The Jayhawk West portion of the schedule has not been kind to the Barton volleyball team in the first couple of weeks of the season.

The Cougars have an 8-1 record outside the conference with the only loss coming in a 5-set thriller to No. 6 ranked Western Nebraska.

However, in the Jayhawk West, Barton is now 0-3.

This after being swept at home by Colby Monday night at the Barton Gym

The Cougars lost in straight sets, falling to the Trojans, 25-22, 25-10, 25-18. It was the first time this year Barton has been swept.

Colby is currently sitting on top of the West with 2-0 mark and 9-1 overall. Colby is tied with Hutchinson for the top spot while Seward, Butler and Pratt are all 1-0.

The Cougars 0-3 conference mark has come to still unbeaten teams, Seward, Butler, and Colby. Those thee are combined overall, 18-2.

“We are suffering some growing pains,” Barton Coach Brandon Stephenson said. “I know I’ve said it before and I keep repeating myself, but this season is definitely going to be a learning curve. Night’s like this will really test us and we’ll find out more about this team real soon.”

Barton led most of the first set but Colby scored five of the final six points of the set to edge Barton by a 25-22 count.

That, for all practical purposes, would be the final close set.

Colby dominated the second set in winning 25-10 and in the third set, Colby established a comfortable lead fairly early and coasted to the 25-18 win.

No Cougar had more than six kills during the match with Monique Oliveira leading the way those six. As a team Barton collected 27 kills to 17 errors hitting the ball.

Carolina Goncalves led Barton with 15 digs and 25 assists while Oliveira added 11 digs. Ariana Taylor had four blocks to pace the Cougars.

Barton will continue its quest for its first West win on a trip to Pratt Wednesday to take on the Beavers at 6:30 p.m..