Not since 2011 had the Barton Community College volleyball team hoisted the Region VI trophy. Friday in Liberal the Cougars stood as the champion once again in dispatching Hutchinson in straight sets before knocking off the host and No. 10 Seward County in five sets.
The pair of victories improves Barton to 25-4 on the year, advancing as the Plains District Champion to the NJCAA Division I Championship tournament in West Plains, Missouri, held April 15-17. The Cougars will be making their 21st appearance on the national stage, surpassing Southern Idaho for the most tournament appearances. Seward County falls to 22-5 as the Jayhawk champions await to see if they receive an at-large berth to extend their season.
Barton began their title track with their third straight regional semifinal appearance, meeting up with a Hutchinson team the Cougars swept on the season. Like the previous two season meetings, the teams battled back and forth with Barton doing just enough to pull out the straight set victory with hard fought 25-21, 27-25, and 25-23 scores.
Advancing to the title game for the first time since 2011, waiting for the Cougars in their 5th straight title appearance were the Saints, fresh off a straight set sweep over Colby in the earlier semifinal.
Barton took the first two sets 26-24 and 31-29 before dropping the next two 22-25 and 23-25. Falling to the Saints one week ago at the Barton Gym in a gut wrenching 16-14 loss for the conference title, the Cougars avenged the feeling with a bigger Region VI title by earning a 15-12 victory snapping a series losing streak dating back to 2013.
Recap vs Hutchinson
A 5-0 run opened up a six point first set lead at 12-6, with the Cougars leading by six again at 15-9. Mylena Testoni, who led the attack on an unofficial 15 kills, registered her lone solo block followed by a service ace put Barton up five at 21-16.
Grabbing the next point out of a Hutchinson timeout increasing the lead back out to six, the Blue Dragons found back with the next three to slice the deficit in half but Santos and Testoni kills helped Barton close out the set win the four point win.
Barton jumped out to another big lead in the second causing Hutchinson to burn both of its timeouts by the time the Cougars built a 10-2 lead following five straight. Hutchinson pecked away at the margin with three straight and later strung eight straight in grabbing its first lead of the match at 22-21.
The Cougars grabbed the next two points to go ahead, gaining set point at 24-23 but the Blue Dragons weren't going down quickly in gaining their own set point at 25-24. A Testoni kill followed by a Maria Santos solo block flipped the script as a Hutchinson attack error sealed the Barton 2-0 match lead.
Neither team was able to gain more than a two-point separation in the third set, as the seesaw frame featured nineteen ties. The last came following Hutchinson's pair of points to knot it at 23-all with Barton taking the final two including Testoni's final kill advance Barton to the title game.
Recap vs Seward County
One hour after its season sweep over Hutchinson for the second straight year, the Cougars took the court against a Saints program owning a 15-match win streak in the series.
Early on it was all Barton in leading 7-2 until the switch turned off the Cougars with the juice flowing to the Seward County side of the court.
The Saints rolled off six straight to take the lead, then following a service error, added another six points to the stretch in outscoring Barton 12-1 in claiming a 14-8 lead. Barton took six of the next eight to claw back to within 16-14, with Seward County holding off the charg before three straight opened up a 21-16 advantage.
The teams traded points with Seward County gaining set point at 24-20 but the resilient Cougars would not go away easy as a Melo kill and Isabella Guedes service ace prompted the Saints' final timeout of the set. Another Melo kill kept the momentum rolling out of the break with Tasiah Nunnery's kill putting Barton out front for set point, with the second Guedes ace completing the comeback on six straight to steal the win.
Seward County recovered to begin the second, jumping out to leads of 6-2 and 12-8 before Barton began its climb back with three straight keyed by a Santos kill. The Saints stayed out in front until Nunnery's attack sparked another trio of points tying it up at 17. The teams traded points until another trio of points powered by Nunnery and Santos gave Barton a 22-20 lead.
The Cougars would later grab set point following a Melo-Santos block but couldn't get the clincher with the Saints gaining set point at 28-27. Barton fired back with two straight only to have Seward County tie up the set for the 14th time. Melo buried a kill with Addison Crites putting up a solo wall to secure the 31-29 win.
Third set action began back-n-forth with the seventh tie broke by another Crites solo block as Barton took a 14-12 lead. The Saints would take four of the next five for a 17-15 advantage, leading the rest of the set in holding off any Barton charge to force the fourth set.
The Saints controlled early for a 6-3 lead before Nunnery's kill lead a 5-1 stretch to take the lead. The Saints turned the tide with a 4-1 spurt to surge ahead only to have Barton fire back with five straight for a visitor's three point edge. Following a pair of Saints points, Barton seemed to take the wind out the Saints sails with three straight for a four point lead at 17-13 but then the wheels fell off for a brief time.
Seward County's four straight tied it a 17-all with Melo and Santos kills helped Barton take a 20-18 lead. Following a Saints timeout, the teams traded the next six points with Barton leading 23-21 but couldn't close the deal with Seward County sweeping the final four in forcing the deciding fifth.
Tie at three, Barton gained early momentum behind Santos and Testoni kills for a 6-3 lead. Four straight put the defending champions out front but three straight errors plus a Nunnery and LaForce kill contributed to a 5-0 Barton run and an 11-8 lead.
Seward County strung two in a row with LaForce leading Barton's two point response for a 13-9 lead.
In a set marred with multiple stoppages and questioning of calls, the last came giving Seward County its second point in a row closing to within 13-11. Following a Barton timeout, LaForce put the Cougars on the cusp of the championship, briefly delayed by a Saint point, with the clinching point coming on a net violation setting off a Cougar celebration not seen in ten years.