ROCKINGHAM — Head coach Ashleigh Larsen and the Lady Raider volleyball team enjoy playing on their home court the most, and the Richmond crowd played a factor in earning a win on Tuesday.
Playing the first of three straight matches in their gym, the Lady Raiders bounced back from a three-set loss to Pinecrest to end last week with an emotional five-set win over Hoke County High School.
Taking the first two sets, the Lady Raiders dug in after dropping the middle sets to earn a 3-2 victory. Set scores were 25-23, 25-19, 27-29, 23-25 and 17-15.
Larsen said the Lady Raiders “set the tone” in the opening two sets and used the energy in the gym to rally after allowing the Lady Bucks to tie the match.
In the opening frame, the Lady Raiders erased an early deficit by using a 10-6 run to tie the set at 16 points. Junior Jenna Gardner served four straight points, which featured one of senior Catherine Dennis’ team-high 18 kills in the match.
Battling out to five more ties, kills from juniors Christi Jacobs and Katie Way and senior Quston Leviner knotted the score at 22 points. Junior Makailah Jackson picked up a timely kill to make it even at 23 points, before a hitting error and another Dennis kill ended the first stanza.
Sophomore setter Ava Edmondson, who had 12 digs and two aces, served a 3-0 run to put Richmnd ahead to start the second. Hoke County battled back to tie the set 6-6.
Gardner proved helpful from the serving line again, starting a 5-0 spurt that made it 11-6. Dennis, Edmondson and Leviner all had a kill, and Dennis made a smart tip at the net for the final point of the run.
Using a 4-0 stretch later in the set, Richmond pulled ahead by seven points, 16-9. A combination of errors by Hoke County (2-7, 0-3 SAC), two kills from Way and another from Jacobs maintained a five-point lead.
Jackson made a crucial block at the net to keep the momentum in Richmond’s favor, which ended the set courtesy of a Jacobs kill, one of her three in the match.
The Lady Raiders trailed by as many as eight points in the third set, but a 7-0 run with senior Joy Styles serving gave Richmond a 16-15 lead. Styles had an ace during that span, and both Dennis and Edmondson had a kill.
Seven more ties saw the third go back and forth, and Richmond had two chances to earn the sweep, but the Lady Bucks broke a 27-27 tie with a 2-0 run.
The fourth set followed a similar pattern with Richmond getting behind early and rallying back. A Leviner kill, one of eight from the outside hitter, gave the Lady Raiders an 18-17 lead.
A serving error by Hoke County knotted the score at 23 points, but again a two-point run by the visitors ended the set and forced the fifth.
The Lady Bucks took a 6-4 lead in the final set, causing Larsen to call a timeout. Out of the break, Richmond rolled to a 5-3 run to tie the set at 9 points.
Dennis had three more kills in that stretch, while Leviner added two kills. Way collected the final of her seven kills to tie the score at 13 points.
Jacobs served up an ace to give Richmond a 15-14 lead, and after Hoke County tied it up, Richmond won the match thanks to consecutive hitting errors.
Defensively, Richmond was led by junior libero Allie Rodgers with 25 digs. Edmondson (12) and Styles (11) both reached double-digit digs and Jacobs had seven.
As a team, the Lady Raiders dished out nine aces, including three from Rodgers and two each by Edmondson and Gardner.
Now 5-4 overall and 2-1 in SAC play, the Lady Raiders will continue their three-match homestand on Wednesday against non-conference Anson High School (5-1). Varsity action will start around 6 p.m.
JV Lady Raiders suffer loss to Hoke County
The Richmond junior varsity volleyball team returned to play on Tuesday with a loss to Hoke County.
Dropping the match in two sets, the JV Lady Raiders fell by set scores of 15-25 and 17-25.
Falling to 5-4 and 1-2 against conference teams, the JV Lady Raiders will host Anson on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
