Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Sidney Head Coach Markus Ehrke rallies his squad during the first round match of the NSAA Class B Volleyball State Championships at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Thursday.
Sidney's Lady Raider Volleyball team ended their season Thursday with a loss to the Omaha Duchesne Lady Cardinals in straight sets in the first round of the NSAA Class B State Tournament.
The Lady Raiders entered the tournament as the number three seed with a 32-and-3 season record while the Lady Cardinals were seeded sixth with a 21-and-17 record.
The Lady Cardinals had a season facing a much higher level of competition, with a large portion of their matches being played against some of the toughest Class A teams in the state.
Prior to the match, Sidney head coach Marcus Ehrke noted that the Duchesne team was a tough first-round draw, but then all of the teams remaining would be challenging. He said they focused on defense in the practices and stressed the importance of getting four hands up to block their hitters on every scoring chance.
Sidney started the first set by getting the first two points with junior Logan Holly serving. After opening a 4-to-2 lead, the Lady Cardinals fought back to tie at 5-to-5. The Duchesne squad made quick adjustments to the Sidney attack, and their speedy defense seemed to cover every square inch of the court on Sidney kill attempts. The Lady Cardinals went on a 9-to-0 run, digging out Sidney hits and forcing errors.
At 12-to-5, Ehrke called a time out to settle his squad. But it did little to stop the Duchesne scoring, and after two consecutive hitting errors by senior Mattie Johnson, Ehrke called another time out at 18-to-10. The Lady Cardinals continued their strong play and took the first set 25-to-12. The Lady Raiders only had five kills in the set while giving up too many aces and committing too many hitting errors.
Ehrke switched up the rotation to start the second set, hoping to get his team in synch. Duchesne opened with a 4-to-0 lead, but Sidney fought back to narrow the lead to 5-to-4. But again, Duchesne kept the pressure on the Lady Raiders while their defense again seemed to cover the entire court, forcing hitting errors in an attempt to find an open spot on the court to land a kill. Sidney sophomore Brynna Ross went on a service run to tie the set back up at 13-to-13, but the Duchesne squad settled down and then went on an 11-to-0 run, and in no time they were leading 23-to-13. Sidney battled well and didn't give up the set, but seven ace serves by the Lady Cardinals and a series of hitting errors by Sidney stopped the Lady Raiders momentum and Sidney dropped the set 25-to-18.
The third set started with Sidney playing well, matching the Lady Cardinals point for point with kills by Holly, Johnson and senior Nicole Birner.
The Lady Raiders finally seemed to be settled and comfortable on the court, and kept the pressure on the Lady Cardinals. But the Lady Cardinals then started to capitalize on Sidney errors, and started to pull away and went on a 7-to-0 run to take a commanding 21-to-13 lead. But again Sidney fought back, with Holly and Johnson again coming through with kills to narrow the gap to 24-to-18. But the Lady Raiders couldn't sustain their drive, and dropped the third set 25-to-19 for the 3-to-0 match loss, eliminating the team from the tournament and ending their season.
The Lady Raiders made significant progress in Ehrke's first year, compiling a 32-and-4 record and proving to be the premier squad in the west. The next step will be developing the team into a force that can compete with the battle-tested athletic squads from the eastern half of the state when the state tournament begins.
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