The Butler volleyball team extracted a measure of revenge over Cloud County on Friday night with a straight-set victory (25-21, 25-18, 25-22) over the Thunderbirds at the Power Plant.
With the win, Butler (15-10 overall, 8-4 conference) set a season high with its fourth consecutive victory on the season. The Grizzlies had a pair of three-game winning streaks earlier in the season.
Butler recorded its first victory over Cloud in three tries this season. The T-Birds had beaten Butler in four sets in the Aug. 22 season opener in Concordia and then again on Sept. 1 in Great Bend.
Butler jumped out quickly to a 6-1 lead in the first set, seemingly setting the tone for the match. The Grizzlies led by as many as seven points at 11-4, before Cloud stormed back to tie the set at 14-all. Butler pulled away and won 25-21.
Cloud scored first in the second set, but the Grizzlies would go up 12-8 and maintained the edge on the way to the 25-18 lead.
Cloud's biggest lead of the night came in the third set, when the T-Birds went up 6-3. After a Butler timeout, the Grizzlies made a 5-0 run to take an 8-6 lead.
Cloud would again lead late in the third set, going up 21-19 before Butler outscored the T-Birds 6-1 to end the set and the match.
Freshman outside hitter Amalie Rupertova led the Grizzlies with 16 kills to go along with five digs and three blocks, while sophomore middle blocker Claudia Hess added eight kills with a block and an ace. Freshman setter Sydney Scanlon finished with a team-high 28 assists and added five kills, five digs and an ace. Freshman outside hitter Nia Bishop finished with six kills, six digs and three blocks.
Butler steps back into conference play with four matches remaining – all against teams they lost to earlier in the season. Butler will be on the road Wednesday at Hutchinson and Friday at nationally-ranked Seward County before facing Colby at home next Saturday at 2 p.m.