ROCKINGHAM — An electric series during the fourth set of Saturday’s opening round playoff game by the No. 14 Richmond Senior High School volleyball team kept its postseason hopes alive.
Following a serve from No. 19 Ronald Reagan High School, five of the six Lady Raiders on the floor contributed to a volley that lasted nearly 40 seconds to tie the set at 18 points. It started with a diving dig from junior defensive specialist Emy Cooley, who just got her hand between the ball and the hardwood.
Senior setter Carley Lambeth laid out for a diving dig and senior libero Layne Maultsby used her right first to swat the ball back over the net. After the next set of hits saw senior outside hitter Jadyn Johnson, Lambeth and senior outside hitter Madison Jordan send the ball back Reagan’s way, Cooley hit the deck again on the return shot to keep the rally going.
Lambeth angled the ball back to Reagan, and Cooley made her third diving dig of the series on a kill attempt by Reagan’s Lilly Young. The ball went to Lambeth and then saw Johnson push it back. The volley ended when Ellie Jiang sent a hit long out of bounds.
Click here to watch the series, video courtesy of Alan Anderson.
The energy ignited a short run by the Lady Raiders, but Richmond would lose the set, and ultimately see its season come to an end. Despite winning the first set, the Lady Raiders fell to the Reagan Lady Raiders 1-3. Set scores were 25-18, 15-25, 21-25 and 23-25.
After receiving the No. 14 seed in the West region of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 4A state playoffs on Thursday, the Lady Raiders (19-7) saw their momentum come up just short against Reagan (15-12).
“The girls played their hearts out the whole game,” head coach Ashleigh Larsen said. “They never gave up, which has become something they’ve refused to do all season. Even in the second set when we were down (nine points), they were determined to make a comeback.
“It stinks that our season is over and we lose our five seniots,” she continued. “But I can’t say that I’m displeased with how they played today. I’m so proud of each of my players.”
In front of a packed gym, an early 5-0 run in the first set saw the Lady Raiders turn the tide. Junior middle hitter Georgia Grace Anderson banged home back-to-back kills, and junior right side hitter Taylor Chappell added a kill to give Richmond an 8-4 lead.
With the set tied at 10 points, a Johnson kill gave Richmond the lead for good. That play was followed by a block by Johnson and junior middle Jakerra Covington on Reagan’s Olivia Rogers, and Lambeth added one of her three aces in the set.
Jordan made a nice diving play that saw her dig from the back grow clip the net and fall to the floor for a point, putting Richmond up 18-13, and forcing Reagan to call a timeout. It was the second time she made a similar play for a point.
Down the stretch, the Lady Raiders held on the close the set on a 7-5 run, getting kills from Anderson, Jordan, Covington and Johnson. Lambeth, who opened the set with an ace, bookended the frame with another ace to earn the first set win.
“The girls came out with a lot of energy and were ready to play,” Larsen commented. “And that showed by the way we were able to get the win.”
Reagan rebounded in the second set by getting out to leads of 7-2 and 16-8. At that point, Larsen called a timeout, but Richmond fell behind at its largest deficit of the night, 19-10.
Covington tipped the ball for a point and Johnson recorded an ace to help the Lady Raiders start to turn things around. A Covington block and a Chappell kill would be a part of the run, but an ace by Reagan close the second set.
Trailing 10-7 in the third set, Anderson went to work from the middle of the net, drilling back-to-back kills for two of her set-high seven kills. Another Anderson spike was followed by a Covington kill and a Johnson block to give Richmond a 16-15 lead and force another Reagan timeout.
A run by the visiting Lady Raiders put them ahead of the home team 20-17. That deficit moved to 24-18, but Anderson recorded four straight points for Richmond to try and rally the team. She started with a block against Rogers, added two kills and pushed the ball past a sprawling Young. But a Rogers kill on the next series ended the set.
The final set saw 15 ties between the two teams, with Jiang’s hitting error closing the contest to 19-19. A Lambeth push gave Richmond a one-point lead, and a farside push to the No. 4 hole by Johnson kept Richmond’s lead a couple of volleys later.
Rogers, who was a presence at the net all match, ended the game when she blocked a kill attempt from the middle of the floor.
“Once we started making some small mental mistakes in the second, third and fourth sets, it was hard for us to overcome that,” Larsen said. “Reagan’s middle hitters were tough to hit around and (Rogers) posed as a tough opponent.
“Collectively, I was proud of how the girls played together tonight,” she continued. “When one would get down, the others picked her up. It’s good to see them play as a team one last time this season. When they were on the court, all six girls did what they needed to do.
The head coach added that Anderson had a “big night offensively,” and Cooley “did a fantastic job” on defense.
“This group has overcome a lot this season,” Larsen closed. “We won our first 11 games and then we fell into a hole. We dug ourselves out, and those two big wins against Scotland (High School) and all the fan support really helped us play better at the end of the season.
“All the girls should be proud of themselves and they made a good run.”
Richmond tallied eight aces across the four sets, with Lambeth recording a team-high four, including three in the first set. She would also record 40 assists. From the net, the Lady Raiders crushed 46 kills, seeing Anderson (16) and Johnson (10) hit double digits. Covington had eight kills and Jordan chipped in seven more.
Defensively, Richmond bumped a season-high 93 digs, seeing Johnson and Jordan record a season-high 21 digs apiece. Right behind her with 19 digs was Cooley (season high), and Maultsby (14) and Lambeth (11) each hit double digits. Covington had a team-high two blocks.
With the 2019 season complete, ROSports will publish a comprehensive season recap and highlight this fall’s All-Sandhills Athletic Conference team members when they’re released.
It was the final match of Johnson, Jordan, Lambeth, Maultsby and senior Jasmine Ewing’s respective high school career.
