Stepping out of conference play for the weekend, the Barton Community College volleyball team took four matches on the chin going 0-4 at the Pizza Hut Invitational in Sterling, Colorado.  The losses drop the Cougars to 5-10 on the season as Barton returns to conference play this Wednesday looking to snap a seven match losing streak.  In a battle of 2-2 conference teams, Barton will host the 5-7 Colby Community College Trojans in a 6:30 p.m. match at the Barton Gym.

Barton opened the invitational on Friday with a pair of straight set losses, both coming against teams just outside the Top-20 national rankings.   Casper College, who started the season receiving votes but just slipped out due to a three match slide, took the first two sets by identical 25-18 scores before holding off the Cougars 26-24 in the third.  Returning to the court shortly after the Casper match, Barton was no match for the host and nationally receiving votes Northeastern Junior College 25-16, 25-23, and 26-24.

Saturday's competition ramped up as the Cougars had the daunting task of taking on two Top-4 programs.   Barton started the day with No. 2 ranked Northwest College in the first match falling 25-10, 25-17, and 25-9, then wrapped up the weekend losing 25-15, 25-19, and 25-18 to No. 4 Western Nebraska Community College.