ROCKINGHAM — Continuing its hot start to the 2019 season, the Richmond Senior High School volleyball team earned another win at home Thursday to remain unbeaten.
Playing in their third match in four days this week, the Lady Raiders opened Sandhills Athletic Conference play with a four-set win against Purnell Swett High School. The victory improved Richmond to a perfect 5-0 on the season, as the Lady Raiders moved to 1-0 against conference opponents.
Two nights after handing Lee County High School a three-set loss, the Lady Raiders played a strong opening set and closed the match with dominant third and fourth sets. Set scores were 25-19, 23-25, 25-13 and 25-13.
Not with the team Thursday was head coach Ashleigh Larsen, who was at home after the birth of her daughter. Filling her spot on the sideline was junior varsity head coach Melissa Dennis.
“The girls really played as a team tonight,” Dennis said. “I was worried that they might not adjust to me as the coach, but they stepped up and did their job to make mine easier.
“It feels really good for us to be 5-0,” she added. “I don’t quite feel that they’re my team, they’re really Coach Larsen’s team. I’m just trying to keep up what was passed on to me and help her out the best I can.”
The win over the Lady Rams (1-5, 0-1 SAC) proved to be Richmond’s 11th-straight in the series dating back to Sept. 9, 2014.
After squeezing out a tight first set win, Purnell Swett took over the second game to earn its only win of the night. Dennis said her players made the adjustments needed in the third set and carried the momentum over to the final game to send the Lady Rams home.
“We had a lot of really good hitting from our outsides tonight,” Dennis explained. “They weren’t just swinging at the ball, but they were making smart plays and finding holes on the floor. Jakerra (Covington) also had some really strong swings in the middle.
“Carley (Lambeth) had some really great serves tonight,” she added of the senior setter. “She really did a great job of picking out their weaknesses. She took a lot of first balls on defense and made some nice passes to her teammates.”
Leading the way in kills was senior outside hitter Jadyn Johnson, who tallied a match-high 14 kills, six of which came in the second set. Junior middle hitter Georgia Grace Anderson added nine kills and Covington finished the night with eight. As a team, the Lady Raiders racked up a season-high 44 kills, with 15 coming in the first set.
Defensively, four Lady Raiders hit double digits in digs, as the team also posted a season-high 78 digs. Senior libero Layne Maultsby had a match-high 18 digs, and fellow senior Madison Jordan was right behind her with 17. Johnson picked up 14 digs, Lambeth added 11 and junior defensive specialist Emy Cooley dug the ball nine times.
From the serving line, it was junior right side hitter Taylor Chappell who served a team-high five aces. Five of her teammates recorded at least one ace, seeing Anderson add four and Lambeth and Jordan each finish with two.
“Every game we get a little better and gain more confidence,” Lambeth said. “In the second set we got down, but we came back and played for Coach Larsen since she wasn’t there.
“During the game I was trying to find their weaker passers and holes in the court,” she added. “As a setter I don’t take a lot of first balls, so tonight I just tried to get them up if I could. I was able to get them to Georgia Grace, Jadyn and Jakerra to make it work.”
The Lady Raiders (5-0, 1-0 SAC) will look to keep their winning streak going with two SAC matches next week. They’ll play rival Pinecrest High School (4-0, 1-0 SAC) at home on Tuesday and travel to Jack Britt High School (1-4, 0-0 SAC) on Thursday. Both matches will be played at 6 p.m.
JV Lady Raiders end skid with win over Purnell Swett
The Richmond junior varsity volleyball team was riding a two-game skid entering Thursday’s match, but ended it with a 2-0 win over the Lady Rams. Set scores were 25-20 and 25-18.
Sophomores Allyiah Swiney and Taylor Waitley each finished the match with a team-high four kills. Sophomore Erial Norton and freshman Catherine Dennis added one each. Dennis also had a big night at the net, blocking six shots.
Waitley led the team with two aces and Norton tacked on another. Now 2-3 on the season, the JV Lady Raiders will return to action Tuesday at home against Pinecrest at 5 p.m.
