Lady Raiders go 1-2 at Western Conference tourney

The Sidney High varsity volleyball team took fifth-place among six teams in the Western Conference Tournament in Gering on Saturday.

The Lady Raiders went 1-2 in the event, making them 8-15 overall and 1-3 in district play.

The Chadron Cardinals won the tournament with a 3-0 record, taking down Scottsbluff in three sets in the championship match.

The Lady Raiders were swept by the Chadron in their first match of the day, 25-13 and 25-19. In its second match, Sidney got off to a good start against host Gering in thrilling fashion, 26-24. But Gering took the match by winning the next two sets, 25-21 and 25-16.

That pitted Sidney against Mitchell for the fifth-place game.

After Mitchell won the first set, 25-16, the Lady Raiders responded with a nail-biting 31-29 victory in the second set.

Sidney rode that momentum into the final set, opening with a 7-0 run and scoring 11 of the first 12 points. It never let up, closing out the victory in dominant fashion and salvaged the afternoon with a win.

Sidney head coach Sarah Wilson said she was pleased with her team’s effort and preparation. But she needed more from some of the role players she normally counts on.

Senior Savanna Rosenbaum and sophomore outside hitter Maddi Porter combined for 42 kills over the three matches. Rosebaum also added nine blocks to her stat sheet. Sophomore middle blocker Annalise Lecher totaled 12 kills, including many smartly placed returns at the net, to go along with eight blocks.

Despite the poor result on Saturday, Wilson says she believes her team’s season isn’t over and that the field is wide open for anyone’s taking at the district tournament.

“It’s anyone’s district,” Wilson said. “We’ve hung with all of the other district teams, and I told the girls they can redeem themselves with a district title.”

Sidney will take the court again Tuesday when it goes on the road to face Chadron at 6 p.m.