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No. 7 Cougars reach Region 6 volleyball final
bc vball
PHOTO CREDIT Joe Vinduska Barton Cougar Kassidy Nixon (4) soars for a spike against Garden City.

Shaking off a slow start, once the 7th ranked Barton Community College volleyball team got heated up it was lights out for Garden City. The Cougars rolled to a straight set victory (25-19, 25-21, 25-15) in the semifinal round of the Region 6/Plains District Tournament.

The Cougars avenge last season's upset loss in the same round, now advancing to Sunday's 2:00 p.m. title match against 10th ranked Colby Community College as the Trojans defeated Dodge City Community College in a hard-fought comeback 3-1 victory (18-25, 25-17, 25-23, 27-25) in the evening semifinal.

Barton (30-2) meets the Trojans (26-3) in a rubber match of the season's meetings with an automatic NJCAA Division I Tournament bid additionally awarded to the winner.

Ticket prices for the tournament are $10 per person each day with ages 5 and under admitted free. Complete information can be found at BartonSports.com or at kjccc.org.

Phoebe Reyes led the Cougars with 13 kills on a .303 attack as Anna Wierzbicki had a .462 efficient night for 7 kills on 13 swings. Kassidy Nixon also had 7 kills to go along with 14 digs, 3 aces, and 3 blocks.

Barton posted a .218 efficient night compared to just .054 for the Broncbusters, the Cougars' offense keyed by Elena Stankovic's 20 assists with Phoebe Reyes putting up 10 assists.

Mina Kaneko led the backline with 15 digs as Aubrey Olander four assisted led the squad's block effort.

QUARTERFINAL -- No. 7 Barton rolled past Pratt 25-14, 25-20, 25-13 in the Region 6/Plains District Tournament.

Twelve Cougars contributed to the short night of .330 efficiency led by the .700 attack from Anna Wierzbicki's 8 kills on 10 swings. Reigning KJCCC Player of the Week Kassidy Nixon put together a .571 night in matching Phoebe Reyes for team high 9 kills each. Reyes led the blocking at the net with 3 assisted while Nixon helped protect the backline with 10 digs in just missing her 13th double-double of the year.

Joining Nixon on backline protection duty, Mina Kaneko led with 14 digs as Naya Danenberg collected 12. Setters Elena Stankovic and Maurin Reyes keyed the offense with 21 and 14 assists respectively. 

Ranked 6th nationally in serving aces per set, the Cougars chalked up 10 total on the evening. Wierzbicki leading with 3 with Kaneko, Nixon, and M. Reyes serving up two each as Danenberg collected the other.

Breaking away from a 10-8 first set advantage with three straight within a 7-1 stretch, Barton outscored the Beavers 8-2 the rest of the way including a six-point closeout.

The Beavers countered Barton's early 6-0 run in the second with four straight to close within at 8-7. Four straight by the Cougars increased the margin but still only led by three at the 15-12 mark. Barton fired back with a four-pack of tallies to gain separation, answering another Pratt 4-point spurt to hold off the charge for the eventual seven-point winning margin.