Lady Raiders Continues Winning Streak

Sidney’s Lady Raider Volleyball Team continued to blast through their season schedule, and are coming off a week that started by easily sweeping the Scottsbluff Lady Bearcats in straight sets and ended with earning the championship at the Twin Cities Tournament over the weekend.

Sidney Head Coach Marcus Ehrke talked about the Lady Raider’s week, starting with their match against Scottsbluff.

“It was the first time this season that we played three consistent sets, and it came against a vastly improved Scottsbluff team. We never let them get into a rhythm and our serves were outstanding,” said Ehrke.

Sidney took the match 25-to-11, 25-to-15, and 25-to-14 led by senior Mattie Johnson’s 21 kills and junior Logan Holly’s seven service aces.

Over the weekend, the Lady Raiders traveled to the Twin Cities Tournament composed of 16 teams from three states. The Red Raiders defeated Spearfish (SD), Torrington (WY), and Grand Island Northwest on Friday, and then Northwest, Rapid City Central (SD), and Thunder Basin (WY) on Saturaday. The girls started off against lower caliber teams, but did a good job keeping focused and advancing. The Lady Raiders had a bit of trouble against Northwest, dropping the first set after pulling out to a comfortable lead, but Sidney was able to regroup and eventually take the match two sets to one.

On Saturday, Sidney again faced Northwest and again lost the first set but regrouped to take the final two sets for the 2-to-1 match victory.

Ehrke said, “It’s always a challenge to beat a team twice, let alone within 12 hours. We struggled with our free ball passing and serve receive in the first set, made a run at winning, but would eventually lose the first set. The next two sets, once again, were much more improved and our blocking was much more effective.”

Sidney moved on to the semi-finals against Rapid City Central, and swept them in two sets despite Central’s strong middle play and moved on to the championship game against Thunder Bay. The Thunder Bay team entered the match on a 14 game winning streak, and is always one of the top volleyball teams in Wyoming.

Ehrke said, “The first set, our serving was the difference, and we played at a tempo that makes us a quick and tough team to stop. Even with a lead throughout the second set, we were unable to win, and needed three sets to beat the Bolts from Wyoming. In the third set, the girls had a lead from the start and never looked back. Making big plays with our serving was key in the victory. Also, stressing their serve receivers was also a big difference maker to keep them out-of-system.”

Sidney moves to 21-and-2 on the season and travels to Alliance on Thursday to face the Lady Bulldogs.