SANFORD — After nearly a week off and looking to rebound following a tough Sandhills Athletic Conference loss late last week, the Lady Raider volleyball players were “in their element” on the road Wednesday.
Making the trip up US Highway 1 North to non-conference Lee County High School, Richmond and assistant coach Melissa Dennis made quick work of the Lady Yellow Jackets. The visitors would pick up their fifth sweep of the season, blanking Lee County 3-0 in straight sets.
Behind a strong effort from several players on the floor on both sides of the ball, the Lady Raiders won by set scores of 25-22, 25-18 and 25-16. The win completed the regular-season sweep over Lee County (1-11), as Richmond also beat them in straight sets on Aug. 27.
“The girls’ overall attitude tonight was really good and they played really positive volleyball,” Dennis said. “They were really relaxed and weren’t afraid to be aggressive at the net. The girls were really in their element tonight and that was good to see.
“Jakerra (Covington) and Georgia Grace (Anderson) both had a great night at the net hitting and blocking,” she added of the two junior middle hitters.
Anderson would finish the game with a match-high 11 kills on offense, and Covington was right behind her with 10 kills. The first set saw Anderson pick up a set-best five kills, while Covington crushed home a team-best four kills in the second stanza.
The duo also combined for six blocks to stunt a hard-swinging Lee County team, as Covington’s five stops were a match high.
Richmond (11-2) brought a strong offensive attack, racking up 29 kills in three sets. Adding to the burst of offense were senior outside hitters Madison Jordan and Jadyn Johnson, who finished with four kills and three kills, respectively.
Aces were also a helpful part of Richmond’s win, seeing eight perfect serves hit the hardwood over the three sets. Anderson, Johnson and senior libero Layne Maultsby would all finish with two aces, while senior setter Carley Lambeth and junior right side hitter Taylor Chappell each tallied one.
Defensively, Richmond’s back row dug its heels in and continued its solid play this season. A quiet but effective element in all of the Lady Raiders’ wins this season, the defense compiled 56 total digs, seeing 22 in the first set and 25 in the third frame.
Maultsby led the Lady Raiders with 17 digs, as Johnson (11), Jordan (10) and Lambeth (10) all hit double digits. Lambeth pushed out a team-high 22 assists, as junior setter Shelly Hoffman added five of her own off the bench.
“Tonight’s win definitely brought our confidence up a little bit,” Dennis said. “But we have no doubt that we’re capable of doing big things because we’ve done it before. When we made mistakes tonight, we responded like we wanted to.
“It was good to start the week out with a win,” she closed. “Now it’s time to reset and get ready for our second round of conference games starting (Thursday).”
The Lady Raiders will open its second round of SAC play on the road Thursday at Purnell Swett High School (2-11, 1-6 SAC) beginning at 6 p.m.
