The No. 10 ranked Barton volleyball team split four matches over the weekend at the Sheila Worley Tournament in Sterling, Colorado, picking up a pair of victories Friday before dropping both of Saturday’s contests.
Barton opened the tournament with a five-set thriller over No. 11 Frank Phillips College, prevailing 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 23-25 and 15-13, before returning later Friday to sweep Laramie County Community College 25-17, 25-16 and 25-18.
Saturday proved tougher for the Cougars, taking the opening set against Casper College before falling in four, 19-25, 25-21, 25-14 and 25-17. Barton closed the weekend in another five-set battle, coming up two points short against Western Nebraska Community College, 26-24, 22-25, 9-25, 25-20 and 15-13.
The 2-2 weekend moves Barton to 11-6 overall as the Cougars finally return to the Barton Gym floor Monday for their home opener. The Cougars resume conference play with a 6:30 p.m. first serve against No. 19 Dodge City Community College.
Weekend Leaders
Kiera Loe led the Cougars throughout the four-match weekend with 74 kills, averaging 4.35 per set, reaching double figures in all four contests with 20, 17, 15 and 22 kills. Brylynn Wicker posted a team-best .340 attack percentage among Barton’s regular attackers, while Caroliny Cristiny totaled 42 kills and Mariam Urazbakhtina added 31. Mileah Neal directed the offense with 107 assists at 6.29 per set, complemented by Natalia Malinowska-Nowak‘s 64 at 3.76 per set.
Defensively, Amanda Riepe paced Barton with 60 digs (3.53 per set), followed by Hotone Tarui‘s 53 (3.12 per set), with Paola Batista leading the front row with 15 total blocks.
Barton finished the weekend with a .226-or-better attack percentage in each of their final three matches, including a weekend-best .278 against Casper. Collectively, the Cougars finished the 17-set weekend with 208 kills (12.24/set), 261 digs (15.35/set), 28 total blocks (7.0/match) and 16 service aces.
Match-by-Match Summary and Stat Leaders
Vs No. 11 Frank Phillips: Barton began the weekend by surviving a five-set challenge, taking the opening two frames before the Plainsmen battled back to force a deciding set. The Cougars answered in the fifth, pulling out the 15-13 victory to secure their fourth win over a nationally ranked opponent this season.
Loe powered the attack with her second consecutive 20-plus kill performance, finishing with 20 kills and a season-high four blocks of the team’s nine total. Cristiny recorded her sixth double-double of the season, putting down 15 kills with 17 digs while Wicker recorded eight kills on a .318 attack and added a team-high two service aces. Riepe anchored the back row with 21 digs as Tarui added 19. Neal distributed 27 assists with nine digs and Malinowska-Nowak added 17 assists.
Vs Laramie County: The Cougars returned to the court Friday evening with their most convincing performance of the weekend, hitting .277 in completing the sweep.
Loe continued her strong day with 17 kills against just one error on 27 swings for a blistering .593 attack percentage. Wicker was even more efficient with six errorless kills on 10 attacks for a .600 percentage as Barton committed just 14 attack errors in the match.
Neal handed out 23 assists with two service aces while Malinowska-Nowak added 10 assists. Riepe led the defense with 10 digs and a pair of aces as the Cougars held Laramie County to just 22 kills and a .020 attack percentage.
Vs Casper: Barton carried its Friday momentum into Saturday’s opening set against Casper, hitting .344 in taking the first frame 25-19, but the Thunderbirds responded by capturing the next three to hand the Cougars their first loss of the weekend.
Despite the setback, Barton produced its best team attack percentage of the tournament at .278 with three Cougars hitting .400 or better. Batista led the efficiency with eight kills on 14 swings for a .571 attack, Urazbakhtina delivered 11 kills on .450 hitting, and Cristiny finished with 13 kills against just one error for a .400 percentage.
Loe led with 15 kills while Neal dished out a weekend-best 34 assists and added eight digs. Riepe paced the back row with 17 digs.
Casper, however, countered Barton’s strong attack with 66 kills on .311 hitting, heating up after the opening set with percentages of .289, .533 and .312 over the final three frames.
Vs Western Nebraska: The Cougars’ weekend finale went the distance for the second time in four matches, with Western Nebraska prevailing 15-13 in the deciding fifth set.
Following a two-point opening-set loss, Barton evened the match before dominating the third, 25-9, behind an 11-kill, two-error attack for a .474 percentage. Western Nebraska answered by taking the fourth before the Cougars were limited to five kills on .040 hitting in the deciding frame.
Loe capped her weekend with a tournament-best 22 kills, while Urazbakhtina reached double figures for the second straight match with 11 kills on .348 hitting. Wicker put down five kills on a .500 attack while Malinowska-Nowak was a perfect 4-for-4 offensively in addition to handing out 24 assists and contributing five block assists. Neal added 23 assists.
Tarui led the defense with 16 digs, Riepe added 12 and Jaden Katsis contributed 10 digs and two service aces. Barton also produced its best blocking match of the weekend with 11 total rejections.
