Utilizing the full force of its depth, the No. 16 ranked Barton Community College volleyball team rolled to a three-set sweep of Pratt Community College (25-16, 25-9, 25-15) Saturday afternoon at Fleske Fieldhouse.
Playing all regular reserves in at least two sets, the Cougars didn't miss a beat, hitting .372 on the afternoon in notching their 20th straight victory in the series.
Barton improves to 3-2 in KJCCC play and 13-7 overall while Pratt remains winless at 0-5 in league play and 0-12 on the season.
The Cougars next have two road contests, beginning Wednesday at Garden City Community College before traveling to Hutchinson Community College a week later. First serve is slated for 6:00 p.m. in both contests. Barton's next home match comes Saturday, Oct. 3, hosting Seward County Community College in a 1:00 p.m. start.
Barton finished with 38 kills against just nine errors on 78 swings for a .372 attack, highlighted by a .476 second-set performance in which the Cougars put down 12 kills on 21 attempts with just two errors.
Makenna Rasmussen made the most of her two sets of action, leading Barton with nine kills on .412 hitting while adding a block assist. Irmak Navruz followed with seven kills and a pair of solo blocks, while Kiera Loe did damage in her lone set of action with six kills on a .308 attack. Brylynn Wicker contributed six kills from the middle on .455 hitting, committing just one error on 11 swings.
Ana Fabiely Fachi delivered five kills without an error on eight attempts for a team-best .625 attack while adding three block assists. Mariam Urazbakhtina was also error-free in putting down three kills on six swings for a .500 attack.
Running the offense, Mileah Neal helped celebrate her birthday distributing 22 assists in a set and a half of action while Natalia Nowak added nine in her lone frame. Defensively, Kailyn Follis led the Cougars with nine digs, followed by Kimberly Hofflinger with five.
Set-by-Set Recap
First Set: fter Pratt scored the afternoon's first point, the Cougars rattled off the next five behind a pair of Loe kills and never looked back. Establishing a five-point margin a point later, Barton continued to build separation, with three more Loe kills highlighting a 10-1 stretch. A 7-0 run capped the surge, blowing the set open and building a 22-9 advantage. The Beavers responded with five straight before the teams exchanged points the rest of the way in Barton's 25-16 opening-set victory.
Second Set: Mixing the lineup with reserves handling most of the action, Barton kept rolling. The Cougars opened the frame with nine straight points before Pratt answered with a 4-0 spurt. Barton responded with seven consecutive points, highlighted by Rasmussen's attacks, to build a 16-4 advantage before adding another three-point run for a 19-5 lead. Four more unanswered points stretched the margin to 23-7 as the Cougars cruised to the 25-9 victory.
Third Set: Barton's depth continued to shine in the third, racing out to a 6-1 lead before a 5-0 run built an 11-3 advantage. Limiting Pratt to single points while stretching the margin to 10 at 16-6, the Cougars put their final surge on the board with three straight points for their largest lead of 11 before essentially trading the final eight points in the 25-15 victory.