ROCKINGHAM — The march toward hopeful Sandhills Athletic Conference championships continue the next five days for several of Richmond Senior High School’s fall sports programs.
Volleyball looking to stay competitive in standings
The Lady Raider volleyball (13-4, 6-4 SAC) team suffered two tough losses to SAC opponents last week, but still sits tied for third place in the conference standings with Jack Britt High School. Although the cards will have to fall just right for Richmond to climb the ladder into the top two spots, the Lady Raiders are still inside the cut to make the NCHSAA 4A state playoffs.
With five regular-season matches still on the slate, Richmond will knock out three of those this week. It opens Tuesday at home against SAC opponent Hoke County High School (0-14, 0-10 SAC), before playing back-to-back road matches at non-conference Uwharrie Charter Academy (12-5) and Lumberton High School (11-5, 5-5 SAC). All matches will begin at 6 p.m.
Soccer gets two more SAC opportunities to extend streak
Riding a four-game SAC winning streak, the Raider soccer team will look to extend it with two matches this week. Richmond (5-7-2, 5-3 SAC) has found its scoring streak lately, tallying 11 goals in their last four conference games. At the start of the week, Chris Larsen’s Raiders are in third place behind Hoke County and Pinecrest high schools.
Richmond’s first game will be on the road at second-place Pinecrest (13-2, 7-1 SAC) on Monday, as the Raiders will look to break a six-match losing streak to the Patriots. Then it’s back home on Wednesday, with Richmond looking to take the regular-season series sweep against Jack Britt (5-5, 4-3 SAC). Both matches are set for a 7 p.m. start.
Tennis competes in SAC conference tournament
The Lady Raider tennis team wrapped up its regular season at home against Scotland last Thursday (4-9, 4-8 SAC), and now several members of the team will compete in the SAC tournament to try and qualify for regionals. The conference tournament will be held at Hoke County on Monday, with matches beginning at 12 p.m.
Golf sees two-match week, cross country teams at Jack Britt
Consistency has been the name of the game for the Lady Raider golf team, which has placed fourth in the team standings in each of the four regular season matches. Richmond and head coach Keith Parsons will play two matches this week, starting at Bayonet Golf Course at Puppy Creek on Monday, a week after seeing five of its six golfers shoot season-low rounds.
On Thursday, the SAC teams will play its second round of the week at Scotch Meadows Country Club in Laurinburg. Golfers will begin at 2 p.m. both days.
The boys’ and girls’ cross country teams return to the course, too, racing a conference meet at Jack Britt High School on Tuesday. The Lady Raiders finished second last week at Seventy-First, and will look to win its third SAC race of the fall as senior No. 1 runner Airel Brown is expected to join the team from illness.
The Richmond boys have had junior No. 1 Carson Jordan lead the pack all season, as he’ll shoot for another top-three finish. The races against Jack Britt, Pinecrest and Scotland high schools will get underway at 5 p.m.
Varsity football hoping to remain unbeaten
The Richmond varsity football team recorded a 36-0 win over Pinecrest on Friday, extending its regular-season winning streak to 15 games. The win kept the Raiders (6-0, 2-0 SAC) unbeaten this fall, and was the defense’s fourth shutout in six games.
Next on the rigorous SAC schedule is Jack Britt (5-1, 1-1 SAC), as Richmond will make the trip to Fayetteville on Friday for its first road conference game of the year. Two seasons ago, Richmond lost to the Buccaneers at the Boneyard, but will seek a different result when kickoff gets underway at 7:30 p.m. ROSports will publish a pre-game story later this week.
Looking to rebound from a three-point loss last week to Pinecrest High School, the Raider junior varsity team will welcome in the Buccaneers on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
