HAYS — The No. 5 Barton Cougar volleyball team rallied past No. 13 ranked Colby on the sixth match point, 14-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-20, 20-18 to capture the Plains District/Region 6 Championship.
The Cougars (31-5) won its 14th straight match and earns a berth to the NJCAA Tournament Nov. 19-22 at Clarksville, Tenn. NJCAA brackets will be announced Wednesday.
The Cougars found timely production in the final two sets.
Aubrey Olander produced delivered 13 winners and 10 blocks. KJCCC Freshman of the Year Stasa Stamenkovic delivered 13 winners and 20 digs for her 17th double-double.
Also contributing were Indigo Pruitt, nine winners, .562 hitting, seven blocks; Caroliny Cristiny 10 winners, six digs; Brylynn Wicker and Paola Batista combined for eight winners and nine blocks.
Setters Ori Briger and Mileah Neal distributed 22 assists each. Neal had 11 digs and Briger seven digs. Mina Kaneko anchored the defense with 22 digs,
In the decisive fifth set, Colby led 9-4. Back-to-back blocks sparked a comeback. Two Cristiny winners flipped the scoreboard to 13–12 Cougars.
Colby fended off two match points and led 16-15. Olander and Batista combined for a crucial match-saving block before Stamenkovic's winner swung the momentum. Pruitt rose to the moment and played a part in the final two points as the Cougars capped their comeback.
Colby won two of three sets and led the fourth set 17-14. Barton roared back with six straight to surge ahead. Stamenkovic and Pruitt forced the deciding fifth.
The opening set was all Trojans, as Colby erased an early 4–1 Barton lead with an 11–1 surge to take control. Stretching the margin to as many as nine, the Trojans kept the Cougars off balance and closed on a four-point burst to seal the frame while holding Barton to its lowest set output of the season.
Colby again jumped out early in the second, building a 7–2 cushion and maintaining the five-point edge until Barton began to find rhythm behind a three-point spurt. Still trailing 17–14, the Cougars took five of the next six points — capped by a Stamenkovic kill — to grab their first lead since the opening serve. Tied twice down the stretch, Barton's net defense, led by Pruitt and Wicker, helped close out the set on a 4–1 run to even the match.
Carrying that momentum into the third, Barton built a 9–5 advantage and later reclaimed a 15–13 lead with a four-point rally. The Trojans answered immediately, rattling off nine straight across a pair of Cougar timeouts to seize control at 22–15. Barton clawed back to within five and staved off set point with three straight, but Colby held firm to take a four-point decision and a 2–1 match lead.
The Cougars swept Dodge City 25-22, 25-17, 25-16 to advance to the Plains District/Region 6 Championship match for the second consecutive season. Colby beat Hutchinson in the semifinals.
A balanced Cougar attack led the way with five players tallying, four or more kills, paced by Caroliny Cristiny's 12 kills and a team high 13 points. Stasa Stamenkovic followed with eight kills on a .375 hitting percentage while adding 17 digs. Aubrey Olander and Indigo Pruitt combined for nine kills and five blocks in the middle to anchor the front line.
Ori Briger directed the offense with 20 assists and three service aces, while Mina Kaneko steadied the back row with a team high 11 digs to hit the 600 mark this season passing Ashlee Maples 595, and adding two aces. Barton hit .202 with seven aces and 11 blocks.
