It looked as if the Barton Community College volleyball team was on the verge of a streak-busting win. The Cougars were leading 14-9 in the tiebreaking fifth set just one point away from winning the match.

That one point never came. Colby scored seven straight to stun the Cougars and leave the Barton Gym with a Jayhawk West win. The loss kept Barton’s losing streak going while dropping them under .500 in the conference.

Colby won the match 22-25, 25-18, 24-26, 25-22, 16-14.

“There is no excuse for giving up a five point lead with one to go,” coach Phil Shoemaker said. “We just failed to convert. Give Colby credit for working their tails off and taking the big swing when needed.”

“This was an extremely close and exciting match, but full of errors. A lot by both teams and too many by us.”

Barton falls to 2-3 in the conference and 5-11 overall. The Cougars have lost eight straight. Colby slides above the .500 mark in the West with a 3-2 record and is now 6-7 overall.

The Cougars led the entire fifth set. Barton jumped to a 5-2 lead and held a 10-9 favor when it went on a 4-0 run to get that 14-9 advantage. Then Colby closed out with its 7-0 run.

The Cougars played in front nearly all night winning the first set to go up 1-0 and third to go up 2-1. But the Cougars just couldn’t close out the Trojans.

Nathalia Gouveia led Barton with 12 kills followed Brooke Joslyn with 9. Jordan Edelman and Olivia Naccarato both had seven.

Naccarato led Barton with six blocks – three solo while Edelman and Joslyn both had three.

Mallory McQueen led Barton with 17 digs followed by Lydia Konrade and Emily Deterding with 13 each. McQueen had 18 assists and Kristen McPherson added 15.

Gouveia contributed six service aces in addition to 10 digs. McPherson also had three aces as Barton finished with 14 serving aces. The Cougars, however, also 14 serving errors.

“Again, there were some great efforts and strong individual performances within the match, but volleyball is the ultimate team sport,” Shoemaker said. “Our teamwork and communication broke down at crucial points, and it cost us the opportunity to earn the victory.”

Barton will attempt to get back on the winning track when the Cougars travel to Concordia to take on Cloud County Saturday in 2 p.m. match. Cloud is 3-2 in the West and 8-6 overall.