Volleyball Splits in opener of Barton Classic #GoBarton

The Barton Community College volleyball squad ended day one of the 2019 Barton Classic with a split Friday cruising to a sweep over Labette Community College (25-15, 25-11, 25-10) before falling in three sets of the nightcap to No. 8 ranked Iowa Western Community College (25-21, 25-18, 25-19).

The day's results leave Barton 14-9 on the season, while the Cardinals dip to 0-19 and the Reivers improve to 16-5 overall.

Action resumes Saturday with five more matches beginning at 10:00 a.m. The Cougars will take the court at 12 p.m. against DII #11 Cloud County Community College before concluding the Classic with a Jayhawk West tilt against the Beavers of Pratt Community College at 6:00 p.m.

The Cougars came out of the gates a bit sluggish in the opening frame against Labette falling behind 10-5 until catching fire rattling off seven straight points captivating their first lead in the set 12-10. Barton would never trail again outscoring the Cardinals 13-5 over the next eighteen points posting a .344 attack.

The Blue and Gold took a commanding lead in the match with an easy second set win, jumping out by capturing 9 of the first 11 points. The Cougars sailed away midway thru on a series of kills off the hands of Rayanne de Oliveira, Janessa Walker and a pair of aces served up by Victoria O'Keefe sparking a 7-0 run in route to a second set 25-11 victory.

Facing another sluggish start early in the third, Barton rallied behind four straight assuming a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Labette cut the margin to two before the Cougars put the nail in the coffin tallying 15 of the final 19 points putting the Cardinals to nest.

Looking to pull off an upset in the nightcap neither Barton nor Iowa Western was able to gain more than a two-point margin approaching the midway point in the opener until a combination of Cougar errors and the Reivers getting hot turned the tide with a 7-1 spurt.

Feeling like the opening frame was a lost opportunity, Barton got behind early 10-4 in the second set and never recovered to dig a two set hole.

Faced with an uphill climb, the Cougars showed no signs of intimidation recording six of the first eight points forcing a Reivers timeout. R. Oliveira's ninth kill of the match followed up by a rare Iowa Western attacking error expanded the lead out to four in a Barton advantage 15-11. The Reivers regrouped in chipping away at the margin before rolling off seven straight points to earn the sweep.

Day 2 (Saturday) Schedule:
10:00 a.m. - #8 Iowa Western CC vs Labette CC
12:00 p.m. – Barton CC vs DII #12 Cloud County CC
2:00 p.m. – Pratt CC vs #8 Iowa Western CC
4:00 p.m. – Cloud County CC vs Labette CC
6:00 p.m. – Barton CC vs Pratt CC *Jayhawk Conference match