DODGE CITY— It has been just the kind of start to the season Coach Phil Shoemaker was looking for.

His Barton Community College volleyball team has collected five straight wins following three losses to start the 2015 season.

Wednesday night in Dodge City the Cougars improved to 2-0 in the Jayhawk West with that fifth straight win.

Barton played it’s most dominant set of the season to close out the 25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 25-4 win. The Cougars are now 5-3 overall as well as unbeaten and tied for the top spot in the West.

Dodge City falls to 2-8 overall and 0-1 in the West.

Barton closed out a tight first set on an 8-3 run for the 25-20 win and the early lead.

The Cougars again finished strong in the second set for another 25-20 win to put them in control of the match with a 2-0 lead.

The Conquistadors would not go down in straight sets. Dodge jumped to an early lead and led by as much as 17-7 on the way to the 25-20 win.

“I thought we performed fairly well in the first couple sets but we never really hit the compete button,” coach Shoemaker said, “especially in the 3rd set when we just let Dodge completely control the tempo of the game, which is a recipe for disaster.”

That forced a fourth set which would see the Cougars play their most impressive set of the young season.

“We did rally a bit and established some momentum towards the end of the third set, but too little too late,” Shoemaker said. “Between sets the team talked and was determined to right the wrongs committed in the third set.”

Barton bolted to a 8-1 lead in the fourth set. After Dodge scored to make it 8-2, Barton scored 15 straight points to take a 23-2 lead. Barton closed out the match with the 25-4 win.

“The fourth set was all ours from start to finish,” said Shoemaker. “Once we established the attitude and pace of the set Dodge knew it was over for them and they lost the zip they had in the previous set.

“I am proud of how our team responded to the disappointing 3rd set, in their attitudes and actions.”

Sophomore Emily Deterding paced the hitting attack with 15 kills. Olivia Naccarato added 10 kills while hitting .450.

“Emily was especially strong at the net, as well as in the backcourt, and she was particularly instrumental in the fourth set successes,” Coach Shoemaker said. “Olivia continues her strong play at the net and was the game’s most dominating net player.”

Lydia Konrade paced five Cougars with double digit digs with 21.

“I think Lydia was a huge contributor with her 21 digs and solid serve reception along with some greatly needed leadership and communication and hustle through the tough moments,” said Shoemaker. “Jordan Edelman gave us some strong leadership and continues to improve her attack efficiency as well.”

Mallory McQueen added 14 digs to go with a team-high 35 assists.

Deterding had 12 digs while Ashley Lockwood and Nathalia Gouveia each finished with 11.