Butler dropped their third straight conference match and suffered their second loss to Colby this season losing 3-0 Wednesday night in the Power Plant.
The Grizzlies had a chance in all three sets hanging in with the Trojans but couldn't get over the hump falling 25-19, 28-26 and 25-23.
After an early back and forth set which saw six ties, Butler took a 12-11 lead in set one that forced a timeout by Colby. The timeout is just what the Trojans needed and not what the Grizzlies wanted as Colby scored the next five points out of the break and Butler was unable to regain their momentum and dropped set one 25-19.
Holding a lead most of set two, it appeared as if the Grizzlies would have a chance to even the match. Butler led by as many as four points on two occasions 19-15 and 20-16 but Colby wouldn't fold. Colby took their second lead of the set (first lead since 13-12) 24-23. A Colby error and a Keera Parks kill gave Butler the advantage 25-24 with just one point to go for the win. Again, Colby wasn't ready to give away the set and tied it back up 25-25. The teams would go back and forth the next three points before Colby scored two straight to win 28-26 and take a 2-0 match lead.
Like set number one, it was a back and forth set with seven ties and three lead changes which eventually resulted in a 13-13 tie midway through the third set. Colby then rattled off five straight forcing a Butler timeout. After trailing by six, 23-17, Butler took advantage of some Trojan errors and rattled off five straight points of their own getting within one point, 23-22. Butler would have one more crack at the set after an Amalie Rupertova kill got the Grizzlies within one 24-23, but Colby scored the final two points to take the set 25-23 and the match 3-0.
Amalie Rupertova led the Grizzlies with 10 kills, eight digs, two blocks and two serving aces. Morgan Bryand added five kills with Keera Parks finishing with four and four blocks. Sydney Scanlon recorded 24 assists while Montana Soderberg and Sydney hefty recorded 15 and 11 digs each.
Butler (9-8, 4-6) will travel to Columbus, NE to play in the Ramada Inn Classic this Friday and Saturday. They will take on Northeast (NE) at 1:00pm and North Platte (NE) at 5:00pm on Friday and play Fort Scott at 9:00am and Central Nebraska at 11:00am on Saturday.
