The 12th ranked Barton Community College Volleyball team was on an Arizona slide until taking the backend of its Dalton Overstreet Invitational doubleheader in Prescott, Arizona, by knocking off the host 16th ranked Yavapai College in comeback fashion.
Barton opened the day searching for a winning combination but to no avail as the Cougars were swept by Eastern Arizona College 25-17, 25-17, and 28-26.
Returning to the court after a brief rest, Barton dropped the first set to the Roughriders 25-21 but bounced back taking the next two frames by twin 25-22 scores before dominating the match clincher 25-14.
Now 9-3 on the season, Barton will have a day of rest before returning to the Invitational on Saturday, taking on Snow College at 2:00 p.m. (CT) before winding up the Arizona trip with a 6:00 p.m. (CT) match against Utah State Eastern.
Yavapai Recap
A transformed Barton lineup to take on the Roughriders, Barton had multiple two point leads throughout the opening set but couldn't widen the margin. Yavapai stuck around to eventually take their own two point advantage at 19-17 and again in surging ahead 23-21. Following a Barton timeout, a block and kill would finish off the final two points completing the 4-0 run down the stretch.
Another tight set ensued in the second frame with each team having a pair of two point leads. A pair of Molly Norris kills put Barton out front for good at 19-18 with a pair of Victoria Da Silva attacks followed by Joelle LaForce's attack pushed Barton to the finish line in tying up the match.
The Cougars trailed by four at 18-14 before climbing back into the set. A pair of Yavapai attack errors helped the comeback as LaForce's pair of kills tied it at 21-all. Out of the Yavapai timeout, LaForce put the Cougars ahead and following the Roughriders tying it up, Jadyn Brown put Barton in front for good. Another timeout followed by an attack error gave Barton the set point, with Brown hammering home the winner giving the Cougars the match lead.
An 8-0 Barton run set the tone early in the final set in jumping out to an 11-5 lead. Yavapai fired back with five straight but a Barton timeout turned things around with their own six-pack straight to command the lead at 17-10. The Cougars wouldn't allow any Roughrider surge the rest of the way as Barton would lead the scoreboard 7-4 the rest of the way in winning the match.
Eastern Arizona College Recap
The Gila Monsters controlled the first set, leading by seven at the mid-point before rolling on to the eight point win.
Barton trailed in early in the second frame by six before slicing the gap in half at 17-14. Eastern Arizona held off the charge scoring six of the next seven points as a trading jabs the rest of the set put Barton in the 2-0 match lead.
Switching from its 6-2 system to a 5-1 system while inserting the second wave of Cougars, Barton battled the Gila Monsters with neither side gaining more than a three-point lead. Late in the set Eastern Arizona appeared to be putting the match away but a trio of Cougar points suddenly gave Barton set point at 24-23. Trading the next four points, Eastern Arizona finally capitalized in stringing a pair of points to complete the sweep.