Sidney Hosts Districts

Sidney's Lady Raider volleyball team traveled to Alliance on Tuesday to compete in the B-8 Subdistrict Tournament, and split its' matches against Gering and Alliance to advance to the B-6 District Final on Saturday at Sidney against Grand Island Northwest.

The two-seeded Lady Raiders faced number three seeded Gering in their first match, and the two teams battled furiously in the first set with Sidney eventually pulling out the set win, 29-to-27. Gering seemed spent in the next match, falling behind and unable to overcome the Sidney lead to eventually fall 25-to-15.

The Lady Raiders then took the third set from Gering 25-to-21 for a 3-to-0 match victory, and the opportunity to face Alliance in the championship round. Senior Payton Jung was the player of the match, leading the Lady Raider's offensive attack.

Sidney then faced their nemesis Alliance, a team the have lost to three times against only one win during the season. The match started in Sidney's favor, besting the Lady Bulldogs in the first set 25-to-16, then taking the second set 25-to-22. But the Lady Bulldogs fought back hard to take the third set 25-to-17, then pulled out a close fourth set 25-to-22.

The fifth and deciding set had the teams battling back and forth, but the Alliance squad was able to hang on and pulled out a 15-to-12 victory for the match win, 3-to-2, and to take the Subdistrict title. Senior Katelyn Sylvester was the standout for the Lady Raiders in this match, with her leadership presence on the front line and ability to sustain volleys that kept the Sidney team in the match the entire way.

Sidney qualified for the B-6 District finals, and face the Grand Island Northwest team at Sidney on Saturday at 2 p.m.