LIBERAL – The Hutchinson Community College volleyball team saw its first season under head coach Delice Downing come to an end in the Region VI Tournament semifinals on Friday at Seward County’s Green House.
Like the two previous matches with the Barton Cougars, each of the 12 sets Hutchinson and Barton played were tightly contested, several of which were decided by two points. On Friday, the Cougars prevailed and eliminated the Blue Dragons 25-21, 27-25, 25-23.
The Blue Dragons complete their season at 18-10 with a third-place finish in the Jayhawk West and an 11th-straight appearance in the regional semifinals. Barton went on to defeat top-seeded Seward County in five sets to win their first Region VI Championship since 2011.
Hutchinson had to fight back in the first two sets from sizable deficits to stay in those sets. The Blue Dragons trailed 12-6 in the first before getting as close as 23-21. The Dragons were down 10-2 in the second set and had leads of 22-21 and 25-24 in the second before Barton prevailed.
The third set featured six lead changes and 17 ties. Outside of a 2-0 Dragon lead early, the deficit for either team was never larger than one point until a Dragon attack error and Mylena Testoni kill on the final two rallies of the match gave Barton the win.
Of the 12 sets played between Hutchinson and Barton this season, six were decided by two points and only four were decided by more than four points.
Freshman Kristina Head led the Blue Dragons with 15 kills. She had six kills in the second set and seven in the third. Five of those third-set kills were either to tie or take the lead.
Sophomore Jenna Thorne finished with 13 kills and three total blocks. Freshman Shadee Briggs had seven kills.
The Blue Dragons out-blocked the Cougars 12-8. Freshman Shelby Murrell had one solo block and six block assists. Head had four block assists.
Sophomore setter Chloe Price finished with 37 assists with two kills, two total blocks and an ace. Freshman libero Shelby Reeder had a team-high 18 digs.
Testoni led the Cougars with 17 kills. Five other Barton players had between 5 and 7 kills.