Raiders roll over Sutherland in four sets

Though she was at the top of only one statistical category last night, Sidney's Sarah Mahr had something to say in just about every phase of the contest.

With their 3-1 victory, the Red Raiders volleyball team spoiled the home opener of non-conference Sutherland last night. The win advances Sidney's record to 2-2 while the Sailors fall to 1-3. None of the sets was close as the Raiders bounced Sutherland in games one (25-12), three (25-16) and four (25-11) while the Sailors had all the answers in game two with a convincing 25-15 win.

The Raiders Abbi Porter had another strong game at the net with 16 kills and three blocks. Meanwhile the 5' 7" Mahr pounded home 9 kills and led the team in blocks with 5. Cody Rowley and Savanna Rosenbaum had 3 blocks apiece.

Defensivley, Sidney libero Maddi Porter was tops in digs with 14 while Rowley added 12 and Mahr 10. Vanessa Riley and Courtnie Highland dug out 9 and 8, respectively.

After dispatching Sutherland fairly easily in game one, the Sailors looked like a different team as they stiffened their resolve in game two. Sutherland's Kelsey Dillenburg gave the Raiders an idea of how this game would be different. She slammed a kill for the first point of the game. Shortly the Sailors had a 3-0 lead.

While Sidney never led in game two, they did manage to tie up the contest twice, at 6-6 and 7-7. But with the Sailors' Marley Sanberg on the service line, Sutherland went on a seven-point run to take a 14-7 lead. Sanberg kept her own service alive on the final point of the run with a diving dig.

"We let the momentum get away from us in the second game. It just got away from us," said Raiders Head Coach Sarah Wilson.

The Sailors went on from their seven-point advantage to close out set two with a 10-point win.

"I think a lot of game two was on our mistakes," said Mahr. "But they made a lot of really nice hits on us too."

Just as Killenburg gave her team a spark to start game two, so too Did Abbi Porter to start game three. Porter banged home an untouched hard slam to the Sailors backcourt to give the Raiders the first advantage of game three. In almost a reverse scenario from the second set, Sidney took an early three-point lead at 4-1.

As Sidney came back in the early stages of game one so too did Sutherland in the opening stages of game three. The Sailors actually made an early run to take a 5-4 lead. Another Porter kill, however, evened the set. From there Sutherland never again led.

Rowley had a driving kill for Sidney that began an 8-1 Raider run that put Sutherland in the rear-view mirror for good. Mahr helped finish off Sutherland during Sidney's final four points with hard kill and a game-ending ace.

"Our serving went very well, we attacked well and our back row had a lot of nice digs," said Rowley. "We finally found what works for us. Everybody knows what their role is and everybody's accepted their roles."

In set four Sidney left no doubt who would leave Sutherland with the win. After leading 1-0, the Sailors fell behind and stayed there. Sidney really asserted its advantage with sophomore Emily Mahr on the service line. During Mahr's serve the Raiders reeled off seven-straight points.

Rosenbaum and Rowley got the run going as the duo went up and blocked a Sutherland kill attempt by stuffing it back the other way. On the next point pair looked like they were showing an instant replay as they stuffed another one back.

On the final point of the run Nichele Romick made a dive attempt at a Sutherland kill but couldn't quite get it.

Rowley took the service line for another seven-point run that almost ended the contest. Annalise Lecher's tip to open court ended an extended point during the run. While Rowley's service ended with the Raiders having 24 points, Abbi Porter ended the matter a point later with her 16th kill.

"I was really pleased with our serves and our defense was really scrappy tonight," said Wilson.

Sidney is off until next Tuesday when they travel to Chadron for a triangular meet with Bridgeport. The first set is scheduled to get under way at 4 p.m.