Fresh off its first Region VI title and national tournament berth in ten years, six members of the Barton Community College volleyball team received KJCCC West/Region VI Division I post-season honors.
Mylena Testoni and Maria Santos headline the selections with the Most Valuable Player and Freshman of the Year honors respectively to land on the first team. Joelle LaForce, Isabella Guedes, and Carol Melo were selected on the second team and Hanna Miller was chosen honorable mention in voting from respective league coaches.
The six-pack, along with a deep and talented squad, helped lead the Cougars to a 14-2 second place finish for the second straight year before winning three straight to capture the Region VI Plains District. The Cougars would go on to make their 23rd nation-leading Division I Volleyball Championship Tournament, dropping a pair of four-set losses to eventual national runner-up Snow College and 9th place finisher Northeastern Junior College in completing the season at 25-6.
The MVP of the league Testoni won the conference's Offensive Player of the Week award six times in the eleven weeks of voting. Not a big stat stuffer regarding total numbers, the 5'9" Testoni still ranked fourth in total kills but was most effective in her efficiency by leading Region VI in hitting percentage through most of the season. Posting a match high 19 kills and 32 digs March 6 at Butler, Testoni reached double digits kills in seventeen matches in completing the season on a .339 attack. The top offensive threat for Barton was also solid defensively, recording six blocks in a match twice during the season and recording a team high 15 double-double kill-dig efforts.
Santos was the ultimate compliment to Testoni, providing multiple offensive options for the Cougars. Ranking fifth in Region VI hitting percentage at .307 at the conclusion of the regular season, Santos had ten or more kills fifteen times throughout the campaign with a career high 20 coming March 4 versus Hutchinson. Defensively Santos was also a force, utilizing her 6'0" frame in posting three or more blocks in ten matches including a 6 wall-of-denial effort March 26 against Seward County.
Second Team Selections
Guedes guided the first wave of the 6-2 offense, improving throughout her freshman season to win the conference's setter of the week four-of-the-last-five awards distributed. Putting up a career high 35 assist and recording 17 digs March 4 versus Hutchinson, Guedes recorded eleven double-double performances on the season.
Recruited as an outside hitter, Melo converted to Barton's most effective weapon in the middle of the net. Melo's spring off the floor led to a Region VI third best hitting percentage (.310), but the 5'11" transfer developed into a critical blocker in Barton's frontline of defense. Eleven matches Melo recorded four or more blocks including a pair of eight block efforts and a five solo block effort at Seward County helping Barton secure the Region VI/Plains District Championship.
Another two-way impactor for Barton was the play of LaForce. Reaching double-digit kills in six matches, LaForce had a season high 13 kills against Central Community College. Defensively, the 6'0" freshman posted a career high five blocks in a pivotal February 27 trip to Garden City, four in the conference championship match against Seward County, and recorded three or more blocks in eleven matches.
Honorable Mention Selection
Miller started off the season with a bang, earning not just the conference defensive player of the week but the NJCAA's national award as well. Adding three more weeks of conference recognition to her freshman resume, the 5'6" libero ranked 2nd in Region VI in total digs (494) and 4th in digs per set at 4.70. Miller dug up a career high 38 March 25 at Dodge City, posting an additional pair of 30+ digs in reaching double-digits in half of the Cougars' matches.