FAYETTEVILLE — A slow start to Thursday’s match led to the end of Richmond Senior High School’s six-game winning streak.
The junior varsity volleyball team traveled to Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Jack Britt High School and suffered its first loss in nearly a month.
Playing three sets, the Lady Raiders fell 2-1. Richmond won the middle set 25-20, but dropped the first (12-25) and third sets (11-15).
“We definitely came into that first game low on energy and excitement,” head coach Melissa Dennis said. “The girls looked worried and kept making mistakes because they were trying to make big plays instead of smart plays.
“But they started to get their rhythm back at the end of the first and carried that into the second.”
On Nov. 23, Richmond lost at home to the Lady Buccaneers, the team’s last loss entering play on Thursday.
Jack Britt opened the game on a 9-0 run before Dennis called a timeout. Sophomores Brianna Dodson and Quston Leviner both recorded a kill out of the break, but the Lady Raiders still trailed 18-4.
Freshman libero Allie Rodgers had an ace late in the set, and with sophomore Joy Styles at the serving line, Richmond strung together a 4-0 run. Styles had an ace and freshman outside hitter Emma Altman drilled home a kill to keep the Lady Raiders alive.
Altman’s kill proved to be Richmond’s final point of the set, as Jack Britt closed on a 4-0 run itself.
The Lady Raiders played much better in the second set, Dennis noted. Styles started the set with an ace and Leviner added another kill.
A Jenna Gardner kill sparked a 4-1 run that put RIchmond up 9-5. Gardner added a tip during the stretch and Rodgers pushed a ball from the back row that found open space.
With the set tied at nine points, Leviner served 10 straight points for the Lady Raiders to break the set open. She had two aces in the rally and freshman Makailah Jackson tipped a ball at the net to extend Richmond’s lead.
Up by 10 points several times, the Lady Raiders held off a late 6-1 run by Jack Britt to take the second stanza.
In the decisive third frame, Richmond trailed by four points early, but used a 6-0 stint to take the lead. Altman had two aces during that span and Leviner proved big with another timely kill.
Battling out to an 8-8 tie, Jack Britt scored three consecutive points and Dennis called a timeout. The Lady Raiders would stay close with a point from freshman Kady Harris, but the Lady Bucs sealed the deal with a 3-1 run.
Richmond (6-4) will now have off until Tuesday, Dec. 29, for holiday break. The JV Lady Raiders will return to action on the road at Hoke County High School, a team they swept in their first meeting.
“We definitely are not sitting around over break,” Dennis closed. “We have some major adjustments to make before seeing the rest of the teams. We are going to use this time to regroup and go back to basics and work our way back up.”
