Sidney volleyball captures third at conference event

The Sidney High School volleyball team finished third in the six-team field at the Western Conference Tournament on Saturday in Mitchell.

Chadron, which was the No. 1 seed, defeated Gering for the tournament title to claim the championship trophy for the third consecutive year. The Eagles won all three of their matches to improve to 20-4.

Alliance beat Mitchell in the fifth-place match.

Sidney, as the No. 5 seed, opened pool play against Chadron on Saturday morning, falling 25-18, 25-20.

Maddi Porter, Alex Wamsley, Annalise Lecher and Payton Jung had four kills apiece for the Lady Raiders, whose record stands at 11-13 this season. Porter also added 13 digs, while setter Emily Mahr chipped in 15 assists and 10 digs.

In its second pool-play match, Sidney dispatched fourth-seeded Alliance 25-14, 25-14.

Lecher dominated with 10 kills, while Porter (seven kills, seven digs) and Jung (seven kills, three blocks) also paced the Lady Raiders’ attack. Mahr provided three aces, 11 digs and 18 assists.

Wamsley recorded two blocks and Natalie Radcliffe had 10 digs.

Sidney’s 1-1 record in pool play landed it a date with Scottsbluff in the thrid-place match.

The Lady Raiders won a tight battle against the Bearcats (7-15), prevailing 25-21, 21-25, 25-23.

Jung had 13 kills, while Lecher added nine and Porter chipped in eight. Kelsey Knight had 19 digs, Abbey Mills had 15 digs, Radcliffe served two aces and Mahr contributed 24 asissts and a pair of aces.

Sidney is back in action Tuesday night at home, entertaining a tough Chadron squad.