CONCORDIA, Kansas — Call it a palate cleaner or a slump-buster. But no matter the term, Wednesday's win over Garden City Community College was one the Cloud County Community College volleyball team needed it in the worst way.

The T-Birds (12-19 overall, 6-9 KJCCC), who entered Wednesday's contest marred in a season long seven-match losing streak, worked their way back into the win column with a convincing 25-13, 25-22 and 25-12 victory over the Broncobusters (6-25 overall, 2-13 KJCCC).

"We've had a tough schedule this year with a young team, not that it's an excuse by any means, but it has been challenging for them," said Cloud County head coach, Molly Skocny. "This was an important win for us tonight, and our goal was to do it in three sets."

Cloud County gave the Broncobusters fits with a well-balanced offensive attack as five different players finished with seven or more kills, led by sophomore Cara Flach with nine kills. The Paxico, Kansas native also added a team-high 21 assists.

Flach had three of her kills in the first set to help get the T-Birds off and running. After calling a timeout with the score 10-9 in the first set, Cloud County rattled off an 8-2 run spanning two Garden City timeouts to grab the momentum. It'd lead by as many as 13 points en route to a 25-13 win.

In the second set, it was freshman outside hitter Elizabeth Nobert who took over as she tallied five of her eight kills on a spotless 5-for-5 on attack attempts. Nobert was a defensive force, as well, as she finished with six total blocks.

The T-Birds appeared to be running away with the second set, owning a late 19-11 lead, but Garden City fought back to make things interesting as it tied the match at 21-21, forcing a Cloud County timeout. The Broncobusters run ended there as Cloud scored four of the next five points to go up 2-0 in the match.

The drama ended there as the T-Birds made quick work of Garden City in the third set. Freshman middle hitter Drew Mann matched Nobert's effort in the second set, recording five of her eight kills in the final set in perfect 5-for-5 fashion.

Redshirt freshman Kylie McKinney and freshman Irem Bat rounded out the T-Birds' big hitters on Wednesday with eight kills and seven kills, respectively. McKinney and sophomore Bailey Lewis tied for the team-high in digs with seven.

Cloud County will try to build off the win when it hosts Dodge City Community College at 6:30 p.m. Thursday to conclude the regular season. Sophomore Night will be an important match for the T-Birds in more ways than one as they try to prepare for Region VI Tournament action next week.

 "For girls, (Sophomore Night) is a very important night for them. It marks an achievement and the majority of players are not going to continue playing, so it's a last opportunity for them to compete. The emotions run high for them and their parents," Skocny said. "I think it's always nice if you can win it and walk away feel good about your performance, so that'll be important. We've also talked a lot about the ticking clock, the hours we've put in to this point, and the hours that remain. We need to make sure we get the most out of those."