CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — No. 2 ranked Miami Dade, Fla. ended the Barton Cougars' dream of a NJCAA volleyball championship with a hard fought 21-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-17 semifinal victory Friday.
The No. 6 seeded Cougars (33-3) will meet Colby (28-5) for the fourth time Saturday for third place. The Cougars have won two of three matches over the Trojans.
Barton's Anna Wierzbicki delivered nine winners and Claflin's Kassidy Nixon and Hutchinson's Mya Thompson each provided four winners. Elena Stankovic delivered 22 assists. Miami's Angelica Rodriguez had 15 winners and Kateille Alonzo Vargas had 13 winners.
The Cougars took the opening frame extending its consecutive set victories to 24 straight but the Sharks cleaned up its attack in overpowering Barton the rest of the way.
Additionally having its 10-match win streak snapped, Barton falls to 33-3 and looks to recover in playing for 3rd place at 4:30 p.m. Saturday against familiar foe 13th seeded Colby Community College (28-5). The match can be viewed via subscription to ESPN+ with the direct link found at BartonSports.com.
Miami Dade (25-2) advances to Saturday's 7 p.m. title match against fellow Region 8 member and two-time defending champion Florida Southwestern as the Buccaneers defeated Colby in straight sets (25-22, 25-18, 25-19) in the simultaneously played other semifinal.
On Friday evening the Cougar defense help force 11 Miami Dade attack errors in a .085 percentage frame but the Sharks flexed back in the second with 20 kills and a .552 efficiency to even up the match.
From there it continued to be all Sharks, hitting .423 in the third and .295 in the fourth with a combined 28 kills and just four errors taking the final two sets. Finishing at .285 for the match, the Sharks' offensive efficiency was the best allowed by the Cougars all season.
Barton's middles and outside hitter Phoebe Reyes carried the Cougars offensively for most of the match, Reyes leading with 13 kills while Aubrey Olander accounted for 11 kills and Anna Wierzbicki contributed with 9 kills. The trio's 33 kills of the team's 43 total combined for a .289 efficient attack as the squad finished at just .167.
Trying to counter the Sharks' 64 kills on a .285 efficiency, Barton had just four blocks with Olander and Reyes accounting for two each. Naya Danenberg led the backline with 23 digs, Kassidy Nixon added 17 digs with two blocks, and Mina Kaneko recording 8 digs and served up two of the squad's five aces.
Elena Stankovic put up 22 assists and 6 digs with Maurin Reyes recording 17 assists with 3 digs as each also contributed an ace.
Four Sharks recorded double-digit kills in producing 56 of the team's 64 for a .296 combined attack being led by Juliana Laguado Raigosa's 16 kills and 12 digs for the double-double effort. Angelica Rordigues recorded 15 kills, Katielle Altagracia Alonzon Vargas added 13 with Luyeisy Marquez contributing 12 kills.
No. 6 seed Barton Community College defeated No. 14 Indian Hills, Iowa (26-10), 25-21, 25-14, 25-16 in Thursday's NJCAA Division I volleyball tournament.
Indian Hills upset No. 3 seed New Mexico Military 25-22, 25-22, 25-23 to snap the Broncos' 25-match win streak. The Cougars downed the Warriors 22-25, 25-19, 25-12 Sept. 14 at Sterling, Colo.
The Cougars (33-2) play No. 2 seed Miami Dade, Fla. (24-2), which beat No. 10 seed Missouri State-West Plains.
Barton set the tone in each frame by getting out to early leads behind a balance offensive and defensive attack. The Cougars stayed consistent for an overall .255 efficiency combined with seven aces and eight blocks helping force the Warriors into 25 errors and just a .061 hitting percentage.
The balance also showed in the individual stat line as six Cougars recorded four or more kills with five playing apart in the wall of denial.
Kassidy Nixon led with 9 winners on 22 swings for a .273 attack and added 10 digs to just miss her 14th double-double of the year as Mina Kaneko's multiple spectacular saves led to a team high 12 digs.
Naya Danenberg sparked the Cougars early behind 5 first-set kills, finishing at 8 overall and 2 aces while defensively accounting for 6 digs and career high 5 blocks.
For the second straight match, Phoebe Reyes and Anna Wierzbicki recorded nearly identical stat lines with each having 6 winners and two blocks. Mya Thompson's .333 efficiency led the squad recording 5 winners on 12 swings as Aubrey Olander led the wall with 6 blocks while adding 4 winners.
