A pair of Barton volleyball players earned week seven recognition following the Cougars' two victories last week, highlighted by Jaden Katsis becoming Barton's second consecutive recipient of the NJCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Week award.
Katsis additionally earned the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division I Defensive Player of the Week honor, while Mileah Neal was named the conference's Setter of the Week following Barton's four-set road victory at No. 20 Hutchinson and home sweep of Seward County.
Katsis anchored the Cougar back row with 39 digs across seven sets for a 5.57 per-set average. The redshirt freshman's week was highlighted by a career-high 27 digs in the ranked road victory at Hutchinson before adding 12 digs in Saturday's sweep of the Saints.
Neal directed the Barton offense with 60 assists across six sets for a 10.00 per-set average while adding 15 digs. The sophomore delivered a career-high 44 assists and 10 digs for her first double-double of the season in the Cougars' four-set victory at Hutchinson before distributing 16 assists and collecting five digs in just two sets of action against Seward County.
The honors mark Barton's fourth and fifth KJCCC weekly awards of the season. Natalia Nowak earned the conference's opening-week Setter of the Week honor, while Kiera Loe and Ana Fabiely Fachi swept last week's offensive and defensive awards, respectively. Fachi additionally earned NJCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Week recognition, giving Barton consecutive national defensive honorees.
The duo continued their contributions Monday night as the 17th-ranked Cougars rallied from a two-set deficit to complete a dramatic 3-2 reverse sweep at Cloud County in Concordia.
Katsis paced the back row with 15 digs, while Neal distributed 41 assists in just four sets of action, marking her second such performance this season, adding a new career high four blocks along with two kills.
Now 7-2 in KJCCC play and 17-7 overall, the Cougars return home Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. showdown against conference leader and No. 9 Colby (9-1, 20-5) at Fleske Fieldhouse.