LAURINBURG — Competing against second-place Scotland High School, the Lady Raider volleyball team closed its first round of Sandhills Athletic Conference play with a loss on Wednesday.
The match was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but moisture problems in Scotland’s gym made it unsafe for players, pushing it a day later.
Richmond fell in straight sets, 0-3, to its rival by scores of 7-25, 7-25 and 8-25. The loss stretched the Lady Raiders’ current skid to five matches.
Head coach Ashleigh Larsen said afterward that “communication issues” and “a lack of desire to be out (on the floor)” plagued the Lady Raiders in all three sets.
Scotland (9-1, 5-1 SAC) controlled the tempo in the first set by jumping out to an 11-1 lead. The run ended when Kamdyn Morgan served into the net, stopping her nine straight points from the line.
The Lady Raiders started to find a rhythm, using two kills from sophomore Jenna Gardner and senior Allyiah Swiney to pull back within eight points.
Junior Catherine Dennis picked up two more points for Richmond on a block at the net, followed by a kill from the middle of the floor. Trailing 23-7, Richmond surrendered two more points to end the set.
The second stanza mirrored the first with the Lady Scots opening on an 11-3 run, with two of Richmond’s points coming from tips by Dennis. Larsen called a timeout to regroup her team.
A hitting error and a serving error by Scotland made it a 15-5 lead, and the Lady Scots used a 10-2 stretch to go up by two sets. Recording the Lady Raiders’ final two points were sophomore Katie Way (kill) and Gardner (bump).
Richmond started the third set with better command of the board, taking a 5-3 lead. Freshman Ava Edmundson opened with an ace, which was followed by another shot into open space by Gardner. Dennis and Swiney added kills.
Tied at five points, Scotland took a three-point lead but a block by Dennis kept Richmond close. But a 17-2 run by the home team ended the match.
The Lady Raiders (3-10, 2-4 SAC) will play its final match of the week Thursday at Southern Lee High School (6-5, 1-5 SAC). Play will begin around 6 p.m.
Richmond defeated the Lady Cavaliers in five sets to open conference play on Aug. 31.
Richmond’s match against Gray’s Creek, which was scheduled for Wednesday, will not be played due to the shuffling of conference games this week, Larsen said.
JV Lady Raiders fall to JV Lady Scots
The Richmond junior varsity volleyball team was also swept by Scotland on Wednesday, losing 0-2. Set scores were 16-25 and 11-25.
The JV Raiders (6-6) will play at Southern Lee on Thursday at 5 p.m.
