SANFORD — An early lead for the Richmond Senior High School volleyball team was undone in four sets on Thursday.
Playing in their next to last regular-season match, the Lady Raiders lost to Lee County High School 3-1. Richmond won the first set 25-22 before dropping the next three.
The remaining set scores were 10-25, 21-25 and 19-25.
“The girls tell me all the time they want to win, and I know they do, but it’s just a matter of cleaning up our mistakes,” head coach Ashleigh Larsen said. “It was the same thing from a lot of our games, where we get in a hole during serve-receive and we hang our heads instead of digging ourselves out.
“We played pretty well in the first set,” she added. “We picked up the intensity but still got in the hole in the other sets. I was proud of some moments tonight and the girls made some good decisions.”
Larsen also added that some “questionable calls” from the officiating crew had an impact on the match.
The first set saw both teams trade points and Lee County held a 17-14 lead. Following a serving error by the Lady Yellow Jackets, that started a 6-0 run by Richmond that put them ahead for good.
During that stretch, junior defensive specialist Joy Styles dug a ball over the net for a point and junior middle hitter Catherine Dennis collected two kills.
Several hitting errors and digging errors by Lee County helped Richmond, and Dennis blocked a shot at the net for the set win.
Kills from sophomores Christi Jacobs and Katie Way, along with a block by senior Saniah Durham kept the second set close early. But a 9-0 run by the Lady Yellow Jackets made it a 19-7 lead.
A 6-3 stretch by the home team got Lee County on the board, and Richmond’s final point came on a Jacobs kill.
Sophomore Christi Jacobs serves the ball during the third set of Thursday’s match. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
The third set mirrored the first, seeing both squads use a series of runs to trade scores. The Lady Raiders opened on a 5-1 spurt that included a Jacobs ace and a kill from Dennis.
Leading 8-4 after a Dennis ace, Richmond surrendered a 7-1 deficit. Dennis helped regain the lead with a tip and a block, starting a 6-0 run to put the Lady Raiders ahead 16-13.
The deciding factor for the Lady Yellow Jackets was a 6-0 roll that was enough to keep a small lead. Despite another Dennis kill and a push from senior Allyiah Swiney, Richmond couldn’t win back the set.
In the fourth set, Richmond trailed 20-7, but Larsen’s team mustered a comeback attempt that saw the Lady Raiders score 13 of the next 18 points.
A serving error by Lee County started a 7-0 run by Richmond that featured a Dennis block, an ace from Way, and kills from Jacobs and Swiney.
Down 22-13, Dennis added a tip and gave the Lady Raiders another point on a kill. Two final efforts, pushes from Swiney and Way, gave Richmond hope, but a serving error ended the match.
The Lady Raiders (4-14, 3-8 SAC) will close out its regular-season schedule against rival Scotland High School (12-3, 7-3 SAC) next Thursday. Play will begin around 6 p.m.
JV Lady Raiders outlast Lee County
Richmond’s junior varsity volleyball team earned a 2-1 win over Lee County on Wednesday.
The JV Lady Raiders won the first and third sets by scores of 25-22 and 15-12. Lee County took the second set 26-24.
Up next for head coach Melissa Dennis’ team is Scotland next Thursday at home at 5 p.m.
