ROCKINGHAM – Late last week at practice, Richmond Lady Raider head volleyball coach Ashleigh Larsen noted that the two-week long break between matches thanks to Hurricane Florence may disrupt her team’s conference winning streak.
And unfortunately for the Lady Raiders, they fell to Sandhills Athletic Conference rival Pinecrest High School Tuesday in the teams’ first bit of action since before the break. The five-set marathon victory by the Lady Patriots (7-7, 6-1 SAC) made it the first time since 2015 that Richmond was swept by Pinecrest in the regular season series.
Before the storm, Larsen and company had won their last three SAC matches, and Tuesday’s loss served as a shot of redemption against the Lady Patriots. In the season’s first meeting between the two teams in Southern Pines on Aug. 28, Pinecrest also rallied to win in five sets.
The Lady Raiders (7-5, 4-3 SAC) had worked hard the past few weeks to chip away at the SAC standings, as they now remain in the third-place spot behind Pinecrest and Jack Britt High School, respectively. Scotland High School, which lost in straight sets to Jack Britt Tuesday, is one game behind Richmond in fourth place with a 3-3 SAC record.
Set scores against the Lady Patriots were 25-23, 18-25, 24-26, 25-17 and 10-15. It was deja vu for the Lady Raiders, as much like the first match against Pinecrest, they let a one-set lead escape them, resulting in a five-set loss.
“It was good to see the girls come out and win the first set,” Larsen said after the game. “I was hoping we were going to continue that good momentum the rest of the game, and I honestly thought we were going to win in three sets. But we just gave up on ourselves.
“We dug ourselves into some holes when (Pinecrest) served us off the court,” she added. “I tried to motivate the girls and made some personnel changes. We showed glimmers of hope, and then they’d turn around and get down again. Our aggressive decision-making went out the window tonight.”
In the first set, Pinecrest jumped out to a 12-8 lead, forcing Larsen to call a timeout. Out of the break, the Lady Patriots extended their lead to five before sophomore middle hitter Georgia Grace Anderson and junior libero Layne Maultsby picked up back-to-back points via a kill and an ace, cutting the deficit to 17-15.
In the final stretch of the first set, Richmond would rally to tie it and roll on a 10-5 run to take it 25-23. Senior middle hitter Savannah Chappell came up big with a kill to retake the lead 23-22, and finished things moments later with another kill at the net to cap off a 5-1 run.
The Lady Raiders got off to a hot start in the second set, picking up a four-point lead 11-7, but would be outscored by Pinecrest 18-7 the rest of the way. Larsen called two timeouts, but her team couldn’t respond, as a big 6-1 Lady Patriot run sealed the deal.
Tied at one set apiece, Pinecrest took the third set in overtime, but not without a fight by Richmond. After getting off to another big lead, this one an 11-5 tally to start, the Lady Raiders allowed the Lady Patriots to edge themselves back into contention.
With the set tied at 18, both teams traded points and remained tied at 22. Richmond took a 23-22 lead, causing Pinecrest to call a timeout. The break would work for the visiting team, as it rallied past the Lady Raiders thanks to a couple of kills and hitting errors to take it in overtime 26-24.
Facing elimination, Richmond bounced back in the fourth set with its best performance of the night, rolling to an eight-point set win. Senior outside hitter Savannah Lampley and Anderson both had strong showings, combining for five kills in the set. Anderson also picked up two blocks in the fourth frame.
Sophomore Jakerra Covington, who made her varsity debut Tuesday, impressed with two kills during the set, including the set-winner to give Richmond a breath of life, 25-17.
With things evened out at two sets apiece, Richmond held an early 5-3 lead in the fifth set, which is played to 15 points. A quick turn around by Pinecrest gave the Lady Patriots an 8-6 lead, and Larsen called her first of two timeouts in the final set.
Trailing 12-8 out of the break, another Richmond timeout proved ineffective, as a handful of errors by the home team gave Pinecrest the 15-10 victory.
As a team, Richmond tallied 10 aces, 32 kills, 83 digs and six blocks. Junior outside hitter Jadyn Johnson led the team with four aces, and added five kills and 17 digs. Lampley was the Lady Raiders’ leading attacker, as she racked up 11 kills, and picked up 19 digs on the night. Maultsby chipped in with three aces and a team-high 22 digs, while Anderson had six kills and four blocks.
Richmond will be back in action the next two nights, before capping off the unusual four-match week Saturday at home against Purnell Swett High School. Wednesday’s non-conference match against Lee County High School is set for 6 p.m., while Thursday’s match against conference leader Jack Britt will be on the road at 6 p.m.
“We’ve got a rough schedule the rest of the week,” Larsen finished. “I’m hoping the girls can take their anger out during the next couple of days and figure it out from there.”
