ROCKINGHAM — Down (twice) but never out. That was Ashleigh Larsen’s message to the Richmond Senior High School volleyball team Thursday.
In comeback fashion, the Lady Raiders were the rulers of the court in their regular-season series finale with Hoke County High School.
Erasing not one, but two one-set deficits, Richmond scrapped its way to a 3-2 victory over the Lady Bucks.
Moreso, the Lady Raiders blemished Hoke County’s Mid-South Conference record and handed the Lady Bucks their first conference loss of the season. The win helped Richmond split its two game series with Hoke County.
Opening the match, Richmond had a chance to win the first set but lost 24-26. That was followed by a 25-22 win in the second stanza.
An uncharacteristic third set yielded a 9-25 defeat. But rallying in the fourth, Richmond won 25-18, setting in motion a comeback in the fifth set that ended 15-12 in favor of the Lady Raiders.
Helping put Richmond in position to make the first set close was junior middle hitter Riley McDonald. She recorded four straight points as part of a 6-0 run, sandwiching a pair of kills around two blocks at the net.
An ace from senior hitter Ka’mora Watkins and an error by Hoke County gave Richmond a 24-22 lead. Hoke County (17-3, 7-1 MSC), however, scored the next four points to take a 1-0 match advantage.
Tied at five points early in the second set, two hitting errors by Hoke County, coupled with a Watkins kill and a McDonald ace, gave the Lady Raiders a 9-5 lead.
Helping maintain the small lead, senior outside hitter J’Nasia Neal powered back-to-back kills to make it 14-10. A smart play at the net by Neal a couple of volleys later, in addition to two more miscues by the Lady Bucks, extended the lead to 17-12.
Neal added two more points with a kill and an ace, but Hoke County rallied to cut its deficit to a point, 20-19. Larsen called a timeout and Richmond responded, winning five of the next eight rallies.
Knotting the match at one set apiece, Neal and McDonald drove kills to the hardwood for the final two points.
The third set belonged to the Lady Bucks, who used a 17-2 run to break it open after holding an 8-7 lead early on. Richmond’s two points during that stretch were from a kill by junior Madisen Jackson and a Hoke County hitting error.
Just one set away from suffering its fourth straight loss to the Lady Bucks over the past two seasons, Richmond dug in and evened the score in the fourth stanza.
Trailing 12-7 and with Watkins at the service line, Richmond started the comeback with four straight points, all on hitting or ball handling errors. A kill from Neal and a block by McDonald later tied the score at 13 and 14 points, respectively.
A service error by Hoke County later cut its lead to 18-17, which put junior setter Lillian Hill at the service line. Taking over, Hill led the Lady Raiders to a set victory by dishing out eight straight points, including four aces.
Richmond benefitted from four mistakes by the Lady Bucks during that span. Hill clinched the set win and forced a fifth set with her final ace.
Down 3-1 to start the fifth, McDonald went to work in the middle and blocked two shots and recorded a kill to give the Lady Raiders a one-point lead. Following a long rally, Neal finished off an assist from Hill to make it 5-4, which was dug up by junior libero Kenley Smith.
Tied 6-6, a four-point scoring stretch with Hill serving flipped the script for good. Two of those points came on errors, one of which was kept alive on a diving, one-handed dig by Hill. Jackson towered above the net for a kill to add to the lead.
Richmond’s revolving back row of Smith, senior Carleigh Gibson, junior Ava Edwards, Neal, and others, kept the offense busy all night, especially in the final set.
A kill from Jackson put Richmond up 12-10. McDonald got the benefit of a rolling spike along the net that fell to the floor untouched to later make it 13-11.
Hoke County conceded the 14th point on a hitting error that led to a timeout. To no avail for the visitors, the break in action couldn’t slow down Richmond’s offense, which won a long rally that was capped by McDonald’s final kill to secure the win.
Richmond (11-7, 4-4 MSC) is set to enter the final week of the regular season starting Tuesday.
First will be an away match at Overhills High School (4-9, 2-5 MSC), followed by senior night at home against Pinecrest High School Thursday. Both matches will start at 6:30 p.m.
JV Lady Raiders back in win column
Starting the undefeated night of volleyball Thursday, the Richmond junior varsity volleyball team wasted no time getting back in the win column.
For the second time this season, the JV Lady Raiders earned a 2-0 sweep over Hoke County. Set scores were 25-16 and 26-24.
“We have started moving a lot better on defense, which has given the girls more opportunities to be aggressive and that showed tonight,” head coach Melissa Dennis said.
“We were also able to get momentum with our serves. I’m very proud of the girls for being able to get this win.”
Improving to 9-9 overall, and 4-4 against MSC teams, the JV Lady Raiders will also play at Overhills and host Pinecrest next Tuesday and Thursday. Match times are set for 5 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Thursday’s win in the coming days.
