SOUTHERN PINES — A fast start by the Lady Raider volleyball team on Tuesday at Sandhills Hills Athletic Conference Pinecrest High School was undone in the final three sets resulting in a tough road loss.
Richmond and the Lady Patriots met for the second time during the regular season, and Pinecrest won on its home court 3-1 in four sets. Set scores were 25-22, 14-25, 23-25 and 21-25.
During the two teams’ first meeting on Sept. 3 in Rockingham, Pinecrest also edged the Lady Raiders by the same score.
One bright spot for the Lady Raiders was senior setter Carley Lambeth, who recorded her 1,000th career assist during the fourth set. Through 133 sets played the past two seasons, she now has 1,003 total assists for an average of 7.54 assists per set.
Lambeth tallied 28 assists in four sets Tuesday, notching a match-best 10 assists in the first set.
The pivotal conference matchup saw the visiting Lady Raiders set the tone early in the first set, overcoming a tough atmosphere and put the Lady Patriots on their heels. Racking up a team-best 10 kills in the opening frame, the Lady Raiders saw senior outside hitter Jadyn Johnson, and junior middle hitters Georgia Grace Anderson and Jakerra Covington each pick up three kills.
“We were excited to play the game tonight and that intensity really showed in the first set,” assistant coach Melissa Dennis said following the match. “The girls didn’t let the crowd or the atmosphere affect them, so I was proud of them for that.
“What helped us in the first set was making a lot of smart plays at the net,” she added.
Tied a six points, an Anderson kill would start a 10-3 run by the Lady Raiders that saw another Anderson kill and two spikes from Covington. Leading 16-9, Richmond forced Scott Shepherd to call a timeout, and the Lady Patriots closed the deficit to one point, 17-16.
The set would be tied at 20 points before Richmond closed on a 5-2 run for the win. Johnson had a monster smash down the left line, which was followed by a net violation by Pinecrest. Johnson came through again a couple of vollies later, crushing the set-winning kill off the hands of Chloe Modlin and Emmie Modlin.
The second set was Richmond’s lowest score of the match, managing just five kills on 19 attempts. Johnson had three of those kills, while Covington had the other two. A 9-2 start by Pinecrest saw Dennis take a timeout, and another taken with the Lady Raiders trailing 17-11.
A Johnson tip and a kill coupled with a Covington block, one of her three blocks on the night, brought the set to 18-14. But Pinecrest would close on a 7-0 run to take its first set of the match and shift the contest’s momentum.
In the third stanza, the Lady Raiders saw themselves down 23-15. A hitting error by Pinecrest gave Richmond the ball back and the visitors rolled on an 8-1 run to make it a 23-24 game. Anderson had two kills, a push and a block during that span, and another hitting error, this time by Lexi Allen, made it a one-point game before Pinecrest closed the door and ended the rally.
Fighting to extend the match to five games, the Lady Raiders would play another tightly contested fourth set but come up on the wrong end. Richmond led 19-18, which saw another Pinecrest timeout. From there, a couple of hitting errors and a kill by Lauren Shepherd iced the match.
Covington led Richmond with nine kills, followed by eight from Johnson and seven more from Anderson. Senior libero Layne Maultsby and Lambeth each finished the night with two aces, while Maultsby led Richmond with 17 digs. Anderson had a team-high four blocks.
“We played really well tonight, but there were times when we had some miscommunication,” Dennis explained. “We didn’t pick up on their short tips and that led to some points. It’s hard to say what we struggled with because we were so competitive and played so well.
“Now we’re excited to play Jack Britt (High School) because we haven’t seen them yet this year,” Dennis closed. “It’s up in the air but we know we’re prepared to do what we’re supposed to and get two more conference wins.”
The Lady Raiders (12-3, 5-3 SAC) will travel to Jack Britt (7-11, 5-3) on Wednesday for a battle between the two third-place teams in the SAC standings. The match is set for a 6 p.m. start.
