CENTERVILLE — Sidney faced a tough task playing state-ranked Centerville on its home court in a Division I district semifinal on Wednesday and had its season end.

But despite the 25-11, 25-7, 25-18 loss, the Yellow Jackets are proud of a strong tournament run, which included a thrilling 3-2 win over Kettering Fairmont on Saturday in Centerville.

Sidney finished 14-11 after losing to the Elks (22-3), which were the No. 1 seed in the Dayton D-I sectional and are led by senior outside hitter Reese Wuebker, who is an Ohio State commit; she unofficially had 19 kills and seven aces on Wednesday.

The Yellow Jackets, which were the sectional’s No. 8 seed, struggled in the first two sets on Wednesday but scored six straight points to take a 10-4 lead over the Elks in the third set.

But Centerville, which tied for 12th in D-I in the final state coaches association poll, rallied late by scoring nine of 10 points to close out the set and the match.

“There towards the end, we did really well,” Sidney coach Dexter Tobie said. “We held the lead on them for most of that third set but kind of started losing it towards the end.

“We started playing and not focusing on their big hitter. If we kept them out of system, that helped us a lot. But overall, we battled through adversity. They have a lot of weapons.”

Sidney lost 25-18 and 25-22 in the first two sets to Fairmont in a sectional final on Saturday but won the last three 26-24, 25-19, 15-10 to advance.

The Yellow Jackets, which won their second consecutive Miami Valley League Valley Division title, were the last remaining MVL team in tournament play and the only to advance to a district semifinal.

“We had a good season,” Tobie, who is wrapping up his second year at the helm, said. “A lot of our issues were mental errors, but the skill was always there. We’re a young team and only losing two seniors, and with the group we have coming back, I’m hopeful.

“We’re not going to look at this as a bad loss. It’s a good learning moment, seeing what we need to address to make ourselves better.”

Sidney will lose senior outside hitter Kyla Rush and middle blocker Hailey Richardson to graduation. Both were multiple-year varsity players, and Tobie said he knew both would excel when he coached them five years ago as eighth graders.

“It’s been fun watching those girls grow,” Tobie said. “They will both be big shoes to fill. I knew Kyla was a very dynamic player. She broke two school records this year (career kills and digs), and I can’t wait finalize those numbers. She definitely earned her spot on the leaderboard.”

Rush had over 250 kills and 320 digs this season and was a second team all-MVL selection along with sophomore setter Alena Swearingen, who had over 650 assists. Rush ranked fourth among MVL players in kills and Swearingen ranked first in assists.

Sidney junior Cynthia Davidson was a first team all-MVL selection. Davidson had over 260 kills and ranked second among MVL players.

Five Shelby County Athletic League teams advance to district finals

Four Shelby County Athletic League teams will play in Division IV district finals on Saturday at Troy High School, while Anna will play in a Div. III final at Fairfield High School.

Russia (15-10) and Fairlawn (15-10) will face off for the third time this year in the nightcap at Troy on Saturday.

The Raiders were the No. 3 seed in the Dayton Div. IV sectional and cruised to their eighth consecutive district final with three straight 3-0 wins, including a 25-22, 25-19, 25-17 win over No. 7 Cedarville on Tuesday in Troy.

Fairlawn, the No. 5 seed, beat No. 4 Newton 3-0 for the second time this month in a district semifinal on Monday at Arcanum to advance. The Jets had a tougher challenge in a sectional final, when they beat Lehman Catholic 3-1 last Wednesday after losing the first set 25-15.

The Raiders beat Fairlawn 3-1 on Aug. 29 in Russia and 3-0 on the road on Sept. 21.

Fort Loramie (23-2) and Jackson Center (20-5), the Dayton D-IV sectional’s top two seeds, are expected to cruise to district titles after winning their first three tournament matches in dominating fashion. The Redskins are scheduled to face Miami Valley Christian Academy at 3 p.m. while the Tigers are scheduled to face Cincinnati Christian at 5 p.m.

Fort Loramie beat No. 11 Botkins 3-0 for the third time this season in a district semifinal on Tuesday in Troy, while Jackson Center beat No. 8 Southeastern 3-0 on Monday in Arcanum.

Anna, which was the No. 2 seed in the Dayton D-III sectional, beat No. 9 Miami East 25-23, 27-25, 25-21 on Monday at Brookville High School to advance to a district final on Saturday against Summit Country Day, which was the No. 2 seed in the Cincinnati D-III sectional.

The Rockets (17-8), which beat Houston for the third time this year in a sectional final last Thursday in Brookville 3-1, will face Summit at 2 p.m. in Fairfield.