PINEHURST, N.C. – The Richmond Senior High School Lady Raider tennis team had a lot of confidence entering Tuesday’s away match against Pinecrest High School after winning six straight, but ended the day falling to the county neighbors 9-0 overall.
Richmond (6-4, 6-3 Sandhills Athletic Conference) senior Destiny Buie fell to E.G. Landry 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 1 singles match, while junior Jayana Nicholson was bested by Caroline Landry in the No. 2 match 6-2, 6-0.
Senior Kathleen Pittman was the only other Raider to score points on their opponent after she was defeated 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 4 match against Lizzy McCummonet. Greyson Way, Meredith Stogner and Emily Parsons were also beat in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, doubles matches didn’t fair much better, as Buie and Pittman were defeated 8-3 in No. 1 doubles, while Nicholson and Way were taken down 8-4 in the No. 2 match.
Despite the scores, coach Mike Way saw progress on Tuesday against what he called the “class of the conference.”
“Pinecrest is a completely different animal than the rest of the conference,” said Way. “They’ve got girls that have been playing since they were four or five years old. It’s just different.
“We’ve played them twice this year, and both times the score’s been 9-0, Way added. “The game doesn’t always tell the story. If you compare the two matches, we competed much better today. Within the games there was more competition. We showed more effort today.”
The Lady Raiders will try to get back on another winning streak when they take on Jack Britt at 4 p.m. Thursday in a game that will likely determine who finishes second and third in the conference, according to Way.
“This should be the second-place battle,” Way said. “In this conference that’s the best you can hope for.”
