The sixth-ranked Barton Community College volleyball team put the finishing touches on its regular season Saturday evening in front of the home crowd, dispatching Cloud County Community College in straight sets (25-13, 25-6, 25-16).
Riding an efficient .333 team attack and service onslaught featuring 12 aces, the Cougars cruised to their 10th consecutive victory to finish 28-5 overall and 15-1 in KJCCC play. Cloud County wrapped up its campaign at 6-28 overall and 0-16 in league action.
The triumph locked Barton into the top seed heading into next week's Region 6/Plains District playoffs, beginning Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. hosting Pratt Community College in the first round. Should the Cougars advance, Barton would next play in the semifinal round Saturday at Fort Hays State University's Gross Memorial Coliseum.
A balanced Cougar attack was led by Indigo Pruitt's near-flawless .833 efficiency on 10 kills in 12 swings, while Caroliny Cristiny and Aubrey Olander chipped in eight and five kills respectively, each hitting .333.
Brylynn Wicker continued her late-season surge with four kills on eight attempts at .500 efficiency, while Stasa Stamenkovic and Paola Batista each added four more.
Setting duties were evenly shared among the trio of setters as Ori Briger handed out 13 assists with two aces, Mileah Neal contributed seven assists and a career-high five aces, and Janka Tolnai tallied nine helpers.
Defensively, Mina Kaneko anchored the back row with 13 digs and two aces, Cristiny added nine digs, and the frontline trio of Olander, Pruitt, and Batista combined for 12 block assists, with Olander leading the way with four.
Record Book Watch:
Mina Kaneko- 7th – Single Season Digs (574): Surpassed Cristin Haines' 564 (2006); 21 away from Ashlee Maples' 595 (2005)- 5th – Career Digs (1,031): 90 away from Tasiah Nunnery's 1,121 (2020–23)
Aubrey Olander- 20th – Single Season Total Blocks (143): Nine shy of the top ten- 5th – Career Total Blocks (271): Surpassed Julie Williams' 270 (1993); 13 shy of Kara Robeson's 284 (2006–07)- T-3rd – Single Season Assisted Blocks (127): Surpassed Danielle Geronymo's 124 (1997); ties Sarah Schinstock's 127 (2005); five shy of Sunshine Misa-Uli's 132 (2005)- 2nd – Career Assisted Blocks (239): Two shy of Laura Macek's program record 241 (2008–09)