By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The No. 7 Cougar volleyball team missed the national tournament by a single match last year. This season, second-year coach Megan Besecker stacked the schedule to shore up Barton's resume just in case. With a 30-2 record entering Sunday afternoon's Region VI/Plains District Volleyball Championship against No. 10 Colby, Barton was likely already into the national tournament, win or lose. But the Cougars avenged an earlier loss to secure their spot at nationals 25-21, 26-24, 26-16.
"I know we would have made it through, but our goal is to get the highest seed we possibly can," Besecker said. "Also, Colby was our only home loss this year and one of our goals was to be undefeated at home. We needed some revenge."
Barton led for most of the first set and trailed early in the second before pulling ahead 9-8 on a kill from Barton County-native Kassidy Nixon and sophomore Mya Thompson. The Cougars went on to lead 20-16 before the Trojans stormed back. Nixon, freshman Aubrey Olander, and sophomore Naya Danenberg each put down kills to keep the lead at 24-22.
But Colby would not go away, tying the match at 24 to force extra play. Sophomore Anna Wiezbicki answered with a kill. In complete team play on both sides, Danenberg saved a point with a big dig that ultimately resulted in a Nixon kill and the set for Barton at 26-24.
"That second set is hard," Besecker said. "That's a big momentum swing. Yes, it's only two points, but also, that last rally to win the set, it's really hard to come back from if you're on the losing side of that. I think it's important we finished that rally out and went up 2-0. I think that helped a lot in the third.'
Barton carried all the momentum into the third set to build a 6-0 lead. Back-to-back aces from Wierzbicki kept the gap at 11-3, and the Cougars eventually led by 10 points at 14-4. Colby got as close as 21-15 late but the next Trojan serve sailed past the end line. Olander followed with a block, then sophomore Phoebe Reyes put down a kill for match point at 24-16. Danenberg finished off the Trojans her final kill at the Kirkman Center.
"It's amazing," she said. "We are a great team. We worked so hard to do that. Each person came back and just wanted to win."
Besecker has coached the Cougars to a 56-8 record in her first two seasons with the school. She takes an experienced squad to the national tournament, set for Nov. 20-23 at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn.
"We do have a lot of sophomores that felt the loss last year in the region tournament," she said. "I think that fueled the fire a little bit, too. They knew what was at stake and they were super focused this week and today. Everyone played a really big part in this win. We spread the ball out really well. The bench was great. It was a great win for the team."
Barton has proven it can play with the best in the nation, beating squads like Indian Hills and Western Nebraska, ranked No. 10 and 17 nationally at the time, and picking up two of three matches against No. 10 Colby. Barton's other loss came against Osessa College, ranked No. 13 nationally when the teams met in September.
"We know we're going to face tough teams we haven't faced before but we're confident in ourselves and what we can bring," Danenberg said. "We're going to bring our best. We're a good team."