The No. 16 ranked Barton Community College volleyball team came up short down the stretch Monday evening in its home opener at Fleske Fieldhouse as No. 10 Dodge City Community College stayed hot with a rare sweep of the Cougars (25-21, 25-22, 25-23).
The Cougars held late leads in each of the final two sets but couldn't finish either, with Dodge City capturing nine of the final 10 combined points to turn a 22-21 second-set deficit and 22-20 third-set hole into the straight-set victory.
The second KJCCC loss to a ranked opponent drops Barton to 1-2 in league play and 11-6 overall following its third straight defeat. Dodge City remains perfect in conference play at 4-0 as its sixth straight victory improves the Conquistadors to 15-4 on the season. The victory snapped Barton's six-match winning streak in the series while giving Dodge City just its ninth victory in 93 meetings and second straight-set win, the first since 2023.
Next up for the Cougars is a trip to El Dorado on Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. first serve at Butler Community College, followed by Saturday's 1:00 p.m. hosting of Pratt Community College.
Barton struggled to find its offensive rhythm in finishing with a .138 attack, its second-lowest percentage of the season behind a .076 performance against then-No. 6 Florida SouthWestern State College on Sept. 5. The Cougars did improve throughout Monday's match, climbing from a .030 opening-set attack to .152 in the second before producing a match-best .233 in the final frame.
Kiera Loe led the Barton attack with 15 kills while adding seven digs, three service aces and a solo block. Mariam Urazbakhtina provided the Cougars' most efficient attack with seven kills on .375 hitting, while Ana Fabiely Fachi put down four kills on a .300 attack. Mileah Neal and Natalia Malinowska-Nowak distributed 21 and 11 assists, respectively, with Hotone Tarui collecting a team-high 11 digs and Amanda Riepe adding 10.
Set-by-Set Recap
First Set: An early 4-0 run put Dodge City in the driver's seat of the opener, eventually building a six-point lead twice with the last coming at 14-8. The Cougars began clawing back with two straight points before a 5-0 spurt drew Barton even for the first time since 1-all. Dodge City held off the charge, later rattling off four straight for a 22-17 advantage. Barton cut the deficit to three with a pair of points, but the teams exchanged tallies the rest of the way in the Conquistadors' 25-21 victory.
Second Set: The script was nearly reversed in the second as Barton jumped out to a 7-2 advantage behind a 5-1 stretch. The five-point margin held through much of the early going, including at 17-12, before Dodge City began chipping away. A pair of points followed by another three-point run pulled the Conquistadors within one before they eventually drew even at 19-all. The teams continued trading points down the stretch before Dodge City seized the late momentum, scoring the final four points to erase a 22-21 Barton lead and take a two-set match advantage with a 25-22 victory.
Third Set: With their backs to the wall, Barton erased an early 2-0 deficit with six straight points for a 6-2 advantage. Dodge City steadily chipped away before three straight gave the Conquistadors a 12-11 lead. Facing a two-point deficit, Barton answered with a 5-0 run to regain a 17-14 advantage and later led 18-15. Dodge City again battled back to tie it at 19 before the Cougars strung together a pair of two-point bursts within a 5-1 stretch for a 22-20 lead. Following a Dodge City timeout, the Conquistadors seized control, scoring the final five points to steal the set 25-23 and complete their first sweep of Barton since September 2023.