The Barton volleyball team was looking to build some momentum in Jayhawk West play.

Cloud County had other ideas. The Thunderbirds came into the Barton Gym Saturday afternoon and blanked Barton in three sets. Cloud won the West battle, 25-20, 25-22, 25-16.

The loss drops Barton 3-7 in the West, good for sixth in the standings. Barton is 6-19 overall. Cloud kept pace with the top half of the West, improving to 7-3 and 13-7.

The Cougars committed 11 hitting errors in the opening set to just two for the Thunderbirds – more than the five point difference in the final score. Both teams recorded nine kills. The Cougars were in control of the ball much of the set with 39 hitting attempts to just 20 for the Thunderbirds.

In the second and third sets Cloud was very efficient with its hitting. Cloud produced 12 kills to just one error in the second and 14 kills to four errors in the third.

Barton cut its hitting errors the final two sets but Cloud was just too good hitting the ball.

Emily Deterding, a sophomore from Smoky Valley High School, led Barton with six kills. Nathalia Gouveia and Jordan Edelman each added five.

Lydia Konrade had 11 digs for the Cougars while Mallory McQueen had 15 assists.

The Cougars head into a key stretch of games in the West starting Wednesday. Barton will battle the four teams around them in the standings in the next four West games.

The Cougars will host Dodge City Wednesday then Butler the following Wednesday. Both those teams are right behind the Cougars in the West.

After that Barton will travel to Colby and host Pratt – the two teams just ahead of them in the West.