CONCORDIA, Kan. - Butler volleyball saw its four-game winning streak snapped with a five-set conference road loss at Cloud County on Wednesday.
Butler (4-3 overall, 0-2 conference) opened the match with a come-from-behind 25-21 win in the opening set, but dropped the next two sets 24-26 and 22-25. The Grizzlies tied the match up with a 25-15 fourth-set victory, but could not close out the match and dropped the fifth set 9-15.
In the opening set, Butler trailed by as many as seven points early. Down 16-10 to Cloud, Butler made a 9-1 run to take a 19-18 lead. With the set tied at 21-all, the Grizzlies closed the set out with four consecuive points.
Butler had a chance to go up 2-0 in the match, taking a 24-18 lead after an ace by Katie Dyer. However, Cloud rallied with eight straight points to stun the Grizzlies and tie the match.
Both teams played evenly in set three before the host T-Birds scored five straight to build a 19-14 lead. Butler closed within one point on two different occassions late, but Cloud held on for the 25-22 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Grizzlies dominated the fourth set, going on a 12-4 run midway through the set enroute to a 17-8 lead. Butler led by as many as 11 points (21-10) in the set before winning 25-15.
Cloud never trailed in the fifth set, jumping quickly out to a 5-1 lead. Butler would rally back within a point twice (5-4 and 8-7), but the T-Birds ended the match outscoring the Grizzlies 8-2.
Next up for the Grizzlies will be another conference road contest in Liberal on Friday as Butler takes on Seward County at 6:30 p.m.