CHAPEL HILL — The Richmond Senior High School volleyball team is headed back to the postseason for the second season in a row.
Released on Thursday, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s finalized brackets placed Lady Raiders as the No. 29 seed in the 4A East.
As one of the final teams to qualify for the 32-team East bracket, Richmond, which was the same seed in last season’s playoffs, will travel to No. 4 Gray’s Creek High School for the opening round on Saturday.
The Lady Raiders and head coach Ashleigh Larsen secured their postseason spot with their best overall record and winning percentage since 2019, which included a pivotal win last Thursday against 3A playoff qualifier Scotland High School.
The NCHSAA uses a team’s rating percentage index (RPI) to determine playoff seeding. RPI is calculated using a formula that combines a team’s winning percentage, its opponents’ winning percentage and its opponents’ opponents winning percentage.
The Lady Raiders (11-11) were the 29th team in the final 4A East rankings with an RPI of 0.52591. The Lady Bears (21-2) were fourth with an RPI of 0.69436.
Larsen, who has led the team to four playoff appearances in her six seasons, said the “relentless pursuit” of the team helped get the Lady Raiders back to the postseason.
She also added that another year of growth and the right mindset could do damage in the first round.
“I’m happy the girls worked hard to get themselves into the state playoffs,” Larsen said. “I think the girls got the experience last season and we have played some teams this season that have presented a challenge for us.
“We need to work on things that went well for us in our bigger games and focus on our game,” she added. “And we need to come hungry to win.”
Larsen admitted to “not knowing much” about Gray’s Creek, adding it’s been nearly a decade and a half since the two teams played. The last meeting was an early-season non-conference match on Sept. 2, 2009, a 3-2 loss for Richmond.
Using what statistics and video are available, Larsen plans to use that information to help the Lady Raiders prepare during their two-day turnaround.
“Their schedule shows they played some members of our old conference and they also played Pine Forest,” Larsen shared. “Just looking at their stats briefly, it looks like they are a well compiled team.”
Gray’s Creek, which is coached by Amber Tydall, went 21-2 this season. Playing in the 3A/4A United 8 Conference, the Lady Bears finished second with a conference record of 15-2.
The team’s two losses came to conference foe Cape Fear High School, which secured the No. 1 seed in the 3A East bracket. Having lost to Cape Fear in the conference tournament championship, the Lady Bears enter the playoffs having lost two of their last four matches.
Richmond took fourth place in the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament this season, a one spot improvement from 2022. Of their 79 total sets played this season, Richmond has won 40 (51 percent).
Gray’s Creek, which has won 64 of its 75 total sets, is led offensively by sophomore Taylor Baggett (3.9 kills per set) and junior Ava Sterling (3.2 KPS). Both players are right around the 45 percent mark for their season kill percentage.
Baggett and junior Makenzie Bagley are threats from the service line, having each served 62 aces this season. Sarah Allen leads the Lady Bears with 2.1 blocks per match and has also dished out 38 aces.
While on paper Gray’s Creek looks to be the favorite, Larsen said Richmond’s upset bid hinges on the Lady Raiders’ ability to rise to the occasion and play their style of volleyball.
“We’ve got to get back to our game and our aggression,” Larsen said. “We can win if we focus on and correct some little things that we lost sight of this week or in some other games this season.
“The girls really have to challenge themselves so we can show up and be ready to execute,” she closed.
First serve from Gray’s Creek High School is set for 12 p.m. on Saturday. The winner will play the victor of No. 13 Heritage/No. 20 Ashley in the second round.
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