Butler volleyball sunk the Pirates in Independence Wednesday night winning in straight sets 25-10, 25-20, 25-20 improving to 15-9 overall and 7-6 in KJCCC play.
The Grizzlies have now won five straight all in straight 3-0 sets and six of their last seven matches out playing their opponents 18-4 in sets won.
Butler never trailed in the first set as they took a quick 9-3 lead inset one forcing a Pirate timeout. The Grizzlies continued to roll after the timeout connecting on all their attacks and pieced together a 7-0 run to take an 18-7 lead. A serving error on the Pirates would end the set in favor of Butler 25-10.
Independence came out much stronger in set two striking first and following it up with four straight to take a 6-2 lead. Butler answered with nine straight points of their own off of Jaryn Benning serves taking an 11-6 lead. Butler had all the momentum after that and kept the Pirates at bay the remainder of the set to win 25-20.
Independence lingered around a majority of the set, but Butler was able to hold them off leading the entire way to take the match in three straight sets winning 25-20 in set three.
"It was a good team win. Our distribution was pretty even across the board which was really nice to see. With our consistent passing it allowed Sydney to get the ball to multiple players throughout the match. We didn't need to rely on one hitter to get the job done, they all did last night," said head coach Lisa Lechtenberg.
It was another well-balanced offensive attack for the Grizzlies as Sydney Scanlon shared the ball well finishing with 26 assists setting six different hitters. Amalie Rupertova and Milayna Hollinger both finished with seven kills each. Rupertova added in 12 digs and two blocks while Hollinger hit .500 on the night. Morgan Bryand and Jaryn Benning each had six kills apiece while Keera Parks finished the night with five kills, five blocks, five digs and three serving aces.
Butler limited errors in the match with only five total and finished with a .319 hitting percentage on the night.
With three conference matches to go in the regular season, Butler (15-9, 7-6) is currently sitting in fourth place in the KJCCC west behind Seward (11-0), Colby (12-1) and Barton (8-2). The Grizzlies will host Pratt, 2-11 in KJCCC play on Friday at home at 6:30pm before looking ahead to two crucial road games next week at Barton and at Hutchinson.