ROCKINGHAM – A fast start in the opening set, coupled with strong serving in the fourth set helped lead the Richmond Senior High School varsity volleyball team to its fourth-straight victory Thursday.
The Lady Raiders (11-7, 8-4 SAC) capped off a three-match week by welcoming in Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Lumberton High School, and took the Lady Pirates down in four sets, 3-1. Richmond completed the regular season two-match sweep of Lumberton, as the Lady Raiders made quick work with a 3-0 sweep on the road on Sept. 6.
First-year head coach Ashleigh Larsen’s team won by set scores of 25-17, 21-25, 25-21 and 25-19. Even though all of the final set scores were no more than eight points, the Lady Raiders used big runs in the first, third and fourth sets to shut the door on the Lady Pirates (8-5, 3-5 SAC).
“We had a really good defensive night,” Larsen said after looking over the match’s stats. “I appreciate how everyone played on defense tonight, and I also appreciate how the girls came out swinging on offense. We were able to find the open holes most of the time, but no matter what, the girls hit the ball hard. And that’s really good to see.”
Lumberton brought several heavy hitters to the matchup, creating an opportunity for the Lady Raiders’ back row to have a big night on the stat sheet. As a team, Richmond tallied a season-high 133 digs off of Lady Pirate attack attempts, with junior libero Layne Maultsby tallying a team-high 44 digs, which is also a new career best for her. Between the four sets, dig totals for the ladies in green and gold were 39, 28, 42 and 24, respectively.
There were four other Richmond players who recorded double-digit digs throughout the match, with junior setter Carley Lambeth adding 29 to Maultsby’s total. Junior outside hitter Jadyn Johnson racked up 23 digs, while senior outside hitter Savannah Lampley dug up 14 more. Nine different Lady Raider players recorded at least one dig in the win.
Also on the defensive side of the ball, Richmond shot down numerous Lumberton kill attempts, picking up eight blocks on the night. Sophomore middle hitter Georgia Grace Anderson led the team with five.
In the first set, Larsen’s squad put the pedal to the floor and rolled out to an early 7-0 lead which forced Lumberton head coach Tre Britt to call a timeout. It would prove ineffective for the Lady Pirates, as another big run, which included kills by Johnson and Lampley, propelled the Lady Raiders to their largest lead of the set, 16-7.
A late 4-0 charge by Lumberton that started with a Madison Canady kill cut the Richmond lead to just three points, 19-16. But Richmond returned to form and thanks to back-to-back blocks by Anderson and Lampley, the first set came to a 25-17 close.
The second set was a blip on Richmond’s radar, as it found itself down early and never recovered. Larsen credited the Lady Pirates’ serving in the second frame for the defeat, as an 11-4 start soon turned into an 11-point deficit, 19-8.
Richmond would dig its heels in and rally late with a 7-0 run to close the gap to 22-20, causing Britt to call another timeout. The run, which was served by Johnson, saw two massive Lampley kills, but a serving error gave the set to Lumberton.
Rebounding from the loss, sophomore middle hitter Jakerra Covington joined the action for Richmond in the third set as her block-assist with Lampley gave Richmond an early 11-6 lead. Out of another Lumberton timeout, Covington smashed home her first of three kills in the set.
The third frame saw 11 Lady Raider kills, their most in any set, with Lampley tallying five of her team-best 17 kills. Lumberton caught fire in the middle of the set, going on a 5-0 roll, cutting its deficit to 17-16. However, after Larsen paused the action, two kills by Lampley and a left-handed jam by Covington ended the threat.
Entering the fourth and final set, Richmond’s servers had only managed to record four aces. All that would change when Lambeth began the set with four aces in the opening six points. The Lady Raiders used that momentum to collect 10 aces in the final frame, with five from Lambeth, two from Lampley and junior right side hitter Allexis Swiney, respectively, and one more from Johnson.
The home team compiled 38 kills on the night, spreading the wealth between eight different players. Lampley’s 17 were aided by five from Johnson, and four apiece from Anderson, Covington and Swiney. Lambeth also dished out 38 assists.
“I’m really proud of the girls’ efforts tonight, and winning four in a row is nice,” Larsen said. “We knew we had to play well these past couple of games, and now we have two more to close out the (regular) season.
“We’d like to finish with two wins next week, but neither team is a sure win,” she concluded. “They’re both big games to finish the year and hopefully we can build some momentum heading into the conference playoffs.”
Those two matches Larsen is referring to are home against sixth-place Seventy-First High School (4-8, 3-7 SAC) on Tuesday, and on the road at fourth-place Scotland High School (7-8, 6-5 SAC) Thursday. The home match will serve as senior night to recognize Lampley and fellow senior Savannah Chappell.
Richmond will look to stay locked into the third-place spot in the conference standings, as both matches are scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.
