Cougar Volleyball shakes off the rust in sweep of Garden City #GoBarton

Following a nine day layoff, the Barton Community College volleyball team shook off a rusty start Monday evening at the Barton Gym to complete a "Military Appreciation Night" sweep of Garden City Community College (25-20, 25-16, and 25-12).

The victory improved Barton to 3-1 in Jayhawk Conference play and 8-7 on the year while keeping Garden City winless on the year at 0-5 in league play and 0-16 overall. Next up for the Cougars is a Wednesday trip to Colby Community College for a 6:30 p.m. first serve against the unblemished 4-0 and 13-0 Trojans.

A four point mid-set run gained the Cougars separation in the opening frame but the Broncbusters climbed back to within one before another four straight points wrapped up the win.

Garden City controlled the early part of the second set as Barton was a little out of sync as the gritty Broncbusters held a 13-8 edge. Making a change in the lineup, one of Head Coach Brandon Stephenson's chess moves was bringing in sophomore Kaila Harris off the bench to run the offense in a momentum changing adjustment. Harris immediately went for a dink kill to find the open space in the Broncbuster defense to stop a 5-0 run and kick-start the Barton offense. The Cougars went on a 6-0 run, highlighted by a pair of thunderous Kate Deterding floor punishers and Barton was off and running. Garden City would grab a point to tie it back up at fifteen but another 6-0 spurt and capped by a four point close-out sealed the nine point margin.

Another sophomore stepped up in the third set as the attack and two service aces by Laine Alves keyed a 5-of-6 point stretch that seemed to deflate the Broncbusters with the Cougars again closing out strong with the match's final five points.

At one point the team's point tally was 33 points each but following the insertion of Harris to reignite the offense, the Cougars outscored Garden City 42-15 the rest of the way.

Barton's win kept the record clean against the Broncbusters at 38-0 in the series including a 14-0 record at the Barton Gym.