Playing its second straight conference match requiring a three-hour road trip, the No. 10 ranked Barton Community College volleyball team faltered down the stretch Wednesday night in a 3-1 loss at No. 16 Colby Community College (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 25-17).
The loss drops Barton to 1-1 in league play and 9-4 overall while Colby gains the early upper hand in the KJCCC race at 3-0 and 8-3 on the season.
Having completed its sixth match in six days, spanning a trip to Florida followed by treks to both western corners of Kansas, the Cougars remain on the road this weekend for four matches at the Sheila Worley Tournament in Sterling, Colorado. Barton opens Friday's action at 3:00 p.m. against No. 11 Frank Phillips College before taking on Laramie County Community College at 8:00 p.m. Saturday's slate begins at 12:30 p.m. against Casper College before the Cougars wrap up the road trip at 5:30 p.m. against Western Nebraska Community College.
The Cougars will then make their long-awaited home debut Monday, September 14, hosting No. 19 Dodge City Community College in a 6:30 p.m. first serve at Fleske Fieldhouse.
Kiera Loe led the Barton attack for the second straight night, accounting for 21 of the Cougars' 48 kills across 52 swings while adding five digs and two block assists. Caroliny Cristiny joined her in double figures with 10 kills while collecting 12 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Barton finished with 48 kills on .159 hitting, receiving six kills from Mariam Urazbakhtina and five from Paola Batista. Mileah Neal and Natalia Malinowska-Nowak distributed 21 and 14 assists, respectively, while Jaden Katsis led the back row with 15 digs and Hotone Tarui added 14. Amanda Riepe accounted for three of the Cougars' four service aces.
Set-by-Set Recap
First Set: Barton raced out to an early five-point advantage at 9-4 before Colby answered with four straight points and eventually grabbed its first lead since the match's opening point at 14-13. The teams traded punches through eight ties, with the Cougars holding a 20-19 and 23-21 edge late before the Trojans swung scoring the final four points, completing a 6-1 closing stretch and stealing the opener 25-23.
Second Set: Colby seized the early momentum, building a five-point advantage before Barton began working its way back. A 5-0 Cougar run erased the deficit to 12-all before a later three-point burst produced Barton's first lead at 16-15. Colby countered and eventually moved ahead 21-20, but the Cougars responded with three straight for a 23-21 advantage. After the Trojans forced the set's 10th tie, Barton delivered the final two points for a 25-23 victory to even the match.
Third Set: Leading 5-4 early, Barton surrendered five straight points as Colby grabbed a 9-5 advantage. The Cougars battled within 10-9 before another four-point Trojan run restored the separation. Despite struggling to a match-low .029 attack, Barton made one more charge from a 19-14 deficit with a 5-1 stretch to pull within 20-19 but could never get over the hump. Colby held off the rally and scored the final two points for a 25-22 victory and 2-1 match advantage.
Fourth Set: Unlike the back-and-forth opening three frames, Colby gained separation early in the fourth and never relinquished it. A three-point Trojan run stretched the margin to 8-5 before another three-point burst later pushed the advantage to 16-9. Barton couldn't mount another comeback as Colby closed out the 3-1 victory with a 25-17 final set