ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior High School athletics department will look to get back to a normal schedule this week after Hurricane Dorian postponed and canceled several matches and games the past seven days.
With Week 4 of the 2019-2020 fall sports season set to kickoff Monday, the final two Richmond programs will join the action with their season openers. The girls’ golf team and the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams are set to begin play.
Lady Raider volleyball looking to re-enter win column
The Richmond volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season last week after starting the fall 5-0. The four-set defeat came to Sandhills Athletic Conference rival Pinecrest High School, but the Lady Raiders will have three more chances to pick up wins this week.
Head coach Ashleigh Larsen’s team will open at Hoke County High School (0-6, 0-2 SAC) on Tuesday, before traveling to non-conference Southern Lee High School (4-2) on Wednesday. Richmond will wrap up at home with Lumberton High School (5-0, 2-0 SAC), which is the only other team besides Pinecrest that is still unbeaten.
The junior varsity matches will start at 5 p.m., followed by varsity at 6 p.m.
Raider soccer seeking first win in SAC opener
Head coach Chris Larsen and the Richmond boys’ soccer team have faced an inconsistent schedule and three tough opponents to start the year. The Raiders are still seeking their first win of the campaign, and will get three chances to try and return to the .500 mark.
Richmond (0-3) will open SAC play on Monday at home against reigning SAC champion Pinecrest (4-0-1, 1-0 SAC), before heading to Jack Britt High School (2-1, 1-0 SAC) on Wednesday. The Raiders will cap the week at home against non-conference Pine Forest High School (5-2).
Junior varsity will begin at 5:15 p.m. for all three matches, with varsity starting play at 7 p.m.
Lady Raider tennis gets two opportunities for first win
Also looking for its first win of the 2019 fall sports season is the Lady Raider tennis team. After seeing two of their three matches postponed last week due to Dorian, the Lady Raiders will get two opportunities against SAC opponents to enter the win column and give head coach Neely Herndon her first career win.
Richmond (0-4, 0-3 SAC) will be home Tuesday against Seventy-First High School (0-0) and on the road at Scotland High School (0-3, 0-2 SAC) on Thursday. Both matches will begin at 4 p.m.
Lady Raider golf, Raider and Lady Raider cross country kick off seasons
The Richmond girls’ golf team and head coach Keith Parsons will begin their season at Pinehurst No. 5 on Monday starting a 2 p.m. Last season’s opening match was cut short due to the heat index.
In cross country action, boys’ head coach Reggie Miller and girls’ head coach Jessie Covington will see their respective squads compete against SAC opponents Purnell Swett, Scotland and Seventy-First high schools at Purnell Swett. Races will begin at 5 p.m.
ROSports will publish season previews for each sport ahead of their openers.
Richmond football has busy week with tough Cardinal Gibbons teams
All three of Richmond’s football teams are back in action this week, after seeing the varsity and freshman teams not affected by Dorian. The junior varsity team had its game canceled against Butler High School, but now the Cardinal Gibbons High School Crusaders await the Raiders.
The ninth-grade team will travel to Cardinal Gibbons on Thursday and look to defeat the Crusaders for the second-straight week. Richmond scored 26 unanswered points in their opener last week to defeat them 32-26. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. in Raleigh on Thursday.
Junior varsity head coach Patrick Hope’s team will look to continue its 30-game winning streak Thursday at home against the Crusaders. It will be two weeks between games for the JV Raiders, but they opened their season with a 21-8 win over Anson High School in Week 1. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m on Thursday inside Raider Stadium.
In varsity action, the No. 1-ranked Raiders will face perhaps their toughest opponent yet in the Crusaders. Richmond will hit the road to No. 3 Cardinal Gibbons on Friday and look to carry the momentum over from Week 3’s 42-14 blowout win over No. 8 Butler High School.
Cardinal Gibbons (2-0) didn’t play last week due to Dorian, and the Crusaders defeated former No. 1 Wake Forest High School 27-24 in Week 1 to snap the Cougars’ 45-game winning streak. The two 4AA state title hopefuls will kick things off at 7 p.m. Friday in Raleigh.
