Weather tried to spoil a matchup between the Pratt Community College volleyball team and Barton Community College. Heavy rains found their way into the Dennis Lesh Sports Arena on the campus of Pratt Community College which made the gym's playing surface unusable. Instead, the event was relocated to Skyline High School in Pratt, Kan. The Beavers seemed at home judging by the performance they displayed on both the offensive and defensive side. An enthusiastic night out in their temporary home was not enough to tackle the Cougars. Barton traveled back taking a win over PCC after an intense four sets that were a few points from going the other way (3-1), (26-24; 25-16; 21-25; 28-26).
PCC returned to a single-setter system against the Cougars. The offense was ran by setter Oliva Hessman. Hessman distributed 21 assists in the game and had the opportunity for several more but was able to earn points herself. A slew of crafty setter dumps from the left handed freshman helped Pratt put numbers on the scoreboard throughout the entire match. She finished with seven kills.
A block party hosted by Pratt occurred on the defensive end. The double block was prominent for PCC. As a team, the blue and white rejected 14 Cougar attack attempts. Middle Blocker Elise Baranco had 6.5 stuffs herself, including two solo blocks.
Anything that was not deflected by the block was picked up by the back row. Pratt had 48 digs over the span of four sets. Libero Naomi Warren was able to keep 17 balls in play which earned her an average of over four digs per set.
The Beavers served up a storm in Skyline's "Thunder Dome". Pratt put Barton on the bad end of 12 service aces. Half of PCC's aces came from defensive specialist Gabriela Ortiz. Ortiz handed out six aces and gave the Beavers life during late rallies toward the end of multiple sets.
Remyngton Green came alive and scored seven times on only 15 swings. Green kept her team in the game with a hitting percentage of .400. She tied Hessman and Baranco for a game high in the kills category.
Pratt held substantial leads in most sets. The first set in particular began with PCC jumping out to a commanding 11-4 stretch. Barton at times took their turn to go on large scoring runs. Scrappy play from both sides provided many long back-and-fourth rallies.
In the end Pratt managed to take a single set. The Beavers found themselves on the cusp of a comeback in set four. A near fifth set occurred as both teams earned several set points past the 25-point mark. Pratt went out swinging in the last rally. A hitting error that had potential to put the score even yet again landed in the net to end the match.
PCC volleyball can be seen in action next when they take on Butler Community College on the road Oct. 10. The conference match is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.