Gering downs Sidney, Mitchell in triangular
The Gering volleyball team won both matches at the Triangular in Gering on Thursday.
The Bulldogs opened with a 25-10, 25-9 win over Mitchell and then capped off the night with a come-from-behind win over Sidney 23-25, 25-21, 25-17. Sidney also defeated Mitchell on the evening 25-18, 25-19.
Gering’s Jaxie John, who tallied 12 kills in the Sidney win said they played well, especially in the final two sets against Sidney.
“That Sidney game was super fun. We have been working on in practice of never letting down,” the sophomore outside hitter said. “Once we get up, and we talk about it in the huddle, we just go. Every point is a battle. So, we battled through tonight and both games were really fun games. That Sidney game we kept pushing through to get the win.”
The Sidney match was a total team effort as Jacey Cochran led the Bulldogs with 18 kills and seven different players recorded service points. Aubrey Anderson had 14 service points in the Sidney win while Abby Schanaman had eight points. Makenzie Todd tallied four points while Cara Schlothauer had three points.
Cochran, who had 18 kills against Sidney, said it was a good team win.
“You can’t do it by yourself. Every serve counts. Every hit counts. You just can’t make mistakes,” the sophomore outside hitter said. “Each and every one of us is important to the team and we just need to contribute our own.”
Sidney coach Julie Smith said the Gering match was a good game and her team had their moments in the game.
“We had moments where we played good and then we struggled with passing,” Smith said. “We will rebound and get after it again and watch this game.”
The first set of the Gering and Sidney match was back and forth with Sidney leading by four early one at 7-3 before Gering came back to lead 13010 after two Emily Shepherd points. From there it went back and forth until Sidney won the first set 25-23 on an Ava Witte service point.
The second set saw Sidney grab an 8-3 lead after two Witte ace serves. Gering came back and took a 20-16 lead after three Anderson points and won the second set 25-21 on two Todd points.
The third set saw Gering take an 8-3 lead after four Schanaman service points. Sidney game back to go up 9-8 on five Witte points. Gering regrouped as John hammered a kill and Anderson served four points for a 15-10 lead.
After that both teams were getting side outs left and right until Anderson finished off the match with three straight points with John getting the winning kill.
In Gering’s win over Mitchell, John finished with seven points while Anderson had four points.
Mitchell was led by Aimee Morales with five service points while Kate Pieper had two points.
Mitchell played a lot better against Sidney before losing in two close sets. Mitchell was led by Morales with five service points while Pieper had two.
Sidney was led by Witte with seven points followed by four points each from Kierra Schrader and Taylor Sprenger.
