Cougars volleyball opens season by hosting tournament

Barton Community College volleyball team opened its regular season by hosting a tournament Friday and Saturday and won three of their four matches.
The Lady Cougars’ first match was against Northern Oklahoma-Enid. Barton easily won the first three games to win, 25-8, 25-13 and 25-11.
Barton’s second match was against Seminole State, which is ranked No. 15 in the latest NJCAA national rankings. This was the biggest challenge for the Cougars, according to head coach Jaime Cabral.
“It was the first time this team has seen competition so far this season,” Cabral said. “It was a great wake-up call.”
The first game against Seminole State started off poorly for the Cougars. They quickly found themselves in a 16-8 deficit, but Barton fought back to tie the game at 21, Cabral said.
Then a couple of hitting errors by the Cougars gave Seminole State the win, 26-24. Then Seminole State finished the sweep, beating Barton 25-20 and 25-10.
“It was a great effort by the whole team to battle back,” Cabral said. “It was a great momentum gain for us.”
Barton’s longest match was against Cisco. It lasted five games, but in the end, the Cougars won.
“I think the loss the day before was still in our mind,” Cabral said. “There were points where we got caught and just couldn’t get the ball back over.”
The Cougars lost their first game against Cisco 25-17. Barton found their rhythm and beat Cisco in the second game, outscoring them 25-13.
“We started to get it together in after that first game,” Cabral said.
In the third game, Cisco made struck back, winning the game 26-24 and taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Cougars were able to tie the match up at 2, beating Cisco 25-18 in the fourth game.
The fifth and final game in the match was neck and neck until the Cougars went on a run, Cabral said.
“I think it was tied at 4 and then Malia Tonga went on a run,” Cabral. “We finished the game on a nine-point run with Tonga serving.”
Cabral said Tonga had a great tournament and was the highlight of the Cisco match, getting 16 kills and finishing with the final match by serving for nine straight points.
Also a standout against Cisco was libero Morgan Cooper, who had 25 digs in the match.
The final match of the tournament was Barton against Hesston. The Cougars won swept them, taking all three games. The first game was the closest but the Cougars held on to win 25-21. After the first game, Barton settled in and beat Hesston 25-17 and 25-11.

BCC men’s soccer loses two at own tournament

Barton Community College men’s soccer team hosted a tournament at Memorial Stadium in Great Bend Saturday and Sunday. The Cougars lost both of their games 2-0.
The Cougars lost at home for the first time in years, Cougars head coach Oliver Twelvetrees said.
“I don’t think we’ve lost at home for two years so losing two games back to back really hurts,” Twelvetrees said.
Saturday, Barton played against Iowa Western, and Twelvetrees said that the Cougars did not look good.
“It was definitely the first game of the season,” Twelvetrees said. “It was a disjointed performance. Passes didn’t make it to their mark. We just couldn’t play our game against them.”
The second game at least looked more promising, Twelvetrees said. The Cougars played against North Iowa Area CC on Sunday.
“We definitely saw a big improvement,” Twelvetrees said.
Barton out shot North Iowa 15-5 but no one on the Cougars’ team was able to put the ball into the back of the net.
“It is a cruel game,” Twelvetrees said. “Unless you take advantage of the scoring opportunities you get, you’ll get hurt.”
North Iowa’s two goals came in the second half of the game. The first was scored by Mitch O’Connor on a free kick that glanced off of the Cougars’ wall.
“The first goal was just a fluke,” Twelvetrees said. “We were unlucky for that one.”
The second goal was scored by Marvin Ledgister.
“The second goal was sloppy,” Twelvetrees said. “We just broke down on the play.”
Twelvetrees said that there was a lot of improvement he would like to see from everyone.
“The sophomores need to show more leadership,” Twelvetrees said. “The freshmen need to start coming together.”