PEMBROKE — Round two of Sandhills Athletic Conference play got off on the right for the Richmond Senior High School volleyball team on Thursday.
The Lady Raiders and assistant coach Melissa Dennis traveled to SAC opponent Purnell Swett High School and completed the regular-season series sweep of the Lady Rams with a 3-0 win. It was the second win over the Lady Rams this fall, as Richmond also knocked off Purnell Swett 3-1 on Aug. 29.
Set scores were 25-16, 25-18 and 25-20 in favor of the Lady Raiders, and made it the second night in a row they swept their respective opponent (defeated Lee County 3-0 on Wednesday).
With the race tightening in the SAC standings and Richmond currently locked in the No. 3 spot behind Pinecrest High School and Scotland High School, a win against Purnell Swett was a necessity for Dennis and company.
“We knew what we were going up against tonight,” Dennis commented. “They were a different team since the first time we played, and so were we. Playing in a tough conference has allowed for us to get more experience under our belt so we can be competitive in (SAC) matches.
“Now it’s time for us to buckle down,” she added. “We know what we need to do to make a run at the conference title, but it’s a matter of being able to put it all together and making it happen.”
Richmond earned its best set win of the night in the opening frame, rolling to a 25-16 win. The visiting team used a set-high seven aces, seeing senior outside hitter Madison Jordan bang home three perfect serves, and two more from senior setter Carley Lambeth.
The second set was closer, seeing Richmond and Purnell Swett tied at 17 points. A push from Jordan would ignite an 8-1 run to notch the second win. Junior middle hitter Jakerra Covington recorded two of her team-high four set kills for two of the final four points.
The third stanza followed the same script of the first two, seeing Purnell Swett hang around late. Kills by Covington and Jordan, followed by an ace from senior libero Layne Maultsby, gave the Lady Raiders a 16-12 lead.
Junior middle hitter Georgia Grace Anderson joined the mix by adding a team-best four kills in the final set. To earn the match point, senior outside hitter Jadyn Johnson dug a ball, which was set by Lambeth to Covington, who dialed up a left-handed strike to help Richmond to its 12th win of the campaign.
The Lady Raiders were led by junior right side hitter Taylor Chappell with four aces in the win. Covington had a team-high eight kills, while Johnson recorded seven and Anderson and Jordan each had six.
Lambeth got to work with a team-high 25 assists, while sophomore Taylor Waitley chipped in five more. In the back row, Maultbsy was smooth with a team-high 14 digs, as Lambeth and Jordan each contributed eight digs in the win.
“All the girls played really well tonight,” Dennis closed. “Taylor had some really great serves and Madison was impressive with her hitting at the net. There were also a lot of good touches and our pursuits to the ball proved to be helpful.”
Now 12-2 overall, and 5-2 against SAC opponents, Richmond will look to climb the ladder with three crucial matches next week. The Lady Raiders will open at Pinecrest (14-1, 7-1 SAC) on Tuesday, followed by a home-and-home series with fourth-place Jack Britt (11-5, 7-1 SAC) on Wednesday and Thursday. All matches will begin at 6 p.m.
