ROCKINGHAM — Heading into Monday’s non-conference match against Montgomery Central High School, Richmond Senior High School head volleyball coach Ashleigh Larsen wanted her team to use what it learned during last week’s match against the Lady Timberwolves to earn another win.
And that’s what the Lady Raiders did, as they dug in and defeated Montgomery Central at home 3-1. The win marked Richmond’s third-straight to start the season, winning in set scores of 25-20, 25-15, 21-25 and 25-21.
Last Wednesday, the Lady Raiders (3-0) battled back twice on the road against the Lady Timberwolves (0-4) and won in five sets.
“Our discussion after playing them last week was to shut down their middle hitters, who are their biggest hitters on the court,” Larsen explained. “We did a really good job in the first two sets of containing them, but we let them get their momentum going in the third set before regrouping in the last one.
“Montgomery Central doesn’t move the ball around as much as other teams we’ve seen,” she continued. “Once we got the middles shut down, it wasn’t too bad. The girls also played aggressive on defense. I moved them around a lot and they did what I asked them to do.”
In the first set, the Lady Raiders jumped out to a 20-11 lead, forcing Montgomery Central head coach Stefanie Panzer to call two early timeouts. The Lady Timberwolves responded with a 9-1 run to cut the deficit to one point, 21-20, and Larsen called a timeout of her own.
Following the break, a Montgomery Central serving error gave the ball back to Richmond. Senior libero Layne Maultsby took over the serving line and forced three hitting errors on consecutive serves to notch the first set.
The second set saw both teams trade points and the score quickly was tied at 10. Junior middle hitter Georgia Grace Anderson stuffed a ball at the net, one of her three blocks on the night, which ignited a 10-1 run by the Lady Raiders.
During that stretch to break the set open, Anderson served and added an ace, while senior outside hitter Jadyn Johnson crushed two kills and junior middle hitter Jakerra Covington ended the scoring spree with one of her own.
Having her best performance of the young season was junior right side hitter Taylor Chappell, who finished the night with five kills. She put the finishing touch on the second set with a left-handed kill to the back court.
The Lady Raiders would see Montgomery Central get out to a 9-2 lead in the third set, but battled back to make things interesting. Anderson had a big third frame, recording four kills, an ace and a block. But a few too many unforced errors by Richmond saw the Lady Timberwolves earn the set win.
Anderson would have another four-kill performance in the fourth set, with senior outside hitter Madison Jordan and Covington each knocking two apiece. As a team, the Lady Raiders also recorded a match-high five aces in the final set.
Up 22-19 and with Jordan at the serving line, Anderson and Johnson recorded back-to-back kills. Following two points from Montgomery Central, junior defensive specialist Emy Cooley recorded her lone kill of the night, but it proved to be the match winner.
“Playing them last week let us know what we were getting into,” Maultsby shared of the opposing heavy hitters. “Our goal was to communicate and talk in the back row to make sure we were digging tough hits.
“I’ve struggled with digging good passes to Carley (Lambeth), but I thought I did a better job tonight,” she added. “All of us in the back row adjusted well. It’s pretty exciting to be 3-0. It’s helping us build our confidence for the rest of the season.”
Anderson was the team’s leading hitter with 11 kills, and she also finished with four aces and three blocks. Covington added seven kills from the middle, followed by Chappell (5 kills), Johnson (4 kills) and Jordan (4 kills).
Lambeth dished out 31 assists while also serving two aces. Maultsby added a team-high five perfect serves and Jordan chipped in three aces. In the back, Maultsby led the Lady Raiders with 12 digs and Cooley dug seven passes.
Richmond will continue its busy week with another non-conference home match on Tuesday. The Lady Raiders welcome in Lee County High School (1-1) with junior varsity starting at 5 p.m., followed by varsity.
JV Lady Raiders fall is straight sets to Montgomery Central
In junior varsity action on Monday, head coach Melissa Dennis’ team would fall 2-0 to the Lady Timberwolves. Set scores were 20-25 and 24-26.
Sophomore Taylor Waitley led the team for the third-straight match in kills, picking up four on the night. Freshman Catherine Dennis added two and sophomore Saniah Durham had one. From the line, sophomore Kierston Gibson tallied a team-high three aces. The JV Lady Raiders are now 1-2 on the season.