The 6-2 offense was steered by Elena Stankovic's 16 assists with Maurin Reyes guiding the second wave with 13 assists and delivering a team high 3 aces.
FIRST ROUND -- Barton downed Navarro, Texas Bulldogs, 25-19, 27-25, 25-12 in the first round. The Cougars defense put up 8 blocks against Navarro's .096 attack percentage while the offense heated up each set to finish at .278 efficiency.
The Cougars were led by the identical 11-winner, 3-block performances each from Phoebe Reyes and Anna Wierzbicki with Wierzbicki matching her season best winner total while leading the squad on a .588 attack percentage.
"Phoebe gives us what we need. Anna stepped up," said Barton coach Megan Besecker. "She was efficient. Our setters did a good job. We passed the ball well."
Skippers of the 6-2 ship combined for 44 assists, 2 service aces, and 14 digs, Elena Stankovic leading the first wave with 18 assists as Maurin Reyes piled up 21 assists with 8 coming on Mya Thompson winners.
Barton overall served up 7 aces, Naya Danenberg recorded three for the second time against Navarro with Kassidy Nixon chalking up two. Each additionally posted 5 court punishers and a wall of denial, Danenberg adding 7 digs on the backline with Nixon keeping 9 attacks off the floor. Freshman libero Mina Kaneko led the squad's 43 digs with 10.
In addition to Wierzbicki's play in the middle of the net, freshman Aubrey Olander also had a solid morning of a .364 attack for 4 winners and a team leading 5 blocks including the lone solo wall of denial.
An opening block by Olander and Nixon scored the first points of the day as Barton would get off to a good 4-1 start to later string four straight in opening up a 10-3 lead.
Four consecutive Cougar attack errors swung the momentum with another attack error and giving up an ace drawing Navarro to within 11-9.
Sparked by a trio of Phoebe Reyes winners, Barton surged out to another big lead on five straight only to have Navarro fire back with five of their own closing the gap back to two at 16-14.
Phoebe Reyes and Danenberg kills halted the Bulldogs' momentum then after trading points, Wierzbicki's inadvertent header proved lucky in pushing Barton's lead to 22-17. Wierzbicki would then help the Cougars close out the opener with two kills for the match lead.
Back and forth the teams slugged it out in the second, Navarro holding the advantage throughout until three straight created a 16-12 lead.
The gap increased to five at 21-16 and again at 23-18 but the Cougars refused to lose in finally stringing multiple points together for the first time since tying it at 10-all.
Thompson and Wierzbicki's teamed up block sparked a pivotal stretch, Wiezbicki following Navarro's timeout with a vicious attack and Danenberg serving up an ace prompting another Bulldog timeout as Barton closed to within 23-22.
A Navarro attack error tied it up, but the Bulldogs answered back in gaining consecutive set points. No stranger to late set comebacks, Barton again pulled a Cougar out of the hat continuing its roaring back with two straight capped by a Phoebe Reyes' kill.
Gaining its two set lead, Barton kept rolling with the momentum taking the first three points of the final frame to later string four straight to match its opening set's 10-3 advantage.
Another four straight coming mid-set all but buried the Bulldogs at 19-8 as Barton kept the hammer down in cruising to the thirteen point match clincher.
REGION 6 -- Barton clinched its 22nd national volleyball tournament appearance with a sweep of No 10 Colby 25-21, 26-24, 25-16 Sunday in the Region 6/Plains District Championship match. Barton chalked up its 26th sweep of the year pleasing the boisterous home crowd behind a balanced effort of a .275 attack with 60 digs and 9 blocks.
Four Cougars had six or more recorded kills in the three sets, Phoebe Reyes' 11 leading the way on a .292 attack with Claflin's Kassidy Nixon posting a 10 kill, 11 dig performance for her team leading 13th double-double of the year.
Barton received 14 kills on a .520 efficient attack with 4.5 blocks from their middles, 8 kills and 5 blocks from Anna Wierzbicki along with the Cougars' lone pair of service aces with Aubrey Olander posting 6 kills (.545) and 4 blocks.
Naya Danenberg's 7th kill provided the match clincher and added a team leading 16 digs anchoring the backline along with Nixon's 11 andMina Kaneko's 14.
Mya Thompson rounded out the offensive numbers with 4 kills and provided 4 assisted blocks.
Elena Stankovic led the first wave of Barton's 6-2 offense with 21 assists as Maurin Reyes' 16 assists keyed the second wave with both players picking up 7 digs each. Kaneko also added to the assist total with 6 from the libero position.
