-14 before winding up the day with a four-set come-from-behind victory over host Lamar Community College 21-25, 25-22, 25-23, and 27-25. Barton then concluded play on Saturday with a 25-22, 25-15, and 25-20 sweep of Frank Phillips College before dispelling Trinidad 25-15, 25-22, 25-18 for the second time on the weekend. The 6-0 Cougars will head back to the road for a mid-week 6:30 p.m. Jayhawk Conference matchup Wednesday at Dodge City Community College before a weekend trip to Highland, Kansas.
"We saw a lot of improvements within our four matches," said Head Coach Brandon Stephenson. "We had a few adversities, including playing the home team, in which we needed to rally around each other to produce positive results. Combined with our improved blocking and defensive play, overall it was a successful weekend preparing us for our Wednesday conference match at Dodge City.
Nathalia Gouveia recorded the first of the Cougars' three double-doubles on the weekend putting down fourteen kills and fourteen digs in the four set victory over Lamar. Monique Oliveira recorded a team high sixteen kills against Lamar finishing the four-match set with forty-three while Gouveia finished with forty-two. Oliveira also recorded her second double-double of the season with an eleven kill, ten dig performance lifting Barton to Saturday morning's win over Frank Phillips. Olivia Naccarato, who returned to the floor after missing the first two games because of a minor injury, hammered down eleven kills against Lamar finishing the weekend with twenty-eight kills while adding five solo blocks. Carolina Goncalves dished out 113 assists including a thirty-four assist and twelve dig performance against Frank Phillips while also serving up twelve of the Cougars' twenty-three service aces in the four games.
