Raider volleyball wins 2 in tourney

Sidney went into the weekend strong, off triangular wins against Gering and Kimball Thursday in the Cabela's Athletic Facility.

It appeared Gering might trip up Sidney's hopes early, taking a 25-15 first set win over their hosts. Sidney bounced back to a 25-19 second set win, setting up the battle royale.

Neither team took an insurmountable lead in that final set, which saw the score tied five times, including at 24-24, before Sidney hits found the floor on the last two points and a 26-24 win.

Waverly won Saturday's tournament.

"I believe our girls could have beat them (Waverly) but we felt short," said Sidney Coach Lu Howard. "Chemistry on the court was not there and we were making a lot of unforced mistakes. Loss against Waverly pushed us into the consolation bracket. We won our next game against Central City pretty easily but we still didn't play our best."

What problems Sidney had against Gering were fixed while the Lady Bulldogs faced Kimball.

The Lady Raiders made short work of Kimball in the nightcap, winning 25-9, 25-17.

Julia Evertson and Payton Jung led the Sidney triangular attack, Evertson with eight kills against Gering and another six against Kimball. Jung had 11 kills against Gering, seven in the Kimball game.

Over the weekend, Sidney played Waverly, Central City and Lakeview on Saturday in the Aurora Tournament. The Lady Raiders lost to Waverly 2-0, defeated Central City 2-0 and lost to Lakeview 2-0.

The contest between Sidney and Waverly went to Waverly 25-17 and 25-15. The Lady Raiders finished the game with 17 kills of 71 attempts. Junior Payton Jung lead the team with seven, followed by senior Natalie Radcliffe with four and sophomore Mattie Johnson with three, senior Julia Evertson with two and senior Kristina Davis with one.

Senior Kristina Davis had the only block in the match. The Raiders did have 53 digs. In the two sets.

The Lady Raiders then defeated Central City in two close sets: 25-23 and 25-23.

Sidney had 30 kills in the two sets, lead by Mattie Johnson with 14. The team also had 49 digs in the two sets.

The Lady Red Raiders lost their last game Saturday in a contest against Lakeview, 25-17 and 25-20.

Sidney did have 19 kills in the two sets, lead by Johnson with eight and senior Julia Evertson with five. The team also had 38 serve attempts with three aces.

The Lady Raiders returned to the court Tuesday afternoon, facing Scottsbluff in Scottsbluff.