ASHEBORO, N.C. - Going to five sets for the second time in four matches may not have been what Richmond Senior High School head volleyball coach Ashleigh Larsen wanted, but her team prevailed with another come-from-behind victory Wednesday.
On the road at Uwharrie Charter Academy, the Lady Raiders battled the Lady Eagles for the second time this season. And like the first contest in the season opener just over a week ago, Richmond emerged victorious in five sets for its third win of the 2018 campaign.
In a match that lasted over two hours, neither team was able to establish dominance, as both squads traded points without being able to institute a consistent rhythm on the floor. After dropping the first set to Uwharrie Charter, Richmond rallied to win three of the final four sets.
Set scores from Wednesday’s match were 21-25, 28-26, 25-21, 14-25 and 15-12.
“I’m most proud of the girls for showing their resiliency and coming back,” Larsen said after her team capped off a tense fifth set. “They fought really hard tonight. After losing to Union Pines (Monday), they kept making the same mistakes. But tonight, when I asked them to adjust a few things, they actually did it.
“I told their head coach (Lee Kennell) that they are a great team and it was really good for us to play them twice early in the season,” Larsen added. “I think they can contend with Union Pines. But our girls tonight turned it around and picked up another win.”
It was Richmond’s best statistical night of the season to date, as it racked up 48 team kills and 88 team digs, both season highs. Senior outside hitter Savannah Lampley, who had the match-winning kill in the fifth set, had a team-high 20 kills and added 14 digs.
Junior outside hitter Jadyn Johnson had her breakout varsity performance, as she smacked 15 kills and led the Lady Raiders wit 31 digs.
In the opening set, the Lady Eagles used a 6-2 run to get out to an early four-point lead over Richmond 9-5. A 4-0 Richmond run that included a Lampley kill and an Allexis Swiney tip helped lead a charge that forced Kennell to call a timeout to try and pump the brakes when Richmond pulled within one point, 15-14.
Kennell’s pause in the action worked, as his team finished out the set on a 10-7 run, which resulted in a Gabi Greene kill to take the opening frame 25-21.
Two nights before, Richmond was ousted by the Lady Vikings of Union Pines in straight sets, snapping a 30-match regular season winning streak. For Larsen, the difference maker for getting back in the win column Wednesday was her team’s ability to respond to adversity.
“Our communication was a lot better tonight, and that helped us come back after the first set,” Larsen explained. “It was the mindset of never giving up, even when we were down, that was the difference maker tonight. We did the same thing against (Uwharrie Charter) last week. I had a lot of girls like Savannah (Lampley) and Jadyn step up when they needed to.”
Jadyn Johnson goes up for one of her 15 kills in Wednesday’s 3-2 win.
Trailing early in the second set, a block at the net by sophomore middle hitter Georgia Grace Anderson sparked a Lady Raider rally that led to back-to-back Johnson kills in the subsequent vollies. Later, still down 13-10, senior middle hitter Savannah Chappell and Swiney each picked up a block to swing the momentum again to tie the set at 14.
Another Kennell timeout was called, but this time, the Lady Raiders used it to their advantage. Before the second set would end, the two teams would tie and change the lead seven more times before Richmond tied the match at one set. Tied at 26, a serving error and a ball handling error by the Lady Eagles gave Richmond a 28-26 win.
The third set was the most contested frame of the night, as again both teams traded points without much fluidity. There would be 12 ties and lead changes in the third set alone, as runs of 5-0 (Richmond) and 4-0 (Uwharrie Charter) kept things close midway through. After going down 21-20, Larsen called a timeout to regroup her players.
Much like Kennell’s strategy in the first set, Larsen’s timeout proved to ignite a 5-0 Lady Raider run to take a 2-1 match advantage. After three Lady Eagles hitting errors, Lampley teed up back-to-back kills to win 25-21.
Facing its second loss to Richmond on the year and down 2-1, Uwharrie Charter took control of the fourth set in the only frame of the night dominated by one team. Up 15-14 on Richmond, Greene and company mounted an 11-0 run to close out the fourth set and keep the match alive.
Per North Carolina High School Athletic Association rules, the fifth set was played to just 15 points. Again, the back-and-forth play continued, as the Lady Eagles took a 7-5 lead before Larsen used another timeout. Out of the break, two hitting errors by Uwharrie Charter, coupled with an Anderson block and kill, led to a 4-0 Richmond run to turn the tables for good.
Following a Johnson kill, a Green ace a couple of minutes later tied the final set a 10. But Lampley, who leads the team with 51 kills on the year, took matters into her own hands. Leading 13-11, Lampley tallied her final two kills of the night on passes from junior setter Carley Lambeth to ice the cake and the victory.
Defensively, junior libero Laybe Maultsby added 23 digs and an ace in the win. Lambeth added 47 assists, three aces and nine digs. On the offensive attack, Anderson had six kills, and was aided by Swiney (four kills) and Chappell (three kills).
The Lady Raiders will cap off their three-match week Thursday, as they’ll travel to Purnell Swett High School to open Sandhills Athletic Conference play against the Lady Rams. Through four matches this season, head coach Corey Deese’s team is 2-2. The match is scheduled to start around 6 p.m. following the junior varsity match.
“It’s super important to get a fast start in conference play,” Larsen said of her team trying to defend its two-time reigning conference titles. “A win tonight will definitely help us go into tomorrow’s match. You never know what to expect with Purnell Swett -- they have a growing program. I’m excited to start conference and hope to get a win.”
Note: The Richmond junior varsity team remained undefeated on the season, as the Lady Raiders swept Uwharrie Charter Wednesday in straight sets 25-21 and 25-23. In their four matches this season, the Lady Raiders (4-0) have not lost a set.
