RAEFORD — Despite a strong effort on the court Monday, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ tennis team saw its three-match winning streak come to an end.
Coming off its best week of the season, the Lady Raiders opened their final week of regular-season play on the road at Hoke County High School on Tuesday. Richmond would fall to the Lady Bucks 3-6, splitting the season series between the two teams.
Last week, the Lady Raiders defeated the Lady Bucks 5-4, a victory that would begin the stretch of wins for the green and gold. Monday’s contest saw two singles matches won, coupled with a doubles win for Richmond.
Defeating the same opponent for the second time this season in singles play were No. 1 junior Kearston Bruce and No. 5 sophomore Elizabeth Henry. Bruce faced Autumn Moore and downed the senior 8-1, the same tally from a week ago.
In Henry’s match, she defeated Karissa Locklear 8-4, a little bit tighter of a match than her seven-point victory in the first meeting. Bruce improved her singles record to 3-9 this season, while Henry recorded her fifth win in the No. 5 slot, passing sophomore Ellie Buck for the most singles wins on the team.
The Lady Raiders’ final win of the afternoon came from the No. 3 doubles pairing of Henry and fellow sophomore Paris Almon. The duo took down Locklear and senior Mary Bartch 6-2, a week after beating the same opponents 8-3. Almon improved to 5-4 on the year in No. 3 doubles competition, while Henry saw her record stretch to 5-3.
A couple matches after losing to senior Nakia Stone by three points, No. 2 sophomore O’cean Bennett had a little more trouble against her opponent Monday, and fell 1-8 in singles play. No. 3 junior Kaylee Parker found herself in the same predicament, dropping her match 1-8 to sophomore Molly Bartch by the same score.
No. 4 Almon and No. 6 Buck would both lose their respective singles matches, seeing Almon come two points short against senior Shelby Reynolds, 6-8. Buck wasn’t far behind, seeing Mary Bartch defeat her 2-8.
Bennett is now 2-10 overall in singles play, and Parker saw her record drop to 3-9. Almon is 2-6 this season, and Buck sits at a 4-8 record in the No. 6 hole.
To round out Monday’s play, Bruce and Bennett lost to Moore and Stone 3-6 in the No. 1 doubles match, followed by another loss in the No. 2 doubles pairing, with Parker and Buck bested by Molly Bartch and Reynolds 1-6.
Richmond (4-8, 4-7 SAC) will close regular season play at home on Thursday against rival Scotland High School (4-7, 4-6 SAC). Looking to redeem a 3-6 loss the last time out against the Lady Fighting Scots, singles play will begin at 4 p.m.
