Facing the possibility of a letdown due to wrapping up the Jayhawk West Division title on Monday, the Barton Community College volleyball team took care of business tonight at the Barton Gym by sweeping Seward County Community College 25-19, 25-17, and 25-20. The Lady Cougars, who earned the top seed in next week’s Region VI Championships, finish the regular season at 13-1 in conference play and 25-11 overall while Seward will take the third seed with a 9-5 conference record and 21-14 overall.
Seward seemed in control of the first set as Barton adjusted to having setter Juliana Melo de Barros back in the lineup due to injury. Seward worked up to a 12-9 lead which forced Barton Head Volleyball Coach Patrick Hall to call a timeout to reset his team. Barton would then go on to outscore the Lady Saints 16-7 the rest of the way and take set one 25-19.
With the offense rolling behind de Barros and the reigning NJCAA Division I and KJCCC player of the week, Paula da Silva, the Lady Cougar defense was equally up to the task as Barton would win set two in dominant fashion 25-17 and finish the match with a 25-20 set three victory.
Da Silva, who along with de Barros has won both the NJCAA and KJCCC Player of the Week award, finished the match hitting .450 with 17 kills. De Barros, who led the Lady Cougar offense for the first time since October 14, dished out 30 assists. Anchoring the Barton defense was Giselle de Moura with 24 digs while Gabriela Oliveira dug 17 and Ashley Archer finished with 10.
“I thought we put together a fairly consistent effort tonight. Having Ju back obviously helped, as we started to reassert our offensive rhythm,” said Head Coach Patrick Hall. “We also had one of our best passing efforts of the season, and both Giselle and Gabi seemed to get everything up. Seward is a nice team, so this victory should be a good springboard into regional play.”
The Lady Cougars will open its defense of the Region VI Championship on Tuesday, November 1, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Barton Gym against an opponent yet to be determined. The night will give special recognition to the sophomore members of the team and will also be the season openers for the Cougar basketball teams as both take on Bethany JV. The Lady Cougar basketball team, under first year head coach Darin Spence, will tip-off at 4:00 p.m. while the Cougar men will tip off at approximately 8:00 p.m. or thirty minutes following the completion of the volleyball match. Admission is free but fans are asked to bring items for care packages to be sent to American troops in Afghanistan. For a complete list of items please visit the Barton Sports website.
Released: October 26, 2011
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