GREAT BEND, Kan.- Florida SouthWestern Assistant Volleyball Coach Megan Besecker will have a new title next season, and it won't be with the Bucs, as Tuesday Besecker was tabbed the 16^th Head Coach in the storied history of Barton Community College, where she will lead her first collegiate program, while returning to the conference she competed in as a player in Kansas.

Besecker's time in Southwest Florida was short, but certainly sweet, as FSW was 27-1 in her one season on the bench, winning the Suncoast Conference, NJCAA Region VIII, and ultimately the NJCAA National Championship in the process.  She coached six All-Conference performers and three All-Americans including AVCA and NJCAA National Player of the Year Barbara Koehler who is now at Wichita State University.  Besecker spent the year working with her former Liberal High School coach, Thais Baziquetto-Allen, who earned NJCAA and AVCA National Coach of the Year honors alongside her. 

"I am so happy for Megan and this opportunity that she has earned" Baziquetto-Allen said.  "She came in here to FSW and worked extremely hard every day through a challenging season for us. She will be greatly missed by our players, staff, and fans, but I am just so proud of her and am excited to cheer her on and support her in her next step of her coaching career."  

Prior to her time with the Bucs, Besecker was the Assistant Coach at NCAA Division II Emporia State University as well as leading her alma mater Liberal High School for three seasons as the Head Coach. 

Besecker takes over a Barton program coming off of a 17-15 season in 2022 and will look to get the Cougars back to the NJCAA National Tournament for the first time since 2020.  Barton has a deep rooted history on the Volleyball court in the Sunflower State, having won 22 NJCAA Region VI Championships along with bringing the 2003 NJCAA National Championship back to Great Bend. 

The Bucs will begin their search for their next Assistant Coach immediately.