GARDEN CITY — The Barton volleyball team put the finishing touches on the Jayhawk West regular season Wednesday night with a win at Garden City.
That was significant for a couple reasons. First and foremost, it locked up the fifth seed in the upcoming Region VI post-season tournament. But it also gave the Cougars their fourth straight win. That matches the longest of season, achieved twice earlier this year.
The Cougars lost the opening set at Garden then got better as they night went along in winning the next three sets. Barton defeated Garden, 20-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-17 at the Perryman Center.
The win got the Cougars to even in the West at 8-8 while the Broncbusters fall to 6-9 with one more contest left at Colby. Barton is 18-13 overall.
That means Barton will open Region VI play at Butler on Halloween night. The winner of that match will advance to the semifinals Nov. 5 in Liberal.
In the win at Garden City, the Cougars were sluggish at the outset. Barton fell behind 10-5 and played catchup the entire set in falling behind 1-0.
Things changed in the second from the first serve as Barton played with the lead. A key stretch came late after Garden City tied it at 19-all, forcing a timeout by Cougar coach Brandon Stephenson. Barton responded with a 3-0 run to take a 22-19 lead.
Kelsie Antcliff put the Cougars on the verge of the win with kill then Carolina Goncalves ended the game with a service ace for the 25-20 win.
Barton was never really threatened in the final two sets on the way to the win.
Before the post-season gets started, Barton will head to Scottsbluff, Neb. for the Western Nebraska Classic. The Cougars will see some of the nation’s best this weekend to close out the regular season.
It starts Friday with two matches. The first against No. 12 San Jacinto then finishing with Laredo. Saturday will see the Cougars take on No. 2 Iowa Western and No. 4 Western Nebraska.