Cloud County Volleyball Downed by Barton in Road Conference Match
Early deficits followed by big runs for host Barton Community College would equate to problems throughout the night for the Cloud County Community College volleyball team in a 3-0 road loss inside the Kirkman Center in Great Bend, Kansas on Wednesday, September 13th.
Scores of the match were 25-22, 25-23, and 25-15 as Cloud County falls to 9-5 overall and 1-4 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. Barton meanwhile picked up their third win in the past four matches to improve to 13-3 overall and 3-1 in the KJCCC.
Falling into a 5-1 hole just six points into the opening set, CCCC would be forced to play from behind for much of the first set with the deficit reaching as many as six at 10-4 following a Cloud County service error. The T-Birds would start to rally with an Emery May kill followed by a service ace for the Andale, Kansas native to spark a 4-0 run to pull back within two at 10-8 before quickly seeing Barton push their lead back out to five by putting together three kills to go along with a pair of CCCC errors. Looking to make another push to close the gap, Cloud County would use their first timeout trailing 18-14 before trading the next four points with the Cougars to keep the deficit at four. Following a Barton attack error, the T-Birds would use a Doga Eski kill followed by a kill and service ace from Katelynn Brogan as a 5-1 rally would tie the set at 21-21 and force BCC to use a timeout. A kill for the Cougars out of the timeout would be followed by a service error before seeing a Cloud County attack error and Barton block finish off a 4-1 run by the Cougars to end the set as Barton would jump out to a 1-0 lead in the match.
A back and forth start to the second set would see the first eight points traded back and forth before seeing a pair of kills from May lead to a 6-2 run that would be capped off by a block by Kloë Waymel and Eski. The 10-6 T-Bird lead would be cut into by Barton following a kill and Cloud County attack error with the Cougars eventually tying things up at 12-12 before seeing Madison Ronnebaum give CCCC the lead once more with a kill. Back-to-back kills for BCC would see a 4-1 Barton run lead to a T-Bird timeout with Barton out in front 16-14 before growing their lead to four at 20-16 to force Cloud County to use their second and final timeout. With momentum in favor of the Cougars, CCCC would make a push by closing within a point at 20-19 before giving up three straight points to trail 23-19. Responding with three straight points of their own to get back within one at 23-22 to force a Barton timeout, the T-Birds would be unable to come up with clutch points down the stretch as two Barton kills would offset a Cougar service error to take a 25-23 set two win.
Taking advantage of a 2-0 match lead, BCC would jump out to a 3-1 lead early in the third set as Cougar errors would account for much of the T-Bird scoring in the opening stage of the set. Following two attack errors by Barton to give the T-Birds a 4-3 lead, BCC would go 7-0 run to take a 10-4 lead that would force CCCC into a timeout as things would begin to get away from Cloud County in a must-win set. Managing to score three of the first four points out of the timeout, CCCC would pull back within three at 11-8 before seeing three of the next four points be scored by the Cougars to extend their lead to five at 14-9. As the set continued, Barton would add to their lead and pull away as the five-point deficit would grow to six at 19-13 to force the T-Birds into their final timeout that would ultimately not be beneficial as BCC would run away with a 25-15 set win.
What's Next?
Things don't get any easier for the T-Birds as Cloud County will conclude a three-match road trip with a 6:30 PM road contest at Dodge City Community College on Friday, September 15th. The Conquistadors picked up a 3-0 road win at Seward County on Wednesday evening to improve to 11-7 overall and 2-1 in the KJCCC.