Lady Raiders Stumble Against Chadron

Sidney’s Lady Raider Volleyball team started their week last Tuesday traveling to Alliance to face Jordan Hopp and the Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Raiders took the first two sets 25-to-15 and 25-to-13, then struggled to put Alliance away in the third set, finally winning the third set 25-to-22. Sidney was able to neutralize Alliance’s Hopp, limiting the Lady Bulldog’s offense. Senior Mattie Johnson had 12 kills, senior Nicole Birner had 31 assists, and juniors Logan Holly and Karly Sylvester had 3 blocks each.

On Thursday the girls traveled to the Western Conference Tournament, and started against two overmatched opponents in Scottsbluff and Mitchell. Sidney was able to stay focused and did not lose a set, defeating both teams in straight sets. Neither team could withstand Sidney’s combination of power serving and fast tempo offense and dominant net play.

Against Chadron, the Lady Cardinals played with far more intensity and precision than in the rival’s first meeting, with Sidney being the team that made too many errors and struggled with adjustments.

Chadron was able to exert enough pressure that Sidney seemed to have a serve or hitting error every time they started to make a run. Chadron swept both sets 25-to-19 and 25-to-15 to take the match victory. Sidney was scheduled to host Chadron Tuesday night, and

Sidney Head Coach had his team focused on the rematch, saying, “The girls always stay together as a team, and I make it an emphasis that we act the same win or lose. We hope to regroup, learn from our mistakes, and come back as a much better team the next time we play the Cardinals on Tuesday.”