Title hopes slipped through the Barton Community College volleyball team's grasp Friday night in front of a large boisterous crowd at the Barton Gym as match point was answered by three straight Saints' points giving 10th ranked Seward County Community College the victory 19-25, 25-13, 25-21, 24-26, and 16-14.
Having their eleven match win streak snapped, Barton finishes second in the conference standings at 14-2 and 22-4 overall. Seward County extended a pair of streaks with the victory as their ninth straight win sealed their fifth conference title in a row improving to 15-1 and 20-4.
Barton will next set their sights on a bigger prize beginning 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in hosting the first round of Region VI playoffs against Dodge City Community College. Should the Cougars win, the final four of the region will meet in Liberal on Friday to determine the champion and berth in the NJCAA National Tournament.
Maria Santos led the Cougars with 16 kills and six blocks. Carol Melo led the 21 Cougar blocks on the night with seven denials to go with 12 kills on a .476 attack. Isabella Guedes captained the first wave of the 6-2 offense with 27 assists with Alyssa Herter putting up 19 as the Cougars fell below their season average in mustering just a .199 percentage with twenty-four errors for their second straight sub-.200 attack.
Mylena Testoni fell a kill shy of her fourth straight double-double, putting down 9 kills and leading the defensive line with 20 digs. Tasiah Nunnery and Hanna Miller each recorded 18 digs. Joelle LaForce finished with seven kills and four blocks, tying Melo for the team lead in solo rejections at two each.