Karlotta Kattai and Alexandra Workman led the Trojans with 10 kills each, Workman also leading the squad on a .833 efficiency on 12 swings while accounting for 4 of the team's 8 assisted blocks.
The Cougars were locked in Sunday from the beginning to race out to a 5-1 lead.
The Trojans crept back cutting the deficit in half before a pair of P. Reyes' kills helped ignite a Barton 6-1 stretch in grabbing a 15-8 advantage.
Following a Colby timeout, the Trojans responded in firing back a 7-1 streak to tie it up at 16-all. Trading points, Colby's trio of attacks seized its first lead in forcing Barton to call timeout at 20-18.
Just like the Trojans, Barton also responded out the timeout with Nixon and P. Reyes' kills sparking the squad as Colby committed three straight attack errors resulting in the Cougars back out front at 23-20. Nixon and P. Reyes then answered Colby's attack point with consecutive kills giving Barton the early match lead.
Colby held an 8-6 edge in the second frame before a pivotal five straight including consecutive kills from Wierzbicki, Nixon, and Thompson flipped the advantage to the home squad for the rest of the set.
Barton was able to keep Colby from tying it up until late, Danenberg's kill giving Barton set point, but like the two team's last meeting on October 16th, Colby fought it off with two straight in threatening to even the match.
A timeout by Head Coach Megan Besecker was exactly what the Cougars needed in saving the set and perhaps the match, responding with Wierzbicki and Nixon kills for the 2-0 match lead instead of the match becoming tied.
Colby's service error to open the third frame was a sign of what was coming as a pair of P. Reyes kills and three consecutive Trojan attack errors put Barton out front 6-1.
After trading a pair of points, the frame broke open powered by the Wierzbicki show as the sophomore put the next three tallies on the board via a center attack followed by consecutive service aces resulting in a 12-3 lead.Barton would build out a ten point advantage, only shrinking to a six point margin twice before closing out the match with the final four points including P. Reyes and Danenberg's final kills of the afternoon.
NJCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
CLARKSVILLE, TENN.
1ST--No. 1 Florida Southwestern (25-1) vs. No. 2 Miami Dade, Fla. Sharks (25-2); 3RD--No. 6 Barton Cougars (33-3) vs. No. 13 Colby Trojans (28-5); 5TH--Mo.-West Plains (36-6) vs. NEO, Colorado (33-6); 7TH--Indians Hills (26-11)vs. Utah State Eastern (24-8); 9TH--Odessa (30-9) vs. Weatherford (31-8)
SEMIFINALS--Miami Dade def. Barton, 21-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-17; Florida SW def. Colby, 25-22, 25-18, 25-19; CONSOLATION--West Plains def. Indian Hills, Iowa, 25-15, 25-22, 25-20; NE Colo def. Utah State Eastern, 25-13, 25-14, 25-10
QUARTERFINALS--Miami Dade def. Mo.-West Plains, 26-24, 22-25, 17-25, 25-17, 15-7; Barton def. Indian Hills, 25-21, 25-14, 25-16; Fla. SW def. Utah State Eastern, 18-25, 26-24, 25-16, 23-25, 15-13; Colby def. NE Colo. 25-17, 25-20, 25-15
FIRST ROUND--Miami Dade def. Eastern Arizona, 27-25, 25-16, 19-25, 25-20; Missouri-West Plains def. Odessa, Texas, 25-13, 25-15, 25-19; Indian Hills def. New Mexico, 25-13, 25-15, 25-19; Barton def. Navarro, Texas, 25-29, 27-25, 25-12; Fla. SW def. Eastern Wyoming, 25-16, 25-13, 25-17; Utah State Eastern def. Weatherford, Texas 25-20, 19-25, 25-17, 25-22; Colby def. No. 4 Blinn, Texas Bucs, 25-20, 25-16, 25-20; NE Colo. def. Trinity Valley, Texas, 25-15, 27-25, 25-23
CONSOLATION--New Mexico def. Navarro, 20-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-19, 15-8; Odessa def. Eastern Arizona, 25-16, 25-16, 25-18; Weatherford def. Eastern Wyoming, 25-23, 28-26, 25-18; Blinn def. NE Colo. 25-22, 25-21, 25-21; Odessa def. New Mexico, 25-22, 25-21, 26-24; Weatherford def. Blinn, 25-21, 25-23, 25-17
