GREAT BEND, Kan. — Butler volleyball picked up a road conference victory with a three-set sweep at Barton on Saturday, beating the Cougars 27-25, 25-20, 25-19.
With the win, the Grizzlies (16-6 overall, 6-3 conference) earned their 10th sweep of the season and sixth in the last seven contests. Butler also took the season series against the Cougars, having won a four-set match in El Dorado back on Aug. 30.
After winning a hard-fought first set by two, Butler jumped out to a 17-7 lead in the second set behind an 8-0 run. Grizzly sophomore Brooke Fender held serve, compiling three aces during the run. Barton rallied back with six straight points during set point and pulled within four, but sophomore Jordyn Allen hammered a kill to give Butler a 2-0 set lead.
In the third set, Barton grabbed a 12-9 lead before the Grizzlies answered back with five of the next six points to go up by one. Butler then closed out the set with a 4-0 run and outscored the Cougars 8-3 down the stretch.
Allen led Butler with 10 kills and hit .409, while sophomore Aliyah Bernard added seven kills, three blocks and hit .500 for the match. Freshman outside hitter Claudia Hess had a solid match with seven kills and two blocks. Sophomore libero Abby Goodrum had 27 digs and Nicole Klusener followed up with 23 digs and three kills. Sophomore setters Alex Stiles and Andie Nibarger each had 14 assists, with Nibarger adding a pair of aces and a kill.
Butler will remain on the road with a Wednesday conference match at Garden City beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Grizzlies will return home next Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. match against Colby.
