ROCKINGHAM — It wasn’t the outcome the Lady Raider volleyball team wanted Thursday, but its home loss to Jack Britt High School served as a lesson to hopefully be remembered later.
Welcoming in the Lady Buccaneers in the second night of back-to-back Sandhills Athletic Conference matches, Richmond would drop its fourth conference game of the season by a final score of 1-3 to Jack Britt.
The Lady Raiders would win the second set, but see their momentum trail off in the final two, despite an intense finish in an extended third game. Set scores were 14-25, 25-21, 28-30 and 18-25.
“After we got down in a hole, the girls picked it back up and played an intense second set,” assistant coach Melissa Dennis said. “But we just got too complacent in the third and fourth sets and let (Jack Britt) go on a little run that didn’t see us be able to dig back out.”
With the loss, Richmond (13-4, 6-4 SAC) now sits in a two-way tie with Jack Britt for third place in the SAC standings. Scotland High School is still in first, followed by Pinecrest High School.
Richmond’s first set saw the Lady Raiders slow out of the gates, and trailed 17-10 before Dennis took a timeout. The Lady Bucs would close on an 8-3 run to earn the 11-point win.
The second stanza saw the same intensity the Lady Raiders played with the night before on the road in Fayetteville. Both teams traded points and kills to see the frame tied at 17 points, and that’s when Richmond pulled ahead late.
A block by junior middle hitter Jakerra Covington gave Richmond the ball back, and following a hitting error by Jack Britt, senior libero Layne Maultsby laced an ace to the hardwood to put the Lady Raiders up 20-18, forcing a timeout by the visiting team.
Hitting errors by Jordan Hardy and Ashton Fields gave Richmond a 24-20 advantage, and a net fault on the final volley gave Richmond the win. Covington had four kills in the frame, while senior outside hitter Jadyn Johnson and junior middle hitter Georgia Grace Anderson each contributed two.
The third set was a frenzy of late-game theatrics from both teams, which resulted in a two-point win for the Lady Bucs in extended points. Anderson and Johnson recorded back-to-back kills, and senior outside hitter Madison Jordan drilled an ace to put Richmond up 17-10 and force Jack Britt to burn a timeout.
Out of the break, the Lady Bucs went on a 6-1 run to cut the deficit to just two points, and the squads soon saw the score tied at 24 points. Senior setter Carley Lambeth put Richmond ahead by a point with a nifty backwards push over the net, but back-to-back points saw Jack Britt take a one-point lead.
Maultsby kept the set going with an athletic dig on the floor, which set up another point on a Johnson tip to tie it again at 26 points. Unfortunately for Richmond, a hitting error and a kill by Jack Britt secured the set win.
Richmond tallied a match-high 15 kills in the third, seeing Anderson and Johnson each knock home five. Lambeth had two of her own, and Maultsby, Covington and junior defensive specialist Emy Cooley all had one. Richmond’s five aces were a set-high, as Lambeth collected two, and Anderson, Jordan and junior right side hitter Taylor Chappell each knocked one.
Jack Britt would jump out to a 12-6 lead in the fourth game. With the visiting team just one point away from earning the match win, Richmond put together a 4-0 run to make things interesting. Covington picked up a tip and a kill in that span, and a net fault and a hitting error by Kaiah Parker extended the match for Richmond. But a Parker tip finished the comeback opportunity for Richmond.
“Our intensity was the difference maker tonight, even though we had our home crown in our favor,” Dennis noted. “(Parker) played smart and found the holes in our blockers, which led to some points we wished we could have gotten back.
“We did have some really good serve-receive tonight, and our passes were good,” she closed. “The girls didn’t give up, but we just couldn’t find the floor as much as we wanted to. We’ll use this as motivation moving forward with the rest of conference play.”
Richmond had eight aces on the night, seeing Jordan finish with a team-high three perfect serves and Chappell and Lambeth each earn two more. Of the 33 team kills, Johnson hit double-digits with 12, and Anderson and Covington combined for 16 more (eight apiece).
Lambeth dished out 32 assists, and Maultsby recorded a team-high 20 digs. Also collecting double-digits in digs were Lambeth (18), Jordan (14) and Cooley (12), and Johnson was one shy with nine. Covington had one block in the game.
Richmond will look to return to the win column with three more matches next week. The Lady Raiders will open at home against SAC opponent Hoke County High School (0-14, 0-10 SAC) on Tuesday, followed by a road non-conference match at Uwharrie Charter Academy (11-5) on Wednesday.
The Lady Raiders will cap the week on the road at SAC opponent Lumberton High School (11-5, 5-5 SAC) on Thursday. All matches will begin at 6 p.m.
