ROCKINGHAM — Ending its regular season on Monday, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ tennis team notched another victory.
Hosting Lee County High School in a make-up match from earlier this season, the Lady Raiders completed the season sweep of the Lady Yellow Jackets.
Richmond secured the 6-3 Sandhills Athletic Conference win by taking four singles and two doubles matches.
“We had another really strong day on the tennis court,” head coach Jessica Covington said. “Our goal today was to end the season with another team victory and we were able to accomplish that thanks to some really awesome play by the girls.
“There were times we were down on the scoreboard, but the girls did a great job battling back.”
A trio of Lady Raiders defeated their respective opponent for the second time this season — senior Neely Turner, junior Hanna Smith and freshman Colbie Covington.
In the No. 6 singles match, Covington secured the lone shutout, defeating Rachael Montgomery 8-0.
Smith also cruised in the No. 2 matchup and handed Grace Britton an 8-1 defeat. Turner rallied in the No. 1 singles contest to defeat Allie Johnson 8-3.
Senior Ella Scott, who played in the No. 5 singles match, got a redemption win against Macie Witt. Scott jumped out to an early lead and held on for the 8-4 victory.
Lee County’s No. 3 Brooklin Underwood and No. 4 Peyton Koneski each won her singles match. Underwood defeated No. 3 sophomore Jentry Denson 8-8 and 7-5 in the extra set, while Koneski beat No. 4 junior Madi Grimes 8-4.
Heading into doubles play, Richmond’s No. 1 and No. 3 pairings secured the match victory.
The No. 1 duo of Turner and Smith came from behind to earn an 8-6 victory over Johnson and Britton. Scott and Covington made quick work in the No. 3 match to defeat Witt and Montgomery 8-3.
Denson and Grimes battled in the No. 2 contest to force an extra set, but lost 5-7 to Underwood and Koneski.
“Now we have to shift our focus and prepare for the conference tournament,” Covington closed. “We’ve played every team twice so we have a pretty good idea what to expect no matter which seed and opponent we get.
“I know the girls and myself are excited to see what we can accomplish on Thursday.”
Richmond (6-6, 6-6 SAC) will travel to Pinecrest High School for the SAC tournament.
The Lady Raiders will likely be the No. 4 seed, although that will be determined in the next couple of days. Action at Pinecrest will start at 1 p.m. on Thursday.
