Matt Harrelson
ROCKINGHAM - The Lady Raider tennis team was able to handle Seventy-First High School 9-0 on Tuesday mainly due to the Lady Falcons only sending two players to compete.
Head coach Mike Way said that there wasn't a whole lot to learn from Tuesday's matchup, but it did allow him to rest a few of his players that are dealing with injuries. It also gave Taylor Parrish and Morgan Hooks an opportunity to get some practice in doubles matches.
As far as singles competition, No. 1 player Jayana Nicholson took the day off to rest her knee that had been bothering her during a couple of other matches, so Way installed his daughter Greyson Way back in the top spot. She was able to defeat Seventy-First's Aaliyah Smith 8-0. Chloe Wiggins followed up with an 8-1 victory of her own against Ta'Kyrah Harper in the No. 2 match.
Because the Lady Falcons only sent those two players, Seventy-First was forced to forfeit the rest of the singles matches, giving Richmond a quick 6-0 lead for the day.
Way said usual No. 3 player Emily Parson also sat out competition to nurse an ankle injury that had been bothering her.
As mentioned, Parrish and Hooks took care of business in the only doubles match, beating the team of Smith and Harper 8-4. Seventy-First then forfeited the remaining two doubles matches to bring the overall score to 9-0.
Nine seems to be the magic number as Tuesday's win put the Lady Raiders' winning streak at nine and counting as they head into Thursday's match against Sandhills Athletic Conference rival Scotland High School.
What once seemed to be the final game of the regular season, Richmond (9-3, 9-1 SAC) will head to Laurinburg to play at 4 p.m., then make up matches against Purnell Swett on Monday and Pinecrest High School next Wednesday, both at home. Those two matchups -- both slated for 4 p.m. -- were postponed due to Hurricane Florence back in the middle of September.
