ROCKINGHAM — With the regular season entering its final week, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ tennis team made a strong push for second place on Tuesday.
Coming off a week that featured three doubleheaders in the same number of days, the Lady Raiders handed rival Scotland High School a pair of losses in a Sandhills Athletic Conference doubleheader.
Richmond was dominant in the first match, winning five of the six singles matches, which resulted in Scotland forfeiting all three doubles matches for an 8-1 win.
The second match was closer, seeing the Lady Raiders take four singles and two doubles wins to edge the Lady Scots for a 6-3 victory.
Over their last four doubleheaders, the Lady Raiders boast a 7-1 record, which include sweeps over Scotland, Hoke County and Lumberton high schools.
No. 3 senior Kaylee Parker returns a shot against Sophie Pinkston in Richmond’s doubleheader win. (Kyle Pillar)
Each of Richmond’s six singles players earned at least one victory on the afternoon, and senior No. 1 Kearston Bruce, freshman No. 2 Katie Way and freshman No. 5 Neely Turner all swept their respective singles contests.
No. 3 senior Kaylee Parker, No. 4 junior Paris Almon and No. 6 sophomore Addison Massey all had one singles win.
Bruce took care of Scotland’s No. 1 Kate Carter by scores of 8-3 and 8-1, while Way defeated the Lady Scots’ No. 2 Carleigh Carter in 8-3 and 8-4 fashion.
Turner handed D’Averia Johnson an 8-5 loss in the first match, before rolling past Carson Buie 8-1 in her second singles match.
Helping add to the Lady Raiders’ five singles wins in the opening match were Almon and Massey, who defeated Emma Lewis (8-5) and Buie (8-4), respectively.
After dropping her first singles match to Sophie Pinkston, Parker rallied in the second meeting to collect an 8-3 win.
Because Scotland chose to forfeit all three doubles matches in the first match, No. 1 Bruce and Way, No. 2 Parker and Turner and No. 3 Almon and senior Natalie Pattan were awarded a victory.
Head coach Neely Herndon (second from right) meets with her team between matches on Tuesday. (Michelle Parrish)
Bruce, Way, Parker and Turner helped give Richmond a 4-2 advantage heading into the later match’s doubles pairings. Needing just one win to complete the sweep, Richmond picked up two.
The No. 1 duo of Bruce and Way finished the clean sheet against Kate and Carleigh Carter, edging the two Lady Scots in an 8-5 decision. In No. 3 doubles action, Almon and Pattan defeated Buie and Emma Herr 8-6 for an insurance victory.
Richmond’s sweep of Scotland handed the Lady Scots their fourth-straight loss and moved the Lady Raiders ahead of Jack Britt and Scotland for second place in the SAC standings.
The Lady Raiders (9-3 SAC) will close out their season with one more doubleheader at home on Thursday. Richmond will recognize its three seniors — Bruce, Parker and Pattan — on senior night against Seventy-First High School, starting at 4 p.m.
