The Barton volleyball team is playing some of its best volleyball of the season.
The Cougars won for the third time in four games – beating a pair of teams they lost to the first time through the conference.
While it may be a little too late have an impact on the Jayhawk West standings, it a good sign for the post season.
The latest win came Wednesday in the final home game of the season for the Cougars. Barton defeated Pratt in a 5-set thriller at the Barton Gym on sophomore night.
The Cougars defeated the Beavers, 16-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-20, 15-10. The win improved the Cougars to 6-8 in the West and 9-21 overall. Pratt is now 8-6 and 17-15.
“A great victory, and a nice final home event for our sophomore athletes, managers, and trainer,” Barton Coach Phil Shoemaker said. “Great to have a loud and rowdy student section in attendance and a full volume.”
Barton is still more than likely locked in the No. 6 spot for the post season. Barton has matches at No. 19 Hutchinson and Seward left and would need to win both while Pratt losses its last two in order to catch the Beavers.
The Cougars didn’t have a great opening set but took control from the first serve of the second set. Barton jumped to an 11-4 lead and never trailed. Pratt was able to close the gap to two and made Barton work with four straight points with the Cougars on set point. But Barton closed out the set with a Nathalia Gouveia kill to even the match.
The see-saw affair continued with Pratt getting the early lead in the third set and maintaining a comfortable advantage throughout.
The fourth set saw Barton go on a run early in the set and grab an 11-5 lead on the Beavers. The Cougars kept that lead, eventually winning 25-20 and forcing the fifth and deciding set.
Barton jumped out early in the deciding set and thanks to some great defense – especially on the back row – the Cougars kept that lead and the offense of Emily Deterding put the game away with three straight kills and a 15-10 win.
“Easily one of our best performances; some great effort play, especially in our ability to follow our game plan, which is really nice to accomplish,” Coach Shoemaker said.
Deterding ended the night with 15 kills while Jordan Edelman added 12.
Mallory McQueen had 40 assists in the win to go with a team-high 20 digs. Lydia Konrade had 13 digs.
“Terrific and gutsy performances by Emily Deterding and Jordan Edelman who each came through for us with big plays in tough situations time and time again,” Coach Shoemaker said. “Brooke Joslyn was extremely efficient for us with her attack, and Olivia came on late with some big kills, blocks, and service aces.
“Mallory had a strong double-double with 40 assists and 20 digs. Our serving game was very consistent and strong, which allowed us to slow down their offense.”
The win was the third straight at home. Now the Cougars will look to keep that momentum going as they hit the road. Barton will travel to Hutchinson Tuesday and off to Liberal Thursday to wrap up the regular season.