SIDNEY — With a change in defense and added experience and confidence, Sidney is hoping it is peaking heading into postseason play.

Second-year coach Dexter Tobie is hopeful a series of five-set losses the last three weeks have been beneficial lessons for the squad.

The Yellow Jackets lost 25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-11 to Vandalia-Butler in a Miami Valley League match on Wednesday; it was senior night for the team, which celebrated outside hitter Kyla Rush and middle blocker Hailey Richardson.

Wednesday’s loss broke a four-match winning streak for Sidney (12-8, 11-5 MVL Valley Division), which beat rival Piqua 3-0 on the road on Tuesday.

Sidney lost a similar back-and-forth match on its home court by dropping the fifth set to Northmont 15-11 on Sept. 25. A week before, it lost a back-and-forth match to Troy by falling 15-10 in the fifth set.

The loss to the Trojans was the fourth straight for Sidney. The team has won five of seven since, with both losses being the 3-2 defeats to Northmont and Butler (16-3, 15-1 MVL Miami). Aside from a 5-3 loss to undefeated Tippecanoe, the Aviators haven’t played a five-set match in any other league game.

“I think we’ve hit our bottom already. We’ve already hit all of our obstacles,” Tobie said. “We’re stronger and playing better. We’re playing better than we were at the beginning of the season.

“We’re running a little bit of a different defense, and that is our biggest focus right now. We’re not doing our jobs in certain defensive schemes, but overall, I think we’re in the right place going into tournament. Playing a team like Butler, who hasn’t gone to five all season, proved to us that we’re a team that can rise up to the challenge.”

Rush and Richardson are both multiple-year players on the front row for Sidney.

Rush was a first team all-MVL selection last year and surpassed 200 kills for the season in Wednesday’s match; she ranks at least third among MVL players. She also leads the team in digs and had 235 to her credit entering Wednesday’s match.

Richardson ranks second on the team in blocks and also had 61 kills to her credit entering Wednesday.

“They were great athletes when I had them in eighth grade, so I kind of knew what I was getting when I came to the high school,” Tobie said. “There’s different styles of leadership from both. Kyla’s a very skill-oriented leader. She’ll let her play lead the team. Hailey’s a very good vocal leader, and I think she’s helped be the backbone. They’ll definitely be big shoes to fill.”

Junior outside hitter Cynthia Davidson, an Anna transfer, ranks second on the team in kills; she had 175 entering Wednesday’s match and also ranked third on the team with 164 digs.

Junior libero Maggie Turner had a team-high 219 digs and junior right-side hitter Kaitlyn Adams had a team-high 38 aces along with 73 kills. Sophomore setter Alena Swearingen had 457 assists entering Wednesday’s match and is closing in on 1,000 career assists. Sophomore middle blocker Sophia Bosslet had a team-high 29 blocks.

“Cynthia is continuing to do well and Alena is doing awesome. She is connecting well with the hitters,” Tobie said. “All our hitters stepped up at the right time (Wednesday). Sophia had some good blocks, Maggie had some good digs, and Kaitlyn was getting us points in different styles.

Sidney has already secured the MVL Valley Division title and will wrap up regular-season play by traveling to Tippecanoe (20-0, 16-0 MVL Miami) on Tuesday and Greenville (14-6, 12-4) on Thursday.

“Those are solid games to prepare us for tournament,” Tobie said. “I’m excited to see how it goes.

“… The girls (have gained) a lot of self confidence and are believing in their skills. Having that drive to win is something we focus a lot on in practice.”

Fort Loramie secures SCAL title

Fort Loramie secured at least a share of the Shelby County Athletic League title by beating Jackson Center 3-0 last Thursday and secured an outright title with a 3-0 win over Fairlawn on Tuesday.

It’s the fifth straight year the Redskins (18-2, 11-0 SCAL) have won or shared the league title.

Fort Loramie, which is ranked No. 1 in Div. IV in the state coaches association poll, has won seven straight matches since losing to St. Henry for the second time this season on Sept. 16. The squad is scheduled to travel to Fort Recovery on Saturday and will conclude regular-season play by hosting Russia this Tuesday.

Senior outside hitter Summer Hoying has 19 kills in a 3-0 win over Marion Local last Saturday. She ranks fourth among SCAL players this season with 247 to her credit.

Lehman Catholic tied for 1st in TRC

The Cavaliers suffered a 3-1 loss to Covington on Tuesday in Sidney. It was the second Three Rivers Conference loss of the season for Lehman (11-9, 10-2 TRC) and tied the squad for first place with Miami East (11-6, 10-2).

Lehman and Miami East split their two TRC matchups; the Vikings have also lost to Bethel.

Miami East is scheduled to host Bethel on Tuesday and travel to Covington on Thursday to wrap up TRC play. Lehman is scheduled to host Troy Christian on Tuesday and travel to Northridge on Thursday to wrap up conference play; the Cavaliers beat both 3-0 the first time they played them.

Lehman junior outside hitter Kailee Rank ranks second among TRC players with 223 kills. Senior middle blocker Marissa Corner ranks first with 56 blocks, fourth with 202 kills and fifth with 55 aces.

Anna gets rare win over Russia

The Rockets earned a 28-26, 25-23, 25-14 win over Russia on their senior night on Tuesday in Anna. It’s the first time since 2019 Anna has beaten the Raiders.

Russia (11-9, 7-4 SCAL) is in third place in league standings behind Jackson Center (16-4, 9-2). Anna (13-8, 6-5) is in fourth.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.