The Barton Community College volleyball team is preparing to travel to West Plains, Mo., to challenge the nation’s No. 2 team — Western Wyoming — in the first round of the NJCAA national tournament.
 The Lady Cougars are slated to play on Thursday, Nov. 18,  at 11 a.m.
Barton won the right to compete in the national tourney by winning the Region VI championship, beating Seward County in  the title game, 25-15,25-18 and 25-7.
“We were all very excited to come home with some hardware,” BCC head coach Jaime Cabral said. “The kids did really well. They had a little lapse in the first championship match, but they turned it around in the second.”
Barton began its season with four straight wins, but two quick losses brought them to 4-2. Cabral said that early in the season, he was still trying to find the right mix on the court.
“We started off trying to find the right line up,” Cabral said. “It took about three weeks to start finding consistency. Everything started to come together.”
Now, the team has settled in and Cabral said that each player continues to improve in their roles.
“They are molding into a group,” Cabral said. “They are all still improving in every aspect of the game.
“I tell them that they have a chance now to prove on the national stage where they belong.”
 Raney Okeson, who is one of the Lady Cougars most productive hitters with 297 kills, switched from outside hitter to inside hitter.
“Raney played as an outside hitter all of last season,” Cabral said. “She made a sacrifice and switched over to the middle. She has really helped the team this season.”
 Malia Tonga leads Barton with 325 kills.
“Malia and Raney are the two that have gotten the most reps this season,” Cabral said. “They have improved a lot this season. At the beginning of the season, they were a little worried about making a mistake when we got ahead.
“Now, they both want the ball in their hands. They have become very confident.”
The hitters success is in part due to Juliana de Barros’ skills as a setter, Cabral said.
“Juliana does a great job setting up the hitters,” Cabral said. “She does a tremendous job and her knowledge of the game helps a lot. She makes our bad passes look beautiful.”
Cabral said  he believes that the matchup between the Mustangs and the Lady Cougars is a favorable one even though Western Wyoming has the size advantage with four athletes over six feet, including 6-4 Chelsea Sorensen.
“(Western Wyoming) is much bigger than we are,” Cabral said, “but their ball control is up and down. They have the size, but we have speed.
“I’ve seen it before. Height is important in this sport, but if you have speed, it is hard to keep up.”