Lady Raiders Fifth at Cozad Invite

COZAD - The Sidney volleyball team went 2-1 to finish in fifth place at the Cozad Invitational Volleyball Tournament in Cozad. The Lady Raiders opened the tournament Saturday morning with a sluggish performance against Gothenburg (7-0). The Lady Raiders committed seven service errors while hitting a dismal -.037 for the match, falling to eventual tournament champ, 25-11, 25-17.

Sidney faced Ainsworth (7-3) in their first-round consolation match. The Lady Raider offense improved behind seven kills from sophomore Kayla Westby and Sidney rebounded with a hard fought straight set win over the Bulldogs, 25-21, 28-26 to advance to the fifth-place game against Valentine. Juniors Karsyn Leeling and Chloe Ahrens each finished with five kills as Sidney hit .109 in the match.

The Lady Raiders had a much easier time against Valentine (4-7), outhitting the Badgers 21-6 and cruising to a 25-12, 25-9 win. Karsyn Leeling paced the Sidney offense with 10 kills on 12 swings and hitting an incredible .833 for the match. Senior Gabby Fortner added five kills as Sidney hit .286 as a team.

Sidney improves to 6-2 on the season and will be back on the court Tuesday when they travel to Chadron for a triangular with Chadron (4-1) and Bridgeport (5-4). 98.7 The Big Boy will carry all three matches Tuesday beginning with Sidney vs. Chadron at 4:00 p.m. followed by Sidney vs. Bridgeport at 5:00 p.m.  Chadron will face Bridgeport in the nightcap at approximately 6:00 p.m.