CONCORDIA, Kansas — Members of the 2016 Cloud County Community College volleyball team will always remember the sweep of Dodge City Community College on Sophomore Night.

The 25-20, 25-20 and 25-18 box score is just one of the reasons.

Not only did the T-Birds (13-19, 7-9 KJCCC) leapfrog the Conquistadors (21-15, 6-10 KJCCC) in the conference standings to own fifth place outright, but an impromptu fire alarm, which forced a brief evacuation and 15-20 minute delay, ended up being the turning point on an entertaining Thursday night in Concordia, Kansas.

"It (delay) absolutely calmed us down. That was the No. 1 thing we talked about when we were outside during the break; the girls felt a little jittery and a little antsy because emotions run high on Sophomore Night," said Cloud County head coach, Molly Skocny. "I think having that break allowed us to settle in and regain our composure."

What caused the fire alarm remains unclear, and no one was harmed during Thursday evening's evacuation. But it was clear the T-Birds were struggling to get into a rhythm prior to the blaring sirens as they trailed 13-10 when play was stopped and had been down by as many as five points.

Once everyone was back in their seats and the ball back in the air, Cloud County settled down and chipped away at Dodge City's lead, getting to within one following a kill from freshman Irem Bat. An attack error by Dodge City the ensuing point tied the score at 19-19 and forced a Conquistadors' timeout.

That did little to slow down Cloud County as redshirt freshman Drew Mann powered down two of her 11 kills, and added a solo block, to account for three of her team's six points during its 6-1 blitz to finish off the first set.

Mann and Bat tied for the team-high in kills with 11. The duo was epsecially lethal in the second set as they combined for nine kills, helping the T-Birds out to an early 9-7 lead. Dodge City fought back to within two points at 16-14, but failed to inch any closer as the T-Birds were able to maintain a 4-5 point lead en route to a 25-20 win, capped off by one of 10 kills on the evening by freshman Katelyn Ruth.

Up 2-0 and momentum firmly in their favor, the T-Birds never trailed in the third set and methodically wore down Dodge City to complete the sweep with a 25-18 win.

In addition to the big nights from Mann, Bat and Ruth, freshman Elizabeth Nobert spiked down eight kills and had a team-high three solo blocks, while sophomore Cara Flach did a little bit of everything in her final home game as she finished with five blocks, four digs, two total blocks and 30 assists.

"Cara is such a competitor and this means so much to her," Skocny said. "She's a kid who has really taken on the mindset that she is going to be fearless these last few weeks. I think for part of the season she's been frustrated because we've changed the offense a couple times to get things going. We've asked her to set at times, then gone back to a 6-2 and take on a hitting role again. It's been fun to watch her compete."

Sophomore defensive specialists Bailey Lewis and Cheyanne Hileman each played well in their final match inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium as Lewis led the T-Birds with 11 digs and Hileman added an assist and a dig.

The No. 5 seeded T-Birds will now turn their attention toward Region VI Tournament action as they travel to take on No. 4 seed Barton Community College at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

"Conference wise, we've actually played pretty decent on the road," Skocny said. "We're obviously disappointed we won't be able to have a home first-round match, but we're comfortable going on the road."