ROCKINGHAM — In a season filled with “highs and lows,” Richmond Senior High School head volleyball coach Ashleigh Larsen never saw any quit in her team. And that’s what mattered most.
Behind the moniker of “relentless pursuit,” the Lady Raiders battled a 26-match schedule in Larsen’s second year at the helm of the program. Going 19-7 overall in the regular and postseason, the Lady Raiders earned third place in the Sandhills Athletic Conference for the second straight season, while also returning to the 4A state playoffs for the sixth consecutive year.
Using the leadership of five seniors in Jasmine Ewing, Jadyn Johnson, Madison Jordan, Carley Lambeth and Layne Maultsby, Richmond began the season by winning 10 of its first 11 matches. In non-conference play, the Lady Raiders took care of their five opponents to go a perfect 8-0.
Against SAC opponents, Larsen’s squad picked up regular-season series sweeps against Hoke County, Purnell Swett and Seventy-First high schools. Splitting with Jack Britt, Lumberton and Scotland high schools, the Lady Raiders only came up short against eventual conference winner Pinecrest High School.
“The girls hold themselves high on their expectations every year, and this year was no different,” Larsen explained. “We wanted to win conference, and came up a little short, but we did turn things around for an exciting finish.
“Our conference is tough and this season we couldn’t take any team lightly,” she continued. “I really thought the girls showed determination to do battle in every match. It was good to get back to the conference championship and the playoffs.”
The Lady Raiders returned to the SAC tournament championship, the first time since 2017, and finished as the runner-up to Pinecrest after steamrolling Purnell Swett and Scotland.
Joining the senior class were a handful of juniors who enjoyed breakout seasons. Middle hitter Georgia Grace Anderson returned for her second varsity season and led the SAC in hitting percentage (.431), and was part of a dominant middle court. Joining her was fellow junior middle hitter Jakerra Covington, whose left-handed attack brought energy to the front during her first varsity season.
Junior right side hitter Taylor Chappell and defensive specialist Emy Cooley, both of whom returned from a season ago, picked up more quality minutes to help the Lady Raiders on both sides of the ball.
“It will definitely be hard to replace those five seniors,” Larsen said. “Layne was on varsity for four years and Jadyn played for three. Carley has been a very strong at setter the last two years, and Madison became a really strong hitter. Jasmine got some quality minutes and she’s been a big force as such a good motivator.
“It was good to get Georgia Grace, Emy, Jakerra and Taylor some more playing time to develop,” she continued. “There were lots of good things, especially toward the end of season. Emy kept balls off the floor, Jakerra and Georgia Grace did a good job finding holes in the defense.”
Larsen added it’s a “positive feeling having them returning as seniors,” and hopes to utilize current juniors Kelly and Shelly Hoffman and Jayla McDougald next season.
Richmond was without Larsen for 12 matches of the regular season due to the birth of her daughter. Stepping up to the plate was first year assistant and junior varsity head coach Melissa Dennis, who led the team to an 8-4 record during that span.
The mixture of returning experienced players and the understanding of the Lady Raiders playing under Larsen for another year is what she said helped the team remain competitive.
“Last year coming into it, we knew we had to get adjusted between the girls and me,” she explained. “But this year we knew the chemistry was a lot better and that showed throughout most of the season. Our conference has gotten a lot stronger, so we did get in a hole in the middle of the season, but the girls prevailed.”
That funk saw Richmond swept by Pinecrest, and suffer losses to Jack Britt, Lumberton and Scotland in a span of six games. Scotland was much improved this season, making the jump from fifth place to second place in the standings. But Larsen said those losses were “learning experiences” for veteran and returning players alike.
Down the stretch of the season after losing to Lumberton on the road, the Lady Raiders went 4-0, including two three-set sweeps over Scotland, one on senior night and the other in the SAC tournament semis. That pair of wins against their rivals is what Larsen said was one of the highlights of the season.
“There’s something about playing Scotland that fires the girls up,” she said. “We lost the first time, but swept them twice which was really big for our program.
“The girls were relentless and never gave up,” she noted. “There were a couple losses that hurt us, but we bounced back. I’m proud of all the girls for their consistency and belief in one another to never stop fighting.”
Other big wins this season were early matches against non-conference Montgomery Central High School, which saw the Lady Raiders have to work out of being down early. Beating non-conference Lee County in straight sets twice was also something Larsen was proud of her team for accomplishing.
Notable statistics from the season include Lambeth recording her 1,000th career assist in two seasons and Maultsby ended her career with 1,189 digs. Anderson’s 261 kills were second in the conference, and Richmond’s 19 total wins were the most in a single season since going 25-1 in 2017, and six more than a season ago.
Although she’s still thinking about Richmond’s first round playoff loss to Reagan High School last week, Larsen is looking forward to some down time with her family before picking up with volleyball workouts in the spring.
