Monday was the final time this regular season the Barton volleyball team would play out of the Jayhawk West. It was a game that really didn’t matter in the standings.

That was a good thing for Barton as Highland came to the Barton Gym and left with a straight set win over the Cougars.

Highland defeated Barton 25-13, 25-20, 25-22. The loss dropped Barton to 6-20 overall while Highland improved to 14-6.

“Our defensive failures, both at the net and in the back court, cost us the match,” Barton coach Phil Shoemaker said. “Highland is a nice team and they have a couple athletes that, if you do not take them out of their rhythm, will make your night a tough one. Our failure to respond positively to this challenge cost us the match.”

Barton led early in the first set but a 5-1 run by the Scotties gave them a 14-12 lead. The run continued for the rest of the set. Highland outscored Barton 16-2 to close out the opening set.

After trailing nearly the entire set on the way to a 25-20 loss, Barton jumped out again in the third set.

The Cougars grabbed a 12-6 led in the set then tried to fend off the Scotties. Highland cut it to 16-13 and tied it at 18-all. The teams went back-and-forth to 22-all before Highland scored the final three points for a 25-22 win and the match.

Barton was led by a trio of hitters. Nathalia Gouveia, Emily Deterding, and Olivia Naccarato all had six kills for Barton. Brooke Joslyn and Jordan Edelman added five.

Lydia Konrade paced the defense with 11 digs followed by Gouveia with nine. Mallory McQueen had 24 assists.

“We competed well at times but not consistently,” Shoemaker said. “At times we fought very hard to succeed as a team. I was happy with the efforts and offensive performance of Brooke, Emily, and Jordan.”

Barton will now turn full focus to the West race and improving its standing. Currently the Cougars are 3-7 in the West in sixth place. Barton’s next two games are at home the next two Wednesdays.

It starts tonight with Dodge City then Butler visits next week. Those two teams are directly behind the Cougars in the standings. That is followed by a trip to Colby and a visit from Pratt Oct. 21 against teams just ahead of them in the West.