ROCKINGHAM — By the middle of the first set of Monday’s season-opening match, the Richmond Senior High School volleyball team found the groove that would guide it to a win.
Taking advantage of the first day allowed by the NCHSAA to officially compete in matches, the Lady Raiders used a combination of big hits, timely serving and strong defense to begin the new season on the right path.
Hosting non-conference Forest Hills High School, Richmond won 3-0 in straight sets. Set scores were 25-13, 25-15 and 25-8.
Using a newly reloaded lineup after the departure of eight seniors last season, Richmond relied on the experience of its three returning starters while getting a lot of help from new players.
Two of those returners — sophomore libero Kenley Smith and senior setter Ava Edmondson — helped set the tone early in the first set with an ace apiece. Both would showcase their skills from the service line throughout the match.
Making her varsity debut, junior outside hitter J’Nasia Neal was aggressive at the net and recorded a pair of kills to put Richmond ahead 7-4 in the first set.
A block by junior middle hitter Leiana Brooks, and another by Brooks and sophomore outside hitter Kaylan Parsons, both playing their first varsity match, kept the Lady Raiders up 9-4.
Back-to-back kills by Brooks and sophomore Riley McDonald — Richmond’s third returning starter — helped send Edmondson to the service line. Edmonson rattled off an 11-0 run to break the set open, which included her final four aces in the set.
McDonald had a kill during the run and capped a 13-4 stretch with her fourth kill of the set to ice the win.
The momentum of the first set carried over into the second stanza for the Lady Raiders, who jumped out to a 10-1 lead. An error by the Lady Yellow Jackets (0-1) on the first volley sent Smith to the line, where she dished out three straight aces to make it 5-0.
Up 6-1, McDonald stood tall for a block, returning Edmondson to the service line. Two more aces from the senior capped a five-point run to put Richmond ahead by nine points.
Forest Hills chipped away at the score, but a push to the back corner by sophomore Madisen Jackson, and one kill each from Neal and Brooks maintained a 15-7 lead.
McDonald made it a 10-point lead, 20-10, with another kill from the middle of the floor. She was responsible for three of Richmond’s final six points, which included a kill and a set-ending ace. Neal helped make it a two-set advantage with a kill and a block to set up McDonald’s perfect serve.
The third set belonged entirely to Richmond, which led by double figures for the majority of the period. Smith started with a 4-0 run from the line, which saw McDonald find a soft spot in the defense for an early kill.
McDonald, Brooks, Neal and sophomore Kalynn McCormick each recorded one point, the latter of which was an ace by McCormick to extend the lead to 14-3. Following an error on the next volley, Forest Hills called a timeout.
The break in action didn’t help the visiting team, as the Lady Raiders continued to pour on the offense. McCormick made a diving dig in the back row that found the floor for a point, edging Richmond out to a 17-6 advantage.
Another ace by Smith, a McDonald kill and a service error by Forest Hills highlighted a few of the final six points Richmond needed to secure the win.
The Lady Raiders (1-0) will travel to non-conference Harnett Central High School (0-0) Tuesday for its second of three matches in three days. The varsity-only match will begin at 7 p.m.
Junior varsity volleyball opens with sweep
Just like its varsity counterpart, the Richmond junior varsity volleyball team earned a sweep to open the season Monday.
The JV Lady Raiders defeated Forest Hills 2-0 behind scores of 25-15 and 25-12.
Trailing Forest Hills 10-13 in the first set, Richmond’s junior varsity volleyball team went on a 15-2 run to close out the early win. A five-point run with freshman Madison Hancock serving put Richmond ahead 16-13.
Later, the JV Lady Raiders used a seven-point, set-ending run with freshman Kaleigh Bowden serving to move ahead 1-0 in the best-of-three series.
The JV team took a 5-4 lead on bad-to-back aces from Kaleigh Bowden and never looked back en route to a 13-point set win in the second set.
“I’m sure the girls were nervous going int this game,” head coach Melissa Dennis shared. “We only had three practices as a team. We were a little shaky at the beginning and missed several serves.
“But as they got more comfortable with the flow of the game and each other, they were able to find their groove and everything fell into place. I was very impressed with them today.”
The JV Lady Raiders (1-0) will return to the court with a home match Wednesday at 5 p.m. against non-conference Pine Forest High School.
Sports editor’s note: All statistics used in this article are unofficial. Deon Cranford contributed to this article.
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of the varsity team’s match soon.
