The fifth-ranked Barton Community College volleyball team opened postseason play in commanding fashion Wednesday night, sweeping Pratt Community College (25-23, 25-13, 25-11) in the opening round of the Region 6/Plains District Tournament.
Behind a sharp .365 team attack and a balanced offensive spread, the Cougars extended their win streak to 12, improving to 29-5 overall while eliminating the eighth-seeded Beavers, who closed their season at 12-25.
Barton now advances to Saturday’s 5:00 p.m. semifinal at Fort Hays State University’s Gross Memorial Coliseum against Dodge City Community College, needing two more victories to secure its second straight NJCAA Division I National Tournament berth.
Aubrey Olander took center stage in the victory, breaking the program’s career record for assisted blocks with five more on the night to move past Laura Macek’s mark set in 2009. The sophomore middle’s milestone came alongside a steady offensive outing of six kills on .500 hitting, continuing her season-long presence as one of the conference’s top two-way front-row players.
Olander’s presence helped Barton dominate the net with 48 kills to Pratt’s 30 while limiting the visitors to a .124 hitting clip.
Caroliny Cristiny and Stasa Stamenkovic each tallied 10 kills, with Cristiny swinging .409 and adding an ace, while Stamenkovic contributed 16 digs for her 16th double-double along with three blocks.
Indigo Pruitt was nearly flawless with nine kills on a .750 attack, and Brylynn Wicker chipped in six kills on a career-best .625 efficiency.
The Cougars’ setting tandem of Ori Briger and Mileah Neal combined for 42 assists and two aces, directing the offense to set efficiencies of .298, .400, and .444 across the sweep.
Mina Kaneko helped anchor the defense line with 15 digs and two aces helping Barton to its 18th sweep of the season and third straight semifinal berth.
Record Book Watch
Mina Kaneko
– 6th – Single Season Digs (589): 6 away from Ashlee Maples’ 595 (2005); 39 from Giselle de Moura’s 628 (2011)
– 5th – Career Digs (1,031): 75 away from Tasiah Nunnery’s 1,121 (2020–23)
Aubrey Olander
– 20th – Single Season Total Blocks (143): 3 shy of the top ten; 5 shy of Danielle Geronymo’s 157 (1998)
– 4th – Career Total Blocks (271): 8 shy of Kara Robeson’s 284 (2006–07)
– T-2nd – Single Season Assisted Blocks (132): Broke tie with Sarah Schinstock’s 127 (2005); Tied with Sunshine Misa-Uli’s 132 (2005); 12 shy of Laura Macek’s program record 144 (2008)
– 1st – Career Assisted Blocks (244): Surpassed Laura Macek’s program record 241 (2008–09)
