ROCKINGHAM — Ashleigh Larsen said she was pleased with the Lady Raider volleyball team’s efforts despite coming up short against Union Pines High School on Tuesday.
Entering the final half of the second round of Sandhills Athletic Conference play, the Lady Raiders lost 3-0 to the Lady Vikings.
Richmond made several comeback attempts during each of the sets, which ended in scores of 13-25, 22-25 and 20-25.
“We had another new lineup tonight, but I thought all the girls played really well,” Larsen said. “We just made a few more mistakes than they did. The girls did capitalize a few times, but we dug ourselves into a serve-receive battle in the first set.
“Overall, we moved better tonight and made better decisions in the long run,” she added. “The middles were more intent following the setter instead of the hitters, which is something we’ve worked on. Things we’re working on in practice are starting to emerge in games.”
An early 3-3 tie in the first set was broken open by Union Pines, which went on a 14-2 run to take a 17-5 advantage. Breaking the run was a bump into open space by senior Allyiah Swiney, sparking a 5-1 stretch by Richmond.
A part of that scoring streak was an ace by freshman Ava Edmondson, and Richmond’s last big point came from a block by junior Catherine Dennis at the net, which forced a digging error.
In the second set, an ace from sophomore Allie Rodgers tied the match at seven points. Union Pines worked ahead to maintain a small lead, but a Swiney kill coupled with two pushes from sophomore Katie Way kept it at a 14-10 deficit.
Trailing 20-12, junior Joy Styles made a diving dig and earned another point by finding the open floor.
The Lady Vikings jumped ahead 24-15, but the Lady Raiders managed to put together a 7-0 run to make it close. Several Union Pines errors off of serves by sophomore Christi Jacobs closed the gap, and a dig from Rodgers and a Swiney tip made it 24-22.
But a hitting error on the next volley by Richmond ended the would-be rally.
“We hung with Union Pines and came back in each game to make it more exciting,” Larsen said. “The girls didn’t give up on themselves like they have at times this season, and we’re starting to move in the right direction.”
The third set carried a lot of the same energy from the Lady Raiders, who battled out to six ties in the early going. Knotted at eight points, two kills from Dennis kept Richmond within one point.
Swiney made an athletic diving play, digging a low ball and sending it over the net for a point to make it an 18-13 deficit. Richmond wouldn’t go quietly, using a tip from Way and a kill from Jacobs to stay within five points, 23-18.
A couple of hitting errors by the Lady Vikings recorded Richmond’s final two points, but a serve into the net ended the match.
“With two matches left, we’re looking for more wins, but at the same time I’m looking at the future,” Larsen closed. “We need to develop as a team and it’s a toss up with how I handle things with the conference tournament coming up.”
Richmond (4-13, 3-7 SAC) will play one more conference match this week on Thursday at Lee County High School (7-8, 4-5 SAC). In the first meeting this season, the Lady Raiders fell in four sets. Play will begin around 6 p.m.
JV Lady Raiders sweep Union Pines
Ahead of the varsity match, the Richmond junior varsity volleyball team defeated Union Pines 2-0. Set scores were 25-20 and 25-16.
