The best-of-five volleyball match went down to the final set as the Barton Community College Lady Cougars secured a win against Dodge City.
Barton triumphed 15-13 in the fifth game to improve to 4-8 overall, 3-1 in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division play on Monday night at Kirkman Activity Center.
“I think with working through our new lineup and trying to figure out where we are as a team, we’re a little inconsistent,” Barton head coach Andrea Rasmussen said, “but when it works, it works.”
The Lady Cougars have had their struggles this season, including an injury to sophomore setter Jasbelle Cruz, which happened last Wednesday in Barton’s win over Pratt.
“We’re not sure how long she’ll be out,” Rasmussen said of Cruz, who injured her left thumb. “She had surgery, but we don’t really know her prognosis yet.”
Rasmussen said she was fine with her team’s record, considering the competition Barton has come up against this season.
“Our record is deceiving,” Rasmussen said. “When you look at 4-8, it looks very bad, but when you consider that all of our losses except one were against ranked teams, and five of those have been ranked in the top 10. We’re playing tough competition.
“I’d rather have a win-loss record that looks like that, and win matches at nationals. I don’t want the first time we see that level be at the end of the season.”
The Lady Cougars captured a 25-18 win in the first game, but struggled to close out the second. Dodge City went on a 7-1 rally to draw the match even at one apiece with a 25-23 win.
Dodge City won the third game 25-20.
The Lady Cougars, who were led by sophomore Isabel Valdez with 12 kills, were able to force Game 5 with a 25-22 win in the fourth set.
“She split time her freshman year,” Rasmussen said of Valdez. “Now, I think she’s kind of gotten into a role that she feels comfortable in. She’s a captain. She’s been our kills leader for the past two weeks, and we couldn’t ask for more from a sophomore.”
Barton led the fifth game most of the way, but Dodge City tied the game seven times before the Lady Cougars put it away.
Barton travels to Concordia on Wednesday to challenge Cloud County, starting at 6:30 p.m.