Raiders crowned as district champs

Much like the wild scene at Weymouth Field that followed the Sidney football team's district championship nearly two weeks ago, a similar celebration broke out Tuesday night at the Cabela's Athletic Facility.

Once the final point was scored in Tuesday's District B-8 championship game, the student section poured onto the court in celebration of the Red Raiders 3-0 victory over the Gering Bulldogs. Head Coach Sarah Wilson dispensed with her usual post-game players meeting - which was instead conducted by jubilant students, parents, players and fans.

"The girls were determined to get it done tonight," Wilson said. "We knew both teams would be tough. We had a long period off the court watching Gering and Scottsbluff battle it out for five sets but it was worth the wait."

The Raiders reached the championship game after opening the night with a straight-set win over Alliance 25-18, 25-23 and 25-17. Gering survived a scare from Scottsbluff, eventually pulling ahead in a five-set match, after dropping the first two. Since Scottsbluff and Alliance did not qualify for the upcoming sub states, their seasons are over.

The Raiders stopped Gering in the finals by set scores of 25-18, 26-24 and 25-22.

"I think (Gering) might have been a little tired from their five setter," said senior Cody Rowley. "But we really clicked tonight. I think we passed and served well and worked well as a team. Winning this was very important to all of us."

Despite losing out on a district championship, Gering will move on in post-season play based on a season-long points system. As the 15th seed, the 'Dogs (16-17) will face #2 Grand Island Northwest (35-0) on the road this Saturday at 5 p.m. CST. Sidney (22-10) qualifies at number nine to face eighth seeded Beatrice (21-11) the same day at noon CST. Sidney will also be faced with a long road trip.

"A number of people I've talked to are thinking of making a weekend of it," Wilson said on Monday in anticipation of coming events.

The weekend Wilson was referring to included the Raiders football team which has advanced to a quartfinal game at Gretna on Friday afternoon. A number of parents and fans are considering a trip eastward to attend both events.

Abbi Porter led the Raiders over Alliance with 16 kills while Savanna Rosenbaum and Rowley added 8 and 7. Sarah Mahr and Annalise Lecher drove home 5 kills each. Setters Emily Mahr and Rowley were tops in assists with 19 and 18, respectively.

Maddi Porter had another strong service game with 4 aces. Sarah Mahr also delivered 4 aces. Porter led the team with 22 serves and made just one error. Vanessa Riley did not make a serving error in 10 attempts.

"I've been working on my serve all year," freshman Maddi Porter said. "I didn't even start jump serving until this year. I've tried not just to be more accurate, I want to serve hard also."

Defensively against Alliance Abbi Porter had 4 blocks, Lecher 2 and Courtnie Highland 1. Libero Maddi Porter and Sarah Mahr were strong in the backcourt with 24 and 12 digs respectively.

Gering took the first point of the finals match but Abbi Porter quickly got the the Raiders on the board with an emphatic kill shot. Though the Raiders again fell behind 2-1 and never could pull away, it proved to be their last deficit of the set. Riley served Sidney to a 6-3 lead but the Bulldogs persisted and several times narrowed to gap to one at 7-6, 11-10 and 15-14.

After the final one-point spread, Riley again took to the service line and stayed there for a 5 point run. Abbi Porter started the run with a block ace. The run was concluded when Highland set up Porter for another kill and Sarah Mahr followed with another. Sidney parlayed the momentum into a 7 point set win.

"I think we're still pretty even with (Gering). They're a very good team," Lecher said. "I think we're at a level where we want to be now, but we can still get better."

Gering took the first point in set two as well but this time they hung around until the bitter end. Rowley and Abbi Porter were dropping solid kills throughout the set but the biggest lead they could manage was five, at 14-9. From there the Bulldogs tied the set with a 6-1 run. The final tie was at 24. But the Raiders got the final say when Maddi Porter's dig to Emily Mahr set up Rowley's set-ending kill shot.

The Bulldogs forced the Raiders into having to play catch up from a number of small deficits in the deciding set. The biggest edge Gering managed was just three points, but they consistently held the advantage for much of the set.

As the game wore on Sidney drew closer until the teams began playing a back-and-forth game. There were ties at 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20.

A net violation on Gering and an Abbi Porter kill led to a 4-point Sidney run for game point at 24-20. The Bulldogs refused to go quietly, however, as points by Allie Boggs and Kaylee Spreier kept them alive. Ultimately, the match ended on a Bulldogs error.

In the championship match, Abbi Porter and Rowley were a handful at the net with 15 and 14 kills. Porter also had 5 blocks and Rowley 2.

Rosenbaum contributed 2 blocks to go along with 5 kills.

The Bulldogs found Sarah Mahr's serves difficult to defend, as she had 5 more aces for a total of 9 on the night. Riley, who made no service errors in 22 attempts, dropped 2 aces. Maddi Porter, Emily Mahr, Abbi Porter and Rowley all had aces as well. Maddi Porter didn't make a service error in 10 tries.

Maddi Porter and Sarah Mahr were again alert in the backcourt with 23 and 17 kills respectively. Maddi's sister Abbi added 10 digs to go along with her strong work at the net.

Rowley was also impressive with her all-around game with eight digs.