Daniel Wendland & Ryan Paris
Student Sports Media
The Butler Grizzlies volleyball team beat a very tough opponent in Colby on Saturday, Oct. 7, as they defeated them in a clean sweep, 3-0.
This proved to be a nice rebound after the Lady Grizzlies were swept on the road in Garden City, losing 3-0. Colby entered the matchup with a record of 18-4, and they were coming off of a recent loss to Barton Community College. Head Coach Rick Younger knew that the Lady Trojans were going into the game without one of their top players, however.
“I don’t know if it was in our favor or not, but one of their best hitters went down,” Younger said. “That’s why we work on depth. I know we didn’t play everybody today, but we have everybody ready to go, in case someone gets hurt we got that. We’re just fortunate we took advantage of it. It kind of makes up for the Garden City loss the other night.”
When it comes to the depth, there were several players who really seemed to step up this game, according to Younger.
“Definitely our two middles Aliyah Bernard and Jordyn Allen,” Younger said. “Jordyn didn’t have as many kills, but her hitting percentage was still high. Brooke Fender also had 11 kills, and so did Nicole Klusener. Both of those outsides kind of stepped up.”
Things did not go the Grizzlies’ way on Monday, Oct. 9, as they lost to Hutchinson, 3-1. Although the Grizzlies lost, Coach Younger still liked what he saw of his team that night.
“Hutch is a very, very good team,” he said. “I think we just had a few letdowns that cost us, but for the most part I thought we played very well.”
The Grizzlies have had their problems with the Blue Dragons in the past, but Younger thought that this was the best that the Grizzlies have ever played them.
“We got off to a couple slow starts, but we battled back,” Younger said. “I thought we had some really good numbers, and I think we earned a lot of respect.”
On Wednesday, Oct. 11, the Lady Grizzlies entered a home matchup with Dodge City looking to bounce back from a loss to Hutchinson. They were able to do so as they swept the Conqs 3-0, winning matches by scores of 25-13, 25-18 and 25-15.
Bernard led the Lady Grizzlies with 16 kills, Nicole Klusener chipped in with nine kills and 14 digs and Andie Nibarger had three kills and digs to go along with 25 assists.
Butler rarely trailed throughout each of the matches. In fact, after holding an 11-10 lead early in the first set, Dodge did not lead for the rest of the night. With the win, Butler improves to 18-8 in conference play and 8-5 overall. They are now 8-1 at home, with the sole loss coming against Hutchinson.