Barbe High School’s 2016 season didn’t end the way the Bucs wanted, but that has not hindered them this season.

The Bucs, who for the first time in a decade lost in the first round of the Division I volleyball playoffs last year, are off to a 5-1 start after beating Iota in three games, 25-5, 25-20, 25-11, at home Tuesday.

“I am not too surprised,” Barbe head coach Kim Franks said. “This team is a bunch of go-getters.

“They want to win and they are working hard to get there. We just have to continue to move forward.”

Barbe relied on a balanced attack led by outside hitter Kayla Kuster and middle hitters Gracye Guidry and Abby Ballard. Kuster led all players with 11 kills, Guidry had seven and Ballard finished with five. Setter Sarah Eccles had a match-high 32 assists and Kylie Bergeron added six kills, seven digs and four aces.

“This year we are able to balance it out, and that is a good thing,” Franks said. “We have three hitters at any moment that can put the ball away and our defense can pick up anything we need.”

After a sluggish second set, the trio helped Barbe break open a 6-6 tie in the third set. Guidry slammed home back-to-back kills to spark a 6-0 run. Kuster posted four kills in the deciding set while Ballard had a kill and an ace.

“We started off strong and came out ready to play,” Franks said. “We were kind of lackadaisical in the second set, making small errors that we normally don’t make.

“We were not focused, so the third set was what we really tried to focus on.”

Iota reached the Division III quarterfinals last year but has struggled to a 0-4 start with a roster that includes eight freshmen and three seniors.

“We are working with a young team this year,” Iota assistant coach Meredith Hebert said after head coach Leah Andrus Marcantel declined comment. “We are preparing very slowly because we haven’t practiced a lot. It is taking a little bit longer to work on the basics and do what we normally do.

“We have plenty of potential, but we need to work a little bit harder and together.”

After committing six hitting errors in the first set, the Bulldogs showed that potential in the second set. Iota fell behind 7-4 after Shaleigh Gorman’s ace, but steadily chipped away at the lead. They cut it to 16-15 after a kill by Erin Bouley but couldn’t overtake the Bucs.

“We had a lot of miscommunication in the first set,” Hebert said. “In the second set, we decided that we were not talking and we needed to fix that and get our serves over.”

Madison Oliver led Iota with nine kills and Zoe Smith was credited with 14 assists.

Barbe will travel to Westlake (3-1) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, while Iota will host Sam Houston (1-3) at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Bucs’ Kylie Bergeron hits the ball past a block attempt by Iota’s Madison Oliver during a nondistrict match Tuesday at Barbe High School.

)Rick Hickman American Press)