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Cougars battle No. 20 Colby but come up short in West loss
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COLBY – It was an opportunity for the Barton volleyball team to show they are ready to compete with top of the Jayhawk West.

A trip to the Community Building in Colby to take on the unbeaten and 20th ranked Colby Trojans.

Barton had a similar opportunity earlier in the season, but was unable to come away with a victory at then No. 17 Hutchinson.

The Cougars showed Wednesday they can indeed play with the top of the West but they still haven’t shown they can beat them.

Barton gave Colby all it wanted, especially the first two sets, but came away empty handed. Colby remained unbeaten with a 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 win.

Barton lost for just the second time in its last eight matches and is now 3-2 in the West and 8-8 overall. Colby is 5-0 in the West and 14-0 overall.

Colby played from in front most of the first set following a 4-0 run to give them a 12-9 lead. The grew to as many as six on a couple of occasions before a late Barton rally.

Following a kill by freshman Mackenzie Pease, the Cougars had trimmed the lead to 22-20, forcing a Trojan timeout. The Cougars got the lead down to a single point at 22-21 then tied it on a Kate Deterding block at 23-all. That would be the final points of the set for the Cougars as Colby closed it out with the next two points and a 25-23 win.

The second set, like the first, was tight with Colby playing with a slim lead early before another mini-run gave the Trojans some cushion. A 4-0 run made it a 13-8 lead.

Barton appeared to be out of the set, down 20-12. But the Cougars had a run in them. Four straight cut the lead in half when Colby burned a timeout at 20-16.

The Cougars weren’t done. Barton whittled the lead all the way to a pair at 20-18 as freshman Karina Oliveira served five straight points.

Barton got it down to 21-20 on a Pease and Ariana Taylor block then held off three set points before losing the second set by the same 25-23 result.

Right on cue, Colby took the lead in the third set, taking an 11-6 early. This time there was no finish down to the wire as the Trojans closed out the match with a 25-18 win.

Barton is off until Monday when the Cougars travel to El Dorado to take on Butler.