Leyton, Potter-Dix Take Sub-District Volleyball Crowns

Tuesday, October 29, 2024 was a big day for the area Volleyball teams, as the Lady Coyotes upset the Morrill Lady Lions to take the D1-12 Sub-District title, the Lady Warriors of Leyton held off the Garden County Lady Eagles to win the D2-11 Sub-District title, and the Lady Raiders of Sidney defeated rival Scottsbluff to advance to the B-8 Sub-District finals against the Gering Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Raiders will play for the title on Wednesday, October 30 at Gering High School.

The Potter-Dix girls earned their title after exceeding expectations this season, ending with a 16-and-14 record. They entered the Sub-District Tournament as the number two seed and were matched against the number three seed Hemingford Lady Bobcats in their first-round match on Monday, October 28, 2024. After big wins in the first two sets, 25-to-12 and 25-to-12, Hemingford recovered with a 25-to-19 third-set win. But the Lady Coyotes regained the momentum in the fourth set and outlasted Hemingford 25-to-22 for the 3-to-1 match victory.

The win set up a finals match-up with Morrill on Tuesday night. Morrill came into the contest with 22 wins but had lost to the Lady Coyotes at the end of September. In the first set, Potter-Dix started fast, but Morrill fired back to the set at 3-to-3. The teams traded points until the end of the set when Morrill pulled away for the 25-to-21 first-set win. Potter-Dix fired back in the second set, taking a quick 4-to-1 lead. Morrill recovered and tied the set at 6-to-6, then pulled ahead with a 12-to-9 lead. The Lady Coyotes recovered and then knotted the set at 14-to-14, then reeled off five straight points to take a 19-to-14 lead. Morrill fought back to tie the set at 20-to-20, but the Potter-Dix girls finished strong and took the next five points for the 25-to-20 second set victory. The third set started with the teams trading points until Morrill pulled ahead. Potter-Dix narrowed the lead to 10-to-8 then Morrill went on a run to open a 16-to-8 lead. The Lady Coyotes tried to get back in the set but the Morrill girls bore down and took the third set 25-to-14. The fourth set again started close, then the Lady Coyotes opened an 11-to-6 lead. Morrill regrouped and took a 12-to-11 lead, but Potter-Dix fought back until the set was tied at 20-to-20. Potter-Dix battled hard for the last points and took the fourth set 25-to-22. The fifth and deciding set had the teams trading points until Morrill took a 6-to-3 lead and then expanded that lead to 9-to-3. But Potter-Dix came back until they were facing match point at 14-to-11. The Lady Coyotes closed strong with five straight points to take the fifth set victory 16-to-14, and the 3-to-2 match victory to earn the D1-12 Sub-District Title. The Lady Coyotes will take on Southwest at North Platte High School on Saturday at 2pm MT.

After the match, Head Coach Keri Mendoza said, "The girls never gave up!! We talked a lot this year about "Stronger that yesterday" team motto for the year. They took that motto to heart! We fought hard till the last ball dropped. They are all "stronger than yesterday" in some aspect! Mentally, physically, emotionally. Anything is possible, we came back in the 5th set with Morrill on match point--that is strength!"

On Tuesday night, Leyton High School was packed for the showdown between the Lady Warriors and the Garden County Lady Eagles for the D2-11 Sub-District title. The teams had previously met four times in the season, and the Leyton girls had come out on top in each match although the contests were hard-fought and the teams evenly matched. This contest started with the Garden County girls playing sharp and opening a lead in the first set against Leyton. Leyton started to fight back and a great set by Zaili Benish led to a powerful kill by Macey Roelle. Leyton continued to narrow the lead with a block by Ella Haley that switched the momentum and Leyton was able to narrow the lead to 12-to-10. The Lady Warriors started to get a bit out of system and Garden County moved to 15-to-10. After a Leyton time-out, the Lady Warriors started to catch up, narrowing the lead to 15-to-13 until Garden County pulled away to a 20-to-15 lead. They moved to 22-to-15 when Leyton started to surge, hitting all corners of the court and preventing the Lady Eagle's big hitters from getting any shots at the net. Leyton kept the pressure up and an amazing volley with Leyton diving for multiple saves and relentless pursuit of the ball narrowed the lead to 23-to-20 and forced a Garden County time-out. The Lady Eagles were not handling the pressure well, and let the Leyton girls back in the set, eventually knotting the score at 24-to-24. The teams then battled for the final two points, and it was Leyton with their great court coverage and setting that was able to pull out the first set victory, 28-to-26. The home crowd erupted on the final point, and it seemed that Leyton could take Garden County's best punch and still win the set.

The second set went similarly to the first set, but Garden County was able to open a significant lead and Leyton was unable to come back. The glaring differences in height were apparent in this set, as Gardne County's Payton Fornander, Ridglyn Stanczyk, and Karma Peterson were able to launch big kills from the net with an improved setting performance by the Lady Eagles. Garden County took the second set 25-to-19. In the third set, Leyton ran out to a 7-to-0 lead capped by two consecutive ace serves by Zaili Benish, and the Lady Warriors were able to hold off Garden County. The Lady Eagles had difficulty getting the ball to their front line to take advantage of their height, and Leyton took the third set 25-to-18. The fourth set started with the teams trading points until Garden County opened up a lead at 14-to-10. Leyton recovered a bit after a time-out, but then Garden County started to pull away again. After leading 17-to-12, Leyton came back and started chopping away at the lead until the set was tied at 21-to-21. The teams traded points until Leyton secured the last two after tying the set at 25-to-25, taking the fourth set 27-to-25 for the 3-to-1 match victory.

The Lady Warriors will next play number 15 seeded Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer on Saturday at Kearney Catholic High School. Match begins at 12 noon, MT.

Oustanding efforts were the norm in this match victory for the Lady Warriors. Macey Roelle had 20 kills, Shawnee Gamble had 18 kills, and Zaili Bensih had 51 assists and four ace serves. Ella Haley had seven kills and managed five blocks against the taller Garden County team.

In Gering, the Sidney Lady Raiders had to battle familiar rival Scottsbluff in the first round of the B8 SubDistricts. Although the Scottsbluff girls were seeded number two and the Sidney squad was seeded number three, the Lady Raiders faced the Lady Bearcats three times previously in the season and came out on top twice. The Lady Raiders battled through the first two sets and came out on top, 25-to-23 and 25-to-21, but the Lady Bearcats came back in the third set to top the Lady Raiders 27-to-25. The fourth set was another battle, but the Sidney girls went on a run and pulled away for the 25-to-20 set victory, and earned the 3-to-1 match victory. The win moved the Lady Raiders to the finals against number-one seed Gering, who Sidney has lost to twice this season.

Head Coach Julie Smith said, "Last night was a great first round....the girls knew our game plan, the gym was loud, our fans were awesome, and the girls showed an unwavering confidence throughout the game.  Our young team has gained a lot of great experience throughout the season and have continued to grow their confidence, resilience, and grit.  We are seeing athletes emerging as leaders in a variety of ways and the support they show each other continues to grow.  Everyone is headed in the same direction and are so excited about each other's successes."