ROCKINGHAM — Although it would see its patience tested through the first two sets on Tuesday, the Lady Raider volleyball team put forth another solid performance as it earned its ninth victory in 10 tries this season and fourth in a row.
Carrying the momentum over from a perfect three-win week, Richmond and assistant coach Melissa Dennis returned to the court for their first of three matches this week and clipped the wings of the Seventy-First High School Lady Falcons in straight sets, 3-0.
At the start of the match, Richmond (9-1, 4-1 SAC) was in a three-way tie with Jack Britt and Scotland high schools for second place in the Sandhills Athletic Conference standings. Richmond helped its cause with set score wins of 25-20, 25-20 and 25-14.
The win, which was the Lady Raiders’ third sweep of the season (Lee County and Hoke County), helped them moved into sole possession of second place. They now trail Pinecrest High School (10-1, 5-1 SAC) by one game, and gave themselves a one-game cushion over third-place Scotland (5-5, 3-1 SAC).
“We got our confidence rattled in the first two sets and that attributed to how we played,” Dennis commented. “But we managed to keep the ball moving around enough to where (Seventy-First) was unprepared for what our hitters were doing.
“Our middles had a great game,” she added of junior middle hitters Georgia Grace Anderson and Jakerra Covington. “Jakerra had some great touches on the ball and some really strong kills. Georgia Grace does a great job even when she doesn’t touch the ball — she moves their blockers around to open it up for the other hitters.”
The first two sets would see nine and five ties, respectively, as the Lady Raiders struggled out of the gate. Covington used a block in the middle in the first set to start an 11-6 run to close the win, and serving run late by senior outside hitter Madison Jordan in the second set gave Richmond a 2-0 advantage.
With the first set tied at 10 points apiece, Covington used her left hand to tally one of her three kills in the set. That was followed by a kill from junior right side hitter Taylor Chappell and another Covington block on the next two plays.
The aforementioned block, coupled with a handful of hitting errors by Seventy-First, set up Richmond to close the set win. Jordan added an ace to make it 20-16, and Covington closed the door with a kill and a block for the final two points.
In the second stanza, the two teams again traded points, starting out to a 17-17 tie. Richmond would go down 19-17, forcing Dennis to call a timeout. Out of the break, senior setter Carley Lambeth recorded one of her three kills in the frame, and Jordan found a soft spot for an ace.
Senior outside hitter Jadyn Johnson used a push to the back court to give Richmond a 24-20 lead, and a Lady Falcon hitting error gave Richmond the win.
Lambeth, whose role as the team’s leading passer sometimes goes unnoticed, got the crowd going when she started the third set on a 10-0 run. She sent two aces to the opposite side of the hardwood, and got a kill from Johnson and a double block from Chappell and Covington at the net.
Seventy-First (2-5, 2-3 SAC) stormed back on an 8-2 run to make it a 12-8 game. Jordan had other plans, as she recorded back-to-back kills from the outside to start a 13-6 run to send the Lady Falcons packing. During that stretch, Anderson tallied three kills, one of which came on her third straight attempt after a back-and-forth frenzy at the net.
Covington iced the match with another left-handed kill, this time scorching the deck between a bevy of sprawling Seventy-First defenders.
Richmond’s back row, comprised of senior libero Layne Maultsby, junior defensive specialist Emy Cooley and a rotating crew of Lambeth, Jordan and Johnson, also faced some heavy hitting from the Lady Falcons. Senior outside hitter Emory Johnson proved to be a tough opponent, but the back line managed to make adjustments to set up the Lady Raider hitters.
“We tried to talk more tonight in the back so we could get our passes up to our hitters,” Maultsby explained. “Our communication has been a big key in how well we dig shots. Tonight, Seventy-First was hitting it all over the place, so we did a good job of following our blockers to make adjustments.
“Our middles have played really well lately, and our job is to get good passes up to them,” she added. “The back row is really close and we try to keep it light with so we’re able to make plays when we need to.”
Covington would finish the night with a game-high eight kills and added a match-best four blocks. Anderson wasn’t far behind with seven kills, one block and one ace. Lambeth dished out 24 assists, and took some solid swings, notching a season-high five kills from the mid-court, while tallying a match-high four aces.
Defensively, Maultsby led the team with nine digs, while also adding a kill from the back row. Cooley was responsible for five digs, Lambeth added four and Johnson chipped in three. Chappell had one kill and two blocks.
“Carley takes an unusually high amount of first passes for a setter,” Dennis said. “But when she gets a pass, she always makes a good touch on the ball and really runs our offense. When she’s not doing that, she’s making good sets and playing outstanding defense, which a lot of setters don’t do.
“We were able to pull up a lot of tips thanks to our back row,” she closed. “The girls managed to keep their confidence up and make plays to take away floor space.”
Richmond will take a break from conference play Wednesday and welcome in regular non-conference opponent Uwharrie Charter Academy (7-3) and go for its 10th win of the season.
The Lady Raiders will then end the week on the road Thursday at Scotland (5-5, 3-1 SAC) in what will prove to be a pivotal SAC matchup.
Both matches will begin at approximately 6 p.m. following the end of the junior varsity matches.
JV Lady Raiders drop match to Seventy-First
Prior to the varsity team’s win, the junior varsity Lady Raiders let a first set win slip away and end in a 2-1 defeat. Set scores were 25-21, 16-25 and 26-28. Sophomore Taylor Waitley led the team with six kills and eight aces.
Now 5-5 on the season, the JV team will open play against Uwharrie Charter Academy and Scotland at 5 p.m. both nights.
