Lady Raiders Split Saturday Triangular

NORTH PLATTE – The Sidney volleyball team split a pair of games Saturday at the North Platte Triangular. The class B number 10 Lady Raiders suffered only their sixth loss of the season, losing to class C-1 number 7 Kearney Catholic 25-22, 25-17 before picking up their 24^th win over class A North Platte 25-22, 25-21.

Sidney trailed most of the first set against Kearney Catholic, as the Stars built a 16-10 lead. Karsyn Leeling and Kayla Westby sparked a 12-5 Lady Raider rally with a pir of kills each to grab the lead at 22-21. Kearney Catholic ran off the last four points to take a one set lead, winning 25-22.

Sidney struggled out of the gate in set two, falling behind 16-2. Three kills and a pair of ace serves fueled a 10-1 Sidney run to cut the Stars lead to 17-12, but Kearney Catholic scored the last 8 points on kills to win the set 25-17.

Sidney also started slow against North Platte in the last match of the triangular, falling behind 9-4. Karsyn Leeling, Chloe Ahrens, and Kierra Schrader powered a 6-1 run with a kill apiece to tie the set at 10-10. Sidney’s lead was never more than three the rest of the way as the Lady Raiders took the first set 25-22.

The second set against the Bulldogs was even closer for most of the set. The teams were tied nine times, the last at 13-13. But an 8-2 Sidney run put the Lady Raiders in control on the way to a 25-21 win.

Kearney Catholic defeated North Platte 25-19, 25-11 to go 2-0 on the day and improve to 22-7 on the season. Sidney finished 1-1 in the triangular and is now has 24-6 record. North Platte falls to 8-24 after going 0-2.