Box Score Concordia, KS- Cloud County Volleyball improved to 5-2 on the year with an action packed home opener on Wednesday night. The T-Birds and Butler Grizzlies went all five sets but Cloud took the match three games to two.
Cloud started sluggish in the first set falling behind 4-2 before the T-Birds gained traction and started a 10-2 run to push the score to 11-6. The Thunderbird rally prompted a Butler timeout. The Grizzlies rebounded out of the timeout and eventually regained the lead at 18-17. The intense opening set went down to the wire until Butler finished the T-Birds off with four straight to take the opener 25-21.
The second set was a back and forth battle featuring several lead changes early on. It looked as if Butler would pull away as they climbed out to a 24-17 lead late in the set. Cloud then used a 9-0 run to come back and take the second set 26-24. Freshman Brooke Baird held serve for the T-Birds throughout the rally.
The T-Birds used a big mid-set rally to create space in the third set as they pulled ahead 20-15. Butler responded with a run to get back within one at 22-21. Elizabeth Nobert recorded a kill to launch Cloud's final run of the set and the T-Birds pulled ahead in the match with a 25-22 third set victory.
Butler dominated the fourth set from start to finish to even the match at two games a piece. The Grizzlies took the set by a score of 25-15.
Cloud took a 5-1 lead in the decisive final set. Butler called a timeout and came out and cut it to 5-4. The T-Birds rebounded and pulled back ahead 10-7. T-Bird freshman Irem Bat finished off the night with a kill and sealed a 15-9 fifth set victory.
It was a balanced attack at the net for Cloud. Nobert had 15 kills to lead Cloud County. The T-Birds got a needed boost from Cara Flach, who saw her first action of the 2016 season. Flach pitched in with 8 kills and also had 28 assists.
Irem Bat had 9 kills and 5 blocks for Cloud County.
The T-Birds will now take a week off before resuming conference play at Pratt Community College on September 7.
