ROCKINGHAM – The first six top sports stories have been released in the inaugural ROSports department’s Top Sports Story countdown of the 2017-2018 school year. And now, with only three moments remaining to cap off our list, the Richmond Senior High School varsity Lady Raiders volleyball team makes its first appearance.
With the Richmond Observer nearing its first birthday having launched on July 1, 2017, the fall sports season, with the Lady Raiders included, was the first go-around for covering local high school sports. And what a treat it was.
Entering the 2017 season, the Lady Raiders were coming off winning a conference title in 2016, with former standout player Altman Griffin earning the title of the then Southeastern Conference’s “Player of the Year.” This past fall, it was deja vu for Richmond, as Griffin nabbed that same honor, while former head coach Shellie Wimpey was named as the Sandhills Athletic Conference’s first “Coach of the Year.”.
Better yet, Richmond went on to set the program’s all-time single-season record for wins, eclipsing the previous mark of 16 on Thursday, September 28, against newly found foe Jack Britt High School. The Lady Raiders, who were comprised of Griffin, fellow seniors Brianna Baysek, Owen Bowers and Kenzie Webb, junior Savannah Lampley and sophomore defensive specialist Layne Maultsby, continued the streak and finished the regular season a perfect 22-0.
Adding to the already historic run, the Lady Raiders would sweep their competition in the SAC tournament, knocking off Pinecrest High School in straight sets on Tuesday, October 17, and tally a perfect 25-0 record.
Though the Lady Raiders would fall in five sets to Lake Norman High School in their first round matchup of the NCHSAA 4A state playoffs, it was still a season for the ages. Now with Baysek, Bowers, Griffin and Webb graduated, newly announced head coach Ashleigh Larsen is looking to continue this past season’s success with some familiar and new faces in the mix.
Below are the original game stories written by sports editor Kyle Pillar on Friday, September 29, and Wednesday, October 18:
Breaking News: History made as Lady Raiders volleyball wins its 17th straight match
ROCKINGHAM – Seventeen in 2017. Oh, how sweet it is.
The Richmond Senior High School Lady Raiders varsity volleyball team won its program-best seventeenth win of the season Thursday. In historic fashion, the Lady Raiders swept Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Jack Britt High School 3-0, and remained undefeated on the season.
Richmond won 25-15, 25-18 and 25-12, and looked primed and ready from the start.
“It feels really good to make history, especially at home,” head coach Shellie Wimpey said. “The girls are really excited about it. One thing we definitely have going for us is our team chemistry. These girls are a family, they love each other. That really shows on the court, and it’s helped us break the record tonight.”
In what has been a season to remember, Richmond (17-0, 10-0 SAC) began with the single goal in mind of repeating as SAC champions. And to this point, after defeating the Lady Buccaneers (11-6, 5-5 SAC), and barring a complete collapse, the Lady Raiders will obtain that goal, as they currently lead SAC play by 3.5 games over Scotland and Pinecrest high schools.
But because of the season’s continued successes, Wimpey has shifted her team’s focus to finishing the season a perfect 22-0. And the Lady Raiders are hungry to get past the second round of the state playoffs, which has served as the stopping point of the last two seasons.
“Winning 17 in a row is great,” Wimpey said smiling. “But our new goal is 22-0. And we want to get over the hump of the second round of the playoffs. We have a team this year that can make a legitimate run in the playoffs.”
The Lady Raiders’ best statistical game of the night was the first set, as they tallied 11 team kills and 17 digs. Rolling out to a quick lead, senior middle hitter Owen Bowers had a game-high five kills, while senior outside hitter Altman Griffin added four of her own. Bowers finished the night with 12 kills, two digs and two blocks; Griffin had nine kills, seven digs, three aces and two blocks.
Richmond continued to roll in the second game, but didn’t break away until the set was tied at 16. The Lady Raiders finished on a 9-2 run to go up two games to none. The set ended with a Griffin kill, followed by an error by the Lady Bucs following a Savannah Lampley serve. Lampley, who was recently named the Official Richmond County Athlete of the Week, finished the night with four kills, 10 digs and one block.
As the anticipation grew going into the third and final game, Richmond held Jack Britt to a match-low 12 points. Senior setter Mackenzie Webb dished out nine of her 29 total assists on the night, while also picking up five of her eight total digs. The set began with a 12-4 Richmond run, and the Lady Raiders closed it with a 10-1 run.
Offensively, Wimpey acknowledged that her players communicated well, and were able to find soft spots in Jack Britt’s defense. Richmond was more persistent in finding holes, and tapped the ball a lot to get it to fall between its opponents.
And then the moment of realization struck; history was made. Lampley was thrilled following the victory.
“It was such a great moment,” Lampley said of locking up the single-season wins record. “I love this team. We have been able to grow together (over the last two years), and now we have bragging rights because we’ve broken the record.”
Griffin, who has served as the team’s leader all year, realized the win is a big deal, but there is still a lot more left to accomplish as the state playoffs loom in the near future.
“It was great to win tonight, and it feels so good to break the record in my senior year,” Griffin noted. “But I think we need to remain positive with ourselves, and the team can’t get complacent.”
