Lady Raiders Salvage Win at Aurora Tournament

AURORA-- The Lady Raiders had a tough week prior to the Aurora Tournament, with losses against Chase County and Gering before rebounding with a big win against Mitchell. But the Aurora tournament promised an even tougher level of competition for Sidney, and the Lady Raiders ended up dropping two out of three matches during the Saturday tourney.

The first match-up was against the Class C1 Ashland-Greenwood Lady Bluejays, and the Sidney girls were overwhelmed in the first set by the hard-hitting girls from the east. The Lady Raiders hung in as best they could, but the Ashland girls took the first set 25-to-16. The second set offered no relief for Sidney, as the Lady Bluejays poured it on and walked away with a relatively easy 25-to-8 second victory for the 2-to-0 match win. The Lady Raiders were out-hit 25-to-9 in the loss, and the Lady Bluejays moved the ball around the court well, tallying 25 assists in the match.

Next up, Sidney faced a Class B Crete team, but the Lady Cardinals have been having a down year with only two wins going into the tournament. Sidney was able to take advantage of the favorable match-up, pulling out a 25-to-19 win in the first set. The second set was more of a battle, and the Lady Cardinals forced extra points, but Sidney was able to put together the final two points for the 26-to-24 second-set victory for the 2-to-0 match win. Senior Kierra Schrader and junior Deanna Horst each had four kills in the victory and the Sidney girls were able to deliver eight service aces over the two sets.

Sidney's final match of the tournament was against the Lincoln Christian Lady Crusaders, another C1 team that is having a tough year. But the Lady Crusaders were no pushover, and came out sharp and tough in the first set, overpowering the Lady Raiders for a 25-to-15 first-set win. The second set did not have the Lady Raiders faring much better, and the Lincoln Christian girls were able to put Sidney away 25-to-18 for the 2-to-0 match victory. Schrader led the Lady Raiders with three kills while sophomore Ava Witte had six assists in the loss.

Sidney has a challenging schedule ahead of them, as they were scheduled to host Scottsbluff for the annual Pink Out Game on Tuesday, October 1, then after nearly a two-week layoff, they travel up to Chadron. Then they have two more road matches against Bayard and North Platte, before ending the regular season with home matches against Holdrege and Gering.