No. 5 Barton Volleyball edged in five, season ends to No. 13 Eastern Arizona #GoBarton

The fifth-seeded Barton Community College volleyball team saw its season come to a heartbreaking close Thursday afternoon at the Winfield Dunn Center, falling in five sets to 13th-seeded Eastern Arizona College (25–14, 19–25, 19–25, 25–20, 9–15) in NJCAA Division I National Tournament elimination play in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Riding the momentum of a dominant first set and a gritty fourth to extend the match, the Cougars pushed Eastern Arizona to the wire before the Gila Monsters' balanced attack and timely fifth-set run proved decisive.

Closing the year at 31–7 overall in the program's 25th national tournament appearance, Barton caps a season that included a top-five national ranking, back-to-back KJCCC and Region 6/Plains District championships, and consecutive trips to the sport's biggest stage. Eastern Arizona improves to 25–8, advancing to the consolation bracket's 1:00 p.m. matchup with Blinn College.

Stasa Stamenkovic capped her freshman campaign with a standout performance, registering a match-high 19 kills on .312 hitting along with 17 digs for her 19th double-double of the season. 

In the middle, Indigo Pruitt was nearly unstoppable, putting down 12 kills on .611 efficiency while adding three blocks.

Fellow middle Aubrey Olander contributed 7 kills and four blocks, closing out her Barton career as the program's all-time leader in both single-season and career assisted blocks. 

Caroliny Cristiny added 9 kills, with Brylynn Wicker supplying four kills and two blocks.

As a team, Barton hit .186 for the match, highlighted by a .294 opening frame and .259 fourth-set effort.

Setters Ori Briger and Mileah Neal steered the offense with 24 and 21 assists, respectively. Briger added 12 digs to finish her Barton career with 11 double-doubles, while Neal collected 9 digs, narrowly missing her sixth of the year. 

Defensively, Barton piled up 74 digs including Mina Kaneko's 16, giving the sophomore 651 digs on the season (5th in program history) and 1,108 career digs, also 5th all-time.

At the net, the Cougars totaled seven team blocks (four solo, six assist), but Eastern Arizona held a slight edge with 12 block points while hitting .288 with six players recording eight or more kills and three reaching double figures. 

Barton excelled from the service line, delivering 11 aces against just three errors, led by Neal's four, followed by Kaneko's three, and one each from Stamenkovic, Cristiny, and Briger.

Set Recaps

Set 1 – Barton 25, Eastern Arizona 14

Barton set the tone early, turning a 4–4 tie into a commanding lead behind a 10–0 burst fueled by Stamenkovic and Pruitt, plus a Neal service ace for a 14–4 cushion. The Cougars never allowed Eastern Arizona to threaten again, hitting .294 and controlling the frame start to finish.

Set 2 – Eastern Arizona 25, Barton 19

Eastern Arizona flipped momentum with a 6–1 surge that turned an 8–7 edge into a 14–10 lead. Barton closed to within 18–14 behind Stamenkovic and Pruitt, but the Gila Monsters finished strong with a 7–5 closing stretch as the Cougar attack dipped to .132.

Set 3 – Eastern Arizona 25, Barton 19

A 3–1 Barton start was met by steady EAC pressure from the service line and block, turning a 7–7 tie into a 12–8 lead and later 19–12 advantage. Barton battled back to within 20–15 and 22–18 on kills from Cristiny and Pruitt, but Eastern Arizona maintained separation to take a 2–1 match lead.

Set 4 – Barton 25, Eastern Arizona 20

The Cougars responded with toughness, jumping ahead 6–2 before weathering a seven-point EAC run that briefly put them behind 9–7. Barton surged back with a decisive 10–3 run featuring Stamenkovic, Pruitt, and a Briger ace to reclaim a 17–12 lead. Solid siding-out down the stretch closed the frame and forced a fifth. 

Set 5 – Eastern Arizona 15, Barton 9

Level at 6–6 in the early going, momentum swung when Eastern Arizona strung together a 3–0 burst out of timeout to reach the switch ahead 8–6, extending the run to 9–6. Barton trimmed the deficit to 10–8 and 11–9 behind Pruitt, but Eastern Arizona delivered the match-clinching surge, scoring the final four points to close out the Cougars' season.Record Book Watch

Record Book Watch

Mina Kaneko
- 5th – Single Season Digs (651): 21 from Hanna Miller's 672 (2021)
- 5th – Career Digs (1,108): 13 from Tasiah Nunnery's 1,121 (2020–23)

Aubrey Olander
- 1st - Career Assisted Blocks (260)
- 1st - Single Season Assisted Blocks (148)
- 7th – Single Season Total Blocks (171): 5 shy of Christi Ensz' 176 (1988)
- 3rd – Career Total Blocks (295): 7 from Danielle Geronymo's 302 (1997-1998)