Dodge City volleyball, for the eighth time this season, played a ranked opponent, this time in Jayhawk Conference play as they hosted #3 Barton.

The Conquistadors would push the Cougars of Barton but ultimately fall in four sets (25-23, 25-16, 24-26, 25-11). The loss moves the Conqs to 8-7 on the season and 2-1 in KJCCC action; all seven losses this season have come to teams currently ranked. 

The night would start with a teeter-totter of a first set as the teams traded points throughout the set. The Conqs would go up 21-20, leading to a Barton timeout. Out of the timeout, the Cougars mounted a 4-0 run to take control. Conqs fended off set point twice but could not do it another time, dropping the first set 25-23. The second set would be tight again early, but Barton would establish a 13-9 advantage and use that to keep the Conqs at bay the rest of the set, leading to a 25-16 final in the second set. The Conqs jumped up early in the third set, leading 7-3, and would lead until Barton snatched the lead at 20-19, leading to a Dodge City timeout. The Conqs would continue to fight and win the third set 26-24. After trading points back-and-forth early in the fourth, Barton would take control, leading 14-7, and continued their way to a 25-11 fourth set as the Conqs would fall in four. 

Chaehee Baek had her best performance as a Conq, recording nine kills on a .333 hitting percentage, while Allison Mason and Amariah White each had six kills. Mason added eight digs, while White had one solo block and five block assists. Chelsea Durbridge finished the night with 33 assists, three digs, four block assists, and one solo block. Sunni Skipps tallied 12 digs and seven digs on the night, while Mali Towers had 14 digs at the libero spot. 

A big stretch of conference matches continues for the Conqs as they travel to Colby to take on the #7 Trojans on Wednesday, September 17th, at 6:30 pm.