Barton outlasts Garden City in three sets

By Mike Pilosof

Photo by Adam Shrimplin

Garden City, KS-Garden City was more than game for their Monday-night showdown. But in the end, Barton did just enough to survive three marathon sets.

Tasiah Nunnery had 10 kills, Isabella Guedes posted 23 assists, and the Cougars swept the Broncbusters 22-25, 20-25, 20-25. It was Garden City's fourth straight loss, dropping them to 8-22 overall and 1-12 in conference.

The Broncbusters were the aggressors early, building a three-point lead following Giorgia Cappelletti's crosscourt kill that made it 8-5. In fact, Garden City led for most of the opening set. But Maria Santos's block and kill followed by Mylena Testoni's spike forced Patrick Hiltz to call a timeout. That was followed by another Santos attack, a Testoni ace, and a Nunnery kill that fueled a 10-5 run to close the frame.

In the second, the Broncbusters once again built a three-point lead after Remi Vargas setup Hannah Brandt for a kill. Moments later, Vargas added a block, and Garden City was up 12-9. But again, the Cougars came right back. A ball-handling error by the home team was followed by a pair of attacks by Testoni and Joelle LaForce, Nunnery tallied another kill, and the Cougars were up four. They stretched that to as many as five after Serena Degollado's attack sailed long, putting the visitors up, 2-0.

The Cougars took command in the third, building an early 6-1 advantage following Santos's tip over. But Garden City steadied things and eventually took the lead once Alli Meng dropped in an ace and Rachel Panzer blocked a Barton attack. Unfortunately, though, it didn't stick. Jadyn Brown fired a laser crosscourt; Nunnery pounded a ball down the right sideline; then finished off the Broncbusters with a kill right down the middle, giving the Cougars their fifth win in their last six matches.

Cappelletti paced the Broncbusters with 10 kills and eight digs. Vargas chipped in 29 assists, 12 digs and a block, and Vanja Stefanovic had six kills.

Next up: Garden City at Colby-Saturday, Oct. 23-2 p.m.