Cougars' title hopes slip in fifth set #GoBarton

Title hopes slipped through the Barton Community College volleyball team's grasp Friday night in front of a large boisterous crowd at the Barton Gym as match point was answered by three straight Saints' points giving 10th ranked Seward County Community College the victory 19-25, 25-13, 25-21, 24-26, and 16-14.

Having their eleven match win streak snapped, Barton finishes second in the conference standings at 14-2 and 22-4 overall. Seward County extended a pair of streaks with the victory as their ninth straight win sealed their fifth conference title in a row improving to 15-1 and 20-4.

Barton will next set their sights on a bigger prize beginning 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in hosting the first round of Region VI playoffs against Dodge City Community College. Should the Cougars win, the final four of the region will meet in Liberal on Friday to determine the champion and berth in the NJCAA National Tournament.

Maria Santos led the Cougars with 16 kills and six blocks. Carol Melo led the 21 Cougar blocks on the night with seven denials to go with 12 kills on a .476 attack. Isabella Guedes captained the first wave of the 6-2 offense with 27 assists with Alyssa Herter putting up 19 as the Cougars fell below their season average in mustering just a .199 percentage with twenty-four errors for their second straight sub-.200 attack.

Mylena Testoni fell a kill shy of her fourth straight double-double, putting down 9 kills and leading the defensive line with 20 digs. Tasiah Nunnery and Hanna Miller each recorded 18 digs. Joelle LaForce finished with seven kills and four blocks, tying Melo for the team lead in solo rejections at two each.

RECAP
It took Barton a little time to get rolling in the opener, trailing 8-4 and again at 11-7 before a pair of Melo attacks and teamed up block with Santos keyed a six straight stretch resulting in a 13-11 lead. Following a Saints point, Santo's attack sparked a 4-0 run as the Cougars outscored the Saints 10-1 for a 17-12 advantage. Seward County scored three of the next four to cut the gap to three but Laforce and Nunnery attacks followed by Madison Armstrong's service ace all but sealed the opener.

The light switch clicked off for the Cougars in the second set, stringing a pair points together just two times as the Saints tied the match with a 25-13 whooping.

Much of the same occurred in the second but the Cougars slipped the switch to dim in losing the set by just four points. The Saints led 9-5, built the lead out to 17-10 before the Cougars began a climb back. Testoni and a trio of Melo kills fueled a 5-1 stretch cutting the deficit to 22-20. In a pivotal point, Barton couldn't scoop a weak attack over the block giving a two point advantage back to the Saints. Melo came back finding the corner but the Saints earned the final two points for the 2-1 match lead.

Seward County took the early 8-5 fourth set lead winning four-of-five points. Beginning with an Addison Crites and Jaden Boden block, Barton flipped the script with six straight talking an 11-8 lead. The Saints would eventually take 7-of-8 points to grab a 17-14 lead, staying on top again at 20-16. Consecutive kills by Boden and Nunnery, with another Boden attack followed by a Saints attack error tied it up at 20-all. Tied again at 21, Seward County reeled off three straight for match point appearing headed for the league title.

Calling a timeout, Head Coach Alan Segal reset the defensive and offensive scheme. Barton responded with Melo and Testoni attacks before the law firm of Melo and Santos set up the great wall of denials in thwarting three Saints attacks resulting in the home team taking the final five points to force the fifth set.

Barton got the first point of the final set but the Saints earned the next three. Testoni put a pair of kills on the board, along with a teamed denial with LaForce, followed by LaForce's center attack on an overhit putting Barton up 5-3. The teams traded the next five points before a Saints' ball handling error and a Santos kill gave Barton a 9-6 edge. Aided by two costly Barton errors, Seward County gained the edge on four straight to lead 10-9.

The top teams in the Jayhawk battled point-for-point with four more ties before Santos' kill rocking the Barton Gym giving the Cougars match point at 14-13. Coming out of the Seward County timeout, Barton couldn't control a block with the Saints gaining their own match point on a center attack. Following a Barton timeout, the Cougars missed two attack opportunities with Seward County capitalizing on their second time of the point on a back row attack for the winner, taking a nose dive in the middle of the court.