FAYETTEVILLE — The Richmond Senior High School girls’ tennis team returned to the court Tuesday after an extended weekend, traveling to Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Jack Britt High School.
Because of the heat index, all singles matches were made into eight-game pro sets instead of following the regular two-set format. The Lady Raiders would fall to the Lady Buccaneers by a final score of 9-0.
Three different Lady Raiders would win at least one of the pro sets against Jack Britt. In the No. 1 matchup, junior Kearston Bruce faced Natasha Benson, and notched one set before ultimately coming up short 1-8.
Richmond’s best performance of the day came from No. 4 sophomore Elizabeth Henry, who picked up two games against Leonie Brown. The final score of that match was 8-2 in favor of Brown. Sophomore No. 6 Ellie Buck was the last Lady Raider to win a game, seeing her steal one from Hannah Yang before losing 1-8.
Richmond’s No. 2 sophomore O’Cean Bennett, No. 3 junior Kaylee Parker and No. 5 sophomore Paris Almon would all fall to their respective opponent 0-8. Bennett lost to Chalei Hodge, Parker dropped her match to Taylor Benson and Almon fell to Riley Nozano.
In doubles matches, the No. 1 pairing of Bruce and Bennett was swept by Natasha Benson and Hodge 8-0. Parker and Buck teamed up in the No. 2 doubles match, winning a game, but dropping the match to Taylor Brown and Leonie Brown 1-8. To cap doubles play, Almon and sophomore Kacie Medina lost 2-8 to Delaney Coppeler and Mollie Nicholson.
Lady Raider head coach Neely Herndon explained that the team’s next two matches this week have been postponed due to the expected weather from Hurricane Dorian. No dates or times for the matches against Hoke County and Lumberton high schools have been announced.
Richmond will hit the court next on Thursday, Sept. 12, at Scotland High School. The match is set for a 4 p.m. start.
