First-place Colby sweeps Garden City volleyball

Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-Somehow at 17-4, Colby entered the Perryman Athletic Complex Monday night unranked. 

The Trojans apparently took our their frustrations on Garden City. 

Colby cruised to a 25-15, 25-11 and 25-12. 

“It’s a mental block for this team,” Head Coach Jacquelynne Matula said. “We fall down, and it’s hard for them to get over that hurdle.”

Maja Jankovic’s serve that grazed the net and fell in between two Broncbusters broke a 6-6 tie in the opening set. That was all the wiggle room the Trojans needed. 

Colby never trailed in the frame, eventually cruising to a 10-point win, thanks to a plethora of Broncobuster mistakes. 

“I tried to get us to refocus,” Matula said. “But it goes back to the mental block.”

Colby controlled every aspect of the second set. Taylor Barrett and Singryd Valadares combined for four kills as the Trojans turned a 2-2 tie into a 16-5 lead before Matula called timeout. 

“It’s been our problem all year; not being focused for an entire match,” Matula explained. “That’s what happened again tonight.”

Colby closed out the set on a 9-6 run, fueled by Valadares’ kill and a service ace that ended the frame. 

Garden City was more competitive in the third set, taking their only lead of the match 8-7. But Megan Besecker, who’s been the most consistent Broncbuster player besides Bailey Martinez, committed a service error. That mistake led to a 7-2 Colby run and a 15-10 Trojans advantage. 

“I thought we did some good things,” Matula said. “But we didn’t have much of an attack.”

The Broncbusters were on the defensive all night, while Colby’s attack put the match away by scoring the final eight points. 

“I expected more tonight but never got it,” Matula said. “I was a little surprised we didn’t come out with more fight.”

Besecker had eight kills for the Broncbusters, who lost their third in a row (have dropped 13 out of their last 14). Martinez had 13 digs. 

Colby won their fifth straight match.