The 6th ranked Barton Community College volleyball team shook off a sub-par second set Monday evening in Liberal to post a 3–1 victory over Seward County Community College (25-14, 22-25, 25-14, 25-13).
Taking care of its final road assignment of the regular season, the Cougars' ninth straight win kept them in prime position for a third consecutive KJCCC title with two home matches remaining. Barton improves to 13-1 in league play and 26-5 overall, while the Saints drop to 6-9 in conference and 9-17 on the season.
The quest continues Wednesday with a 6:30 p.m. first serve hosting Garden City Community College, followed by Saturday's 6:00 p.m. finale against Cloud County Community College.
Caroliny Cristiny paced the attack with 11 kills on .257 efficiency, while Stasa Stamenkovic followed with eight kills, 22 digs, and three aces.
Middle duo Aubrey Olander and Indigo Pruitt combined for 10 kills and 13 total blocks, with Olander adding seven kills and matching that total in stuffs to continue her climb up the program's wall of denial chart, also contributing a pair of aces. Pruitt's three kills were joined by seven blocks, while Paola Batista chipped in three kills and four blocks.
Defensive anchor Mina Kaneko served up four aces and collected a team-high 24 digs, becoming just the sixth Cougar in program history to surpass 1,000 career digs.
The Cougars utilized all three of their setters on the night, with Mileah Neal leading the way at 14 assists and 11 digs for her fourth double-double performance. Ori Briger added 12 assists and two aces, while Janka Tolnai rounded out the trio with four assists and two of Barton's 14 service aces.
Record Book Watch:
Mina Kaneko- Tied 7th Single Season Digs (546) – surpassed Mylena Testoni's 540 (2021), Mykela Riedl's 541 (2014) and tied with Hanna Miller's 546 (2022) – 18 shy of Cristin Haines' 564 (2006)- 6th Career Digs (1003) – 11 away from Mylena Testoni's 1,014 (2020-21)
Aubrey Olander- 20th Single Season Total Blocks (133) – 15 shy of top ten- 6th Career Total Blocks (264) – surpassed Christi Ensz's 260 (1988-89) – 6 shy of Julie Williams' 270 (1993)- 6th Single Season Assisted Blocks (122) – surpassed Rayanne de Oliveira's 118 (2018) – 2 shy of Danielle Geronymo's 124 (1997) and 5 away from Sarah Schinstock's 127 (2005)