CHARLOTTE – Richmond Senior High School head volleyball coach Ashleigh Larsen tweeted “humble but hungry” ahead of Tuesday’s opening round match of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 4A state playoffs.
The No. 21 Lady Raiders traveled to the Queen City to play No. 12 Providence High School in the west bracket, and while they were hungry for a postseason win to advance, Larsen’s team would be swept in straight sets to draw the 2018 season to a close. So, for now anyway, Richmond will have to be humble for a season well played.
Set scores on the night were 11-25, 12-25 and 10-25 in favor of the Lady Panthers.
When the NCHSAA released its official brackets Monday morning, Larsen did her homework and found out the Lady Panthers finished second overall in the South Meck 7 4A Conference this season with a 20-8 overall record, and posted a 10-2 record in conference play, losing twice only to South Meck winner and No. 2 overall seeded Ardrey Kell High School.
Richmond’s head coach also discovered that several of Providence’s players play year-round volleyball, which she noted would pose a tough challenge, but said she had faith that her players would leave it all on the floor.
“A lot of their players make volleyball their primary sport,” Larse said. “Looking at their stats coming into tonight, I told the girls that they needed to play their ‘A game’ and be aggressive from start to finish. They all did what I asked them to do, but it’s hard to compete with a team that has a little bit more volleyball knowledge than us.
“We didn’t get the outcome we wanted tonight, but it was good to see what the future holds,” she added. “These girls have a lot of drive, and more importantly, a lot of heart.”
Richmond (13-9) would “play on the back of its heels” for most of the night, never holding a lead for more than a couple of volleys early in the second set. Larsen explained that she thought her team “could have executed a little more” but managed to “shake some nerves and get some big swings” once the match got rolling.
Providence began the first set on a 7-1 run, but a block assist by senior middle hitter Savannah Chappell and junior right side Allexis Swiney on Annie Leonard stopped the early home team charge. Junior Jadyn Johnson would follow up with her only kill of the set a couple of plays later, but Richmond saw the deficit grow to 13-5 before Larsen called her first timeout.
Out of the 60-second break, sophomore Georgia Grace Anderson served Richmond to a 3-0 run that saw an ace and a kill by senior outside hitter Savannah Lampley. With the Lady Panthers’ lead cut to just five points, it would be Ava LaPata who would serve three aces during a 7-0 Providence run that quickly saw the lead extend to 22-9. A couple of Richmond errors ended the opening frame.
The Lady Raiders would keep things close at the beginning of the second set, going back-and-forth with Providence and maintain a one-point lead until the set was tied at four. Lampley, who played her final game as a Lady Raider after being a four-year starter, knocked home three of her team-high eight kills on the night in the second, while Swiney added two of her own.
Senior Savannah Lampley (12) knocks one of her team-high eight kills.
Following a Leonard kill to tie things up, an 8-0 run thanks to the serving hand of Katie Bender quickly put the Lady Panthers up 12-4, forcing Larsen to take another timeout. Anderson would open play with a kill at the net, and Lampley would string together her three attacks over the span of the next six volleys. It wouldn’t be enough, as two kills by Leonard, another from Sarah Knafelz and a block by Allie Tenkin made it 20-10.
Johnson added another kill to her total, but back-to-back Leonard kills, coupled with one by Madison Cail gave Providence the 13-point set victory.
Down to their potential final set, Richmond went quietly, scoring its lowest set total of the season. Providence took control early, running out to a 7-0 lead, and extended it to 12-2 following a Leonard block. The rest of the final frame was a little bit more balanced, but the Lady Panthers would close it out 13-8 to notch the victory to move on to the second round.
Providence’s front row was strong all night, but Richmond’s back row of Johnson, junior libero Layne Maultsby, Lampley and Swiney held their own. Of the 36 total team digs on the night for the Lady Raiders, Maultsby led the way with 17, collecting seven of them in the third set. Swiney added seven to the stat sheet, while Johnson finished with five. Junior setter Carley Lambeth dished out 14 assists in the loss, and matched Johnson’s dig total.
Richmond tallied 15 kills in the final match of the season, with the second set seeing a match-best eight. Lampley’s eight were aided by two each from Johnson, Lambeth and Swiney. Anderson had the final tally. Play at the net for the Lady Raiders was solid despite the heavy hitters of Providence, as the team collected five blocks. Swiney had three, while Anderson and Chappell both had one.
“It’s been an honor to have this group of 22 girls (including junior varsity) for my first season as head coach,” Larsen said. “The girls have helped me transition and have been such a big help as I’ve battled the duties for both teams.
“I’m already thinking about next season,” she concluded. “Unfortunately we’ll be missing the two biggest hearts and souls of the team with the Savannahs graduating. But we have a young team and hopefully they’ll be ready to start next season. I really appreciate all the girls working so hard.”
ROSports will publish a season recap and a feature of the Richmond players who are named to the All-Sandhills Athletic Conference team.
