ROCKINGHAM — Beginning Mid-South Conference play Monday, it was a tough outing for the Richmond Senior High School girls’ tennis team.
Hosting Pine Forest High School, one of the MSC’s four 7A programs, the Lady Raiders suffered a 9-0 loss.
“Today was an eye opener for us,” head coach Jessica Covington said. “It showed us how competitive our new conference can be and that we have to be ready to play to stay in matches.
“We knew Pine Forest would be a challenge, but I don’t think we played to our fullest potential. Sometimes we beat ourselves and don’t compete the way we know we can.”
In singles play, No. 1 senior Jentry Denson lost to Madison Dempster 0-6, 0-6. No. 2 junior Colbie Covington fell to Emily Zumwalt 1-6, 0-6.
The middle of Richmond’s lineup also struggled Monday. No. 3 freshman Molly Covington came up short 1-6, 1-6 to Olivia Brady and No. 4 sophomore Sydney Barnes lost 2-6, 0-6 in her match with Ada Nelson.
Richmond’s closest two singles matches came from No. 5 junior Angelina Culbreth and No. 6 sophomore Erin Drumwright.
Culbreth battled to a 5-7, 0-6 defeat against Alyssa Stephens, while Drumwright was even closer in a 3-6, 4-6 loss in her contest with Jamey Sparks.
Doubles play resulted in an 0-8 loss for Denson and Colbie Covington in the No. 1 pairing.
No. 2 Molly Covington and Barnes had the best doubles score, falling 3-8. In the No. 3 contest, Culbreth and Drumwright managed to score as well, but lost 2-8.
“Hopefully we can learn from today and fix our mistakes moving forward,” Coach Covington closed.
The Lady Raiders (1-4, 0-1 MSC) host Jack Britt High School Wednesday at 4 p.m. for another conference match.
