ROCKINGHAM — Momentum and an early lead by the Richmond Senior High School volleyball team couldn’t be maintained during Thursday’s regular-season finale.
Trying to even their series with Pinecrest High School, the Lady Raiders let a one-set advantage result in a 3-1 loss.
“I’m very thankful for the years we’ve had with this group of seniors,” head coach Ashleigh Larsen said. “All three of them have been with us for four years. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t get a win for them tonight.
“Each of them had their individual moments to shine tonight and played well. They’ve done that all season and during their entire time with the program. I’m forever thankful for everything they’ve done and we’ll miss them.”
Richmond was aggressive during the early going and won the first set 25-18. Larsen said the Lady Raiders had opportunities to put the match away, but instead “beat ourselves” in the second, third and fourth sets.
Those scores were 18-25, 29-31 and 17-25.
“We came out swinging in the first set and everything went in our favor,” Larsen explained. “When we were down in the other sets, the girls rallied and made things interesting. That was huge to see, but we just couldn’t build momentum.
“We’d get a great kill or an ace, but not be able to go on a run. In those last three sets we’d get a point and then give up two or three. The girls were fired up tonight, but we just got into a funk that we couldn’t break tonight.”
Junior middle hitter Riley McDonald had a big hand in Richmond’s first-set win, both with the attack and the block. She gave Richmond an early 3-2 lead with a one-handed stopper on a kill attempt.
Richmond got behind, however, and trailed by as many as six points, 14-8. McDonald made a block for the Lady Raiders’ next point, which started a 6-0 run that turned into an 11-1 scoring stretch for the team.
With Gibson at the service line during the six-point run, Richmond capitalized on two Pinecrest errors. McDonald had the next three points with a pair of blocks bookending a kill, which tied the set. Another miscue by the Lady Patriots gave Richmond a 15-14 lead.
Breaking a 15-point tie in Richmond’s favor were two Pinecrest errors, followed by a block and a kill from McDonald. Extending the lead to 20-15 after a Lady Patriots timeout was hit into the net.
Four of Richmond’s final five points came on errors by Pinecrest (11-12, 7-3 MSC). Junior setter Lillian Hill had the other point on a bump over the net that found empty space.
A series of runs to start the second set saw Richmond score three points to knot the score 8-8. Contributing a point apiece were junior Madisen Jackson (kill) and Neal (block).
Pinecrest used a five-point run later on to take a 15-10 lead, which Richmond couldn’t catch up to despite battling back. Points from Neal, Watkins and McDonald made it a one-point deficit, but Pinecrest closed on a 9-3 run to knot the match score.
Trailing by nine points, 20-11, in the third set, the Lady Raiders went on a roll and scored 13 of the next 17 points to even the score at 24 points.
McDonald started the run with a kill and an ace on consecutive volleys and Jackson added a tip at the net and a push to the back corner to go along with several Pinecrest errors.
A late 7-1 run, again with Gibson serving, featured a kill by Neal and three straight hitting errors to tie the set at 24 points. A kill by McDonald on the next series made it set point for Richmond, the first of two opportunities to take a one-set lead.
Both teams traded points to ties of 25, 26 and 27 points. Watkins gave the Lady Raiders their next advantage, 28-27, when she struck a kill down the line after Neal made a big dig to extend the play.
Ties at 28 and 29 points were followed by Pinecrest scoring its final two points on a service error and a miscommunication by Richmond.
Neal and McDonald combined to start the fourth set out to a 3-0 lead for the Lady Raiders. Similar to the other sets, both teams evened the score a number of times, including an ace from Hill that made it 8-8.
Using a pair of 4-0 runs, however, Pinecrest opened its lead to 16-10. After calling a timeout, Richmond got three points back thanks to a Neal kill, an ace from junior Kenley Smith and an error.
The Lady Raiders never got closer than four points on the scoreboard after that point. Trailing 18-13, they allowed Pinecrest to end the match by scoring seven of the next 11 points.
With the regular season in the books, Richmond finished with a 12–8 overall record and a 5-5 mark against MSC opponents.
Following all of the MSC’s results Thursday, the Lady Raiders were fourth in the final conference standings.
There will not be a conference tournament this year, as the MSC voted to do away with them for most sports. Richmond will now wait for the NCHSAA to release its playoff brackets next Thursday.
JV Lady Raiders end season with loss
Playing in its 20th and final match of the season, the Richmond junior varsity volleyball team wasn’t able to end with a victory.
Hosting Pinecrest ahead of senior night, the JV Lady Raiders lost in straight sets. Scores were 13-25 and 19-25.
“The girls showed amazing growth this season,” head coach Melissa Dennis said. “We had 11 freshmen on the team, and for them to come in and have to learn the flow of the game with things like rotations, serve-receive, defense and coverage, it can be overwhelming.
“But this group of girls handled it so well. Our progression from start to finish was encouraging and we are better for it moving forward, not only for the JV program, but for varsity, too. I enjoyed coaching these girls so much and it was an exciting season.}
The JV Lady Raiders’ overall record this fall was 9-11, and they went 4-6 against MSC opponents.
