ROCKINGHAM - Back in action for the second night in a row, it was a much different vibe for the Richmond Senior High School varsity volleyball team Wednesday.
Unlike Tuesday’s come-from-behind five-set thriller against Uwharrie Charter Academy, Richmond clawed its way past the Anson High School Lady Bearcats in straight sets, 3-0. Set scores were 25-18, 25-21 and 25-14, and junior outside hitter Jadyn Johnson clinched two set points, including the match-winning kill in the third set.
The Lady Raiders (2-0) capped off their first week of regular season play with two convincing wins against non-conference opponents, and for first-year head coach Ashleigh Larsen, Wednesday’s win went a lot smoother thanks to her team’s ability to get control of each set early.
The starting six on the court Wednesday were nearly the same players from the night before, as Larsen sent out seniors Savannah Chappell and Savannah Lampley, juniors Carley Lambeth, Layne Maultsby and Allexis Swiney and sophomore Georgia Grace Anderson.
“The girls came out aggressive start to finish,” Larsen said following the win. “Communication was better tonight, which is something we struggled with early (against Uwharrie Charter). Tonight we found the holes a lot better.
“Savannah Lampley had a heck of a night,” Larsen continued, talking about her senior outside hitter who racked up a team-high 14 kills. “She found every opportunity that she needed to. Georgia Grace had a big night again, and the team did better as a whole with passing.”
Richmond jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first set, but the Lady Bearcats wrestled their way back in with a run of their own to make it 6-5. Up 9-7 a couple of plays later, a serving error by Anson (0-1) would spark an 8-2 Lady Raider run that saw Johnson and Savannah Chappell each pick up a kill. Anderson also had back-to-back blocks in the middle of the run, resulting in another Richmond point.
Trailing 19-10, Anson head coach Celeste Dutton called her second timeout of the set, but it had no effect on the charging Lady Raiders. Two kills by sophomore Taylor Chappell, and a dual-block by Savannah Chappell and Swiney helped close out the set with a 25-18 win. Lampley collected five of her 14 kills in the opening frame.
Runs of five and six straight points, respectively, by the Lady Raiders to start the second set gave them a comfortable 14-5 lead. An Anderson kill caused Dutton to call another timeout, and this time, the Lady Bearcats made it interesting. After trading a couple of points, Anson went on a 12-5 run to pull within one point at 22-21.
A hitting error into the net by the Lady Bearcats and the fist of Johnson’s two set-point kills allowed Richmond to escape with a 25-21 win. In the second set, Lampley added six more kills, while Anderson added four of her own.
The Lady Raiders celebrate after a Lampley kill in the second set.
Up by two sets, which was the opposite of the season opener from the night before, Richmond kept its foot on the gas to put away Anson in the third set.
Despite Anson earning its first lead of the night by jumping out to a 6-2 lead, Larsen’s squad used some Lady Bearcat hitting errors and kills by Lampley and Anderson to pull back to 9-8. Following another Anson timeout, Anderson and Savannah Chappell netted kills during a 9-1 run, giving Richmond a 17-10 lead.
Unforced errors, including several hits into the net and out of bounds, coupled with a handful of violations, stumped Anson into a hole it couldn’t climb out of. In the match’s final sequence, a serve that started with Anson, junior libero Layne Maultsby dug the ball to Lambeth, who set it up for Johnson to slam the match-winning kill deep in the backcourt.
“It was a little bit of both the girls being more confident and having a match under their belt,” Larsen said of her team’s better play Wednesday. “Tonight we weren’t as aggressive because Anson wasn’t as fired up as Uwharrie Charter. But during the second game I called two timeouts and told the girls to get fired up because we didn’t want to let them back in it.
“Because Carley got a lot better passes (out of the back) tonight, she was able to move the ball around and make good decisions,” Larsen concluded.
On the night, Richmond tallied 37 kills, with Lampley collecting a team-high 14. Anderson and Johnson each had six kills, while Savannah Chappell rounded out the attacking with five of her own. Lambeth set the ball for 39 assists, while the Lady Raiders only had three aces (Lambeth, Lampley and Swiney).
Defensively, Richmond’s back row played with more composure in the second match of the season, as Maultsby led the Lady Raiders with nine digs. Lambeth had seven, Lampley had six and Johnson recorded five. Anderson led the team with three blocks on the night.
Richmond is back in action three times next week, starting Monday, Aug. 20, at home against non-conference Union Pines High School (6 p.m.) Then they’ll play Wednesday, Aug. 22, (at Uwharrie Charter, 5 p.m.) and close the week out by opening Sandhills Athletic Conference play at Purnell Swett High School on Thursday, Aug. 23 (6 p.m.).
Note: For the second night in a row, the junior varsity team won in straight sets. The Lady Raiders defeated Anson 25-23 and 25-14. Sophomore Jakerra Covington led the team with eight kills, four digs, two aces and one block. Kelly Hoffman, also a sophomore, had four kills and a dig, while her twin sister Shelly collected a kill, a dig and six assists. Freshmen Allyiah Swiney and Kaitlyn Huff both had two aces.