The junior varsity squad was also in action Wednesday, as they, too, swept the Lady Bucs. The Lady Raiders won in two, 25-11 and 25-17.
Head coach Ashleigh Larsen expressed how well her players played off of momentum.
“The girls played well tonight,” Larsen said. “They made some smart decisions offensively and showed how they’ve grown this season. They continued their momentum from Tuesday’s match (at Pinecrest).”
Freshman outside hitter Taylor Chappell had four kills and five digs, while sophomore outside hitter Madison Jordan added three kills and eight digs.
The Lady Raiders look to continue their quest to finish the season undefeated next week. In a busy week, they’ll host SAC opponent Hoke County High School Tuesday, October 3, and non-conference opponent West Montgomery High School Wednesday, October 4. They’ll wrap up the stretch on the road at SAC squad Lumberton High School Thursday, October 5. Conference games are set to begin with junior varsity at 6 p.m., followed by varsity at 7 p.m. West Montgomery’s match will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Lady Raiders claim SAC tournament crown with 25th straight win; prep for state title run
ROCKINGHAM – Still perfect. Still hungry. Still history to be made.
For the Richmond Senior High School varsity volleyball team, phase two of undefeated play is complete, with only the most important phase, the North Carolina 4-A state playoffs, standing between the Lady Raiders and destiny.
The Lady Raiders added to their already impressive resume, earning their 25th straight win to claim the 2017 Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament championship Wednesday night. Last week, Richmond took the regular season crown.
Wednesday was the third night in a row that Richmond took to its home court and swept its opponent in straight sets 3-0. No. 1-seeded Richmond (25-0) never gave No. 2 Pinecrest (16-6) a chance, blanking them 25-16, 25-13 and 25-15.
“It feels great to be 25-0,” head coach Shellie Wimpey said in an exclusive video interview with the RO. “It feels like the season has flown by, and now we’re 25-0. While were in (the season), we keep pushing and pushing. And now it feels real and we can actually celebrate.”
Earlier in the week, the Lady Raiders silenced No. 8 Seventy First and No. 4 Scotland County. On the season to date, Richmond has won 111 of its 118 sets played. And Wednesday’s SAC tournament win was a fitting finish to a season that saw Richmond decimate its conference competition.
Senior Altman Griffin (center) celebrates with several teammates during Wednesday’s SAC championship victory.
The first game got off to a slow start, with Richmond falling behind the Lady Patriots 2-0 early. But following senior outside hitter Altman Griffin’s first of a team-high 14 kills on the night, the Lady Raiders soon found their groove. As a team, the Lady Raiders finished with 34 kills, 41 digs and nine aces.
Pinecrest committed a serving error, one of its many on the night, which was enough to shift the game’s momentum. Richmond leapt out to a 16-7 lead following a 10-3 run by its explosive offense comprised of Griffin, junior outside hitter Savannah Lampley and senior middle blockers Brianna Baysek and Owen Bowers. Another Pinecrest serving error, in conjunction with a push out of bounds by junior setter Camille Honeycutt, closed out the first game.
“We’ve won all these games, and it doesn’t even feel real,” Griffin said. “It’s definitely an accomplishment (to win 25 games). To be undefeated my senior year, and to know that people are going to remember this, it feels really good.”
In the second game, neither team saw major changes, as Richmond held the Lady Patriots to a match-low 13 points. Griffin got the set started with a 9-0 run from the serving line, where she picked up three of her six aces on the night.
Pinecrest head coach Scott Shepherd called a timeout while down by seven, but Richmond refused to let the break in play deter its overpowering offense. Despite allowing the Lady Patriots pull within six points and trail 15-9, Richmond steamed ahead, and closed out the set with a tip from sophomore outside hitter Jadyn Johnson and a Pinecrest serving error.
Also putting up big offensive numbers for the Lady Raiders were Bowers (nine kills), Baysek (five kills, two aces) and Lampley (four kills). Sophomore outside hitter Allexis Swiney also contributed with one ace and one kill. Senior setter Mackenzie Webb, who is the Official Richmond County Female Athlete of the Week, tallied 33 assists to help set up the offense.
Leading Richmond on defense was sophomore libero Layne Maultsby, who went par for the course, racking up a team-high 12 digs. Griffin picked up double digit digs for the third night in a row, adding 10 more. Eight other Lady Raiders dug the ball, most notably, were Swiney (five digs), and Lampley and Webb (four each).
As this is the first SAC tournament championship in program history, Richmond is set to head into the state playoffs. Wimpey said the bracket isn’t entirely set, but Richmond will likely receive a first-round bye, and if that’s the case, will host a second-round game Tuesday, October 24. The opponent and time of the potential second round match are yet to be decided at the time of this publication.
“We have to make sure we’re working hard on defense every day,” Wimpey said about getting ready for the second round. “We’ve got to work on our serve/receive because sometimes we struggle with that.
“We have to play our game,” Wimpey continued. “We can’t let anyone get in our head. And we have to do what we do best.”
The No. 2 top sports story from this past school year will be released in Friday’s edition.
