ROCKINGHAM — A fresh start to the second round of regular-season conference play renewed the Lady Raider volleyball team’s spirit Thursday.
Richmond’s stick-to-it attitude was rewarded against Southern Lee High School, which snapped a season-long seven-match losing streak.
Aggressive hitting at the net, paired with quality defensive play, resulted in a 3-1 victory for the Lady Raiders.
Set scores favored Richmond 25-15, 24-26, 25-16 and 25-12.
Tied at 10 points in the first set, Richmond used a 6-1 run to take a 16-11 lead and force a timeout. Senior Ava Edmondson had an ace during that stretch, which was aided by a series of errors by Southern Lee.
Out of the break, junior J’Nasia Neal delivered a kill, which sparked a 9-3 set-ending run. Five straight points were served by sophomore Riley McDonald.
Junior Ka’mora Watkins, who returned recently from an injury, crashed the hardwood with a kill for the final point.
The Lady Raiders trailed the majority of the second set by three or four points. A tip into empty space by McDonald was followed by a pair of aces from the middle hitter to make it a 19-18 deficit.
Tied at 23 points, Southern Lee (5-8, 0-7 SAC) managed to win three of the next four points.
Picking up the pace in the third set, the Lady Raiders burst out to a 14-3 lead. Sophomore Kenley Smith started the set with seven straight points at the service line, which featured kills from McDonald and Watkins.
An ace from Edmondson and two more kills by McDonald and Watkins extended the lead to 11 points.
The Lady Cavaliers rallied to pull within six points, 17-11. Another Edmondson ace grew the lead again and McDonald registered back-to-back points on a block and an ace.
Leading 23-14, Richmond’s final two points came on errors, including a service error to make it 2-1.
Keeping the pressure on, Richmond jumped ahead 11-6 to start the fourth stanza and forced a timeout call.
A 14-6 stretch favored Richmond to close out the match. McDonald, Watkins and Neal each had multiple kills, with Smith and Edmondson contributing one apiece.
Neal found the floor to make it 23-12, and after a Southern Lee error, sophomore Madisen Jackson made it final with a kill.
The Lady Raiders (6-9, 2-5 SAC) have another home match Tuesday against current conference leader Pinecrest High School (10-6, 6-0 SAC). The match will start at 6 p.m.
JV team bashes Southern Lee
Holding its opponent to single digits Thursday, the Richmond junior varsity volleyball team got back in the win column.
Sweeping Southern Lee 2-0, the JV Lady Raiders won by large margins of 25-9 and 25-6.
“I have been telling the girls all season how keeping momentum and energy can make all the difference,” head coach Melissa Dennis said.
“We really made sure to put the effort into that tonight. It made a huge difference. They worked well together and communicated every play.”
The Richmond JV volleyball team (7-7, 4-3 SAC) welcomes in Pinecrest Tuesday at 5 p.m.
