Lady Raider Volleyball Adds Three to Win Column

Sidney's Lady Raider volleyball team continued their winning ways over the past week, traveling to Aurora and going 2-and-1 against Crete, Waverly, and Kearny Catholic over the weekend, then returning home for a straight set victory against the Scottsbluff Lady Bearcats on Tuesday.

"The girls are playing really well together, but there are still a few things we need to work on," said Sidney head coach Lu Howard before Tuesday's match against the Lady Bearcats.

"On Saturday, we lost a set against Crete that we really shouldn't have. We must keep focused and prepared and never look past an opponent," she said.

On Saturday, Sidney started off facing the Crete Lady Cardinals and dropped their first set, 11-to-25 before rallying to take the next two sets, 25-to-21 and 25-to-14 to take the match victory.

Sidney next took on a powerful Waverly Lady Viking team, and lost their match in straight sets, 25-to-18 and 25-to-21.

"We had a lot of service errors that we have to address and some positioning issues we need to work on," said Lu Howard.

The final match of the day had Sidney facing the Kearney Catholic Lady Stars, and after dropping their first set 25-to-18, the Lady Raiders regrouped to take the second set 25-to-22. In the third set, Sidney battled but fell behind late in the match, 24-to-19 when coach Howard called a time out to get the girls focused.

"You can either shake up the players by telling them what they're doing wrong, or try to motivate them in a positive way. I chose the positive way that time," explained Howard.

She challenged the girls by telling them if they came back to win the set, they'll get to play a set during Thursday's practice at the beach volleyball courts at the Cheyenne County Community Center, which excited the girls.

The strategy worked, as Sidney came back in the set on the strength of senior Katelyn Sylvester's five straight service points, tying and then pulling out the win 27-to-25 for a 2-to-1 match victory.

On Tuesday, the girls returned home to take on the Scottsbluff Lady Bearcats in front of a raucous home crowd. The Lady Raiders made short work of their rivals, winning in three straight sets, 25-to-11, 25-to-15, and 25-to-8 for the match victory.

The week's action improved the Lady Raiders season record to 13-and-3.

Sidney travels today for tournament action in Grand Island, with the Lady Raiders scheduled to face the 6-and-9 Northwest Lady Vikings.