The Barton Community College volleyball team needed its second consecutive rally but again came out on the winning side picking up a 3-1 victory Thursday at Dodge City Community College 26-28, 27-25, 25-22, and 25-13.
The Cougars improve to 22-3 on the year behind their 11th straight victory, tied atop the conference standings at 14-1 headed into Friday's regular season finale. Dodge City slides to 5-11 in conference and 8-15 on the year.
The victory, along with Seward County's win tonight at Pratt, sets up a conference title showdown tomorrow at the Barton Gym with a 6:30 p.m. first serve. The Saints, ranked 10th in the latest NJCAA Division I poll, defeated the Cougars 3-1 back on February 25 in Liberal with their last loss occurring the following Sunday to Hutchinson 3-1 in riding a current eight match win streak.
RECAP
Barton took its first lead of the opening set on Joelle LaForce's service ace in the middle of a three point surge for a 9-7 edge. The margin grew to four at 12-8 behind a pair of Carol Melo kills and a Tasiah Nunnery attack. The gap stayed at four until Dodge City rattled off three straight closing to within 17-16. The teams traded points until Nunnery's attack followed by Isabella Guedes' service ace and Santos' kill pushed to the score to 22-17.
Dodge City stormed back taking seven of the next eight to grab set point. With Testoni checking to the bench after shaken up on a net play, Jadyn Brown entered the lineup getting consecutive kills earning Barton set point at 25-24 with another Brown kill setting up another set point at 26-25. A service error and attack error went to the Conquistadors with the final attack splitting the block.
The second set went much like the first, Barton rolling out to a big lead only to have Dodge City come back fighting later in the set. Behind a pair of Testoni and Addison Crites attacks and a LaForce kill from the middle the Cougars pushed their lead to 19-12. Barton led again at 20-14 but the Conquistadors took the next five points to draw within one. A Melo attack and two from Testoni kept Dodge City from tying it up until two straight knotted it at 23-all. Barton had set points at 24, and 25 following Conquistador service errors before Melo's kill and subsequent Conquistador attack error finished off the set.
On the top side of a 9-7 score, Barton saw Dodge City take the next five for a 12-9 third set start. Three straight Cougar points with a Hanna Miller ace put Barton on top only to have the Conquistadors grab their final lead at 16-15. LaForce and Testoni attacks led a 4-0 run to seize the lead, keeping Dodge City at bay until a trio of points tied it 22-all. An assisted block with Melo and Crites followed a Melo kill prompting Dodge City's last timeout with Santos' kill putting the set away on the Cougars' first possession.
Leading the match 2-1, a more relaxed Cougar squad hit the floor for the fourth set with a vengeance, scoring the first five points and building out a 13-3 lead before cooling off. The Conquistadors were only able to slice it to seven points the rest of the set, the last coming at 20-13 before Barton put the hammer down on the final five points in clinching the match.