ROCKINGHAM — The wait for an official schedule to be released for the Richmond Senior High School volleyball team is finally over.
Third-year head coach Ashleigh Larsen tweeted the 2020 schedule just before 11 a.m. on Sunday.
“Get excited… schedules are released!” her tweet read from the volleyball account. “Here is your 2020 Lady Raider volleyball schedule.”
Following North Carolina High School Athletic Association guidelines, Larsen and the Lady Raiders will play a 14-game regular season. The official start of the season is set for Wednesday, Nov. 4, which will be the first day of practice.
The Sandhills Athletic Conference is made up of eight teams, which made it an easy decision to have Richmond play each of its seven conference opponents twice. This season’s schedule will follow the same running order as years past, with the exception of any non-conference opponents added.
“It’s an exciting moment, and it’s one step closer to the season,” Larsen said. “It’s good to finally have a layout of when we’re playing. Before we just had start and end dates, which didn’t give us any of the details in between.
“I know me and the girls are happy to have a definitive layout for the season.”
Allowed to play two matches per week, the Lady Raiders will open their season with two road games at Purnell Swett High School (Nov. 17) and Pinecrest High School (Nov. 19).
The team’s home opener will be held on Nov. 23 against Jack Britt High School, followed by another home match against Hoke County High School on Nov. 24.
All SAC teams will get a weeklong break for the Thanksgiving holiday before Richmond picks back up on Dec. 1 at Lumberton High School. Two nights later, the Lady Raiders will travel to Seventy-First High School for a match on Dec. 3.
Capping the first cycle of games will be a home match against rival Scotland High School on Tuesday, Dec. 8.
The second round of conference play will begin on Dec. 10 at home against Purnell Swett and will follow the same order as the first round. The only difference will be the swapping of locations for the home team.
Richmond will play Pinecrest at home (Dec. 15) and at Jack Britt (Dec. 17) before the Christmas holiday break. The Lady Raiders will be back in action at Hoke County (Dec. 29), followed by home matches against Lumberton (Dec. 30) and Seventy-First (Jan. 4). The match against the Lady Falcon will serve as senior night for Richmond’s seven seniors.
The regular-season finale will be at Scotland on Jan. 7. The NCHSAA also has the postseason slated to begin with bracketing on Jan. 9, followed by a 32-team, five-round playoff tournament. The first round starts on Jan. 12.
“At first, I thought we’d play a home-and-home each week against the same team because of the COVID-19 guidelines,” Larsen explained. “But I like it more this way because it’s closer to it being a normal season for us.
“Playing through the conference one time and playing everyone again, it gives us a chance to grow between matches and make adjustments.”
Last season, the Lady Raiders went 19-7 overall and 9-5 in SAC play, putting them in third place in the conference standings.
Ahead of the season, Larsen is hoping to have her team play at least one scrimmage, but nothing has been decided at the time of publication.
