ROCKINGHAM — Layne Maultsby, a senior on the Richmond Senior High School volleyball team, has been named the Week 10 Official Richmond County Female Athlete of the Week presented by Moss Brothers Tire and Service.
Each week, one male and one female student-athlete from Richmond Senior High School will be selected by his or her coach as ROSports’ Official Richmond County Athlete of the Week based on his or her performance in helping their respective team.
Maultsby’s role as the Lady Raiders’ libero doesn’t see her make a lot of flashy plays at the net, but she’s been the rock of Richmond’s defense since her freshman year. A four-year starter, Maultsby had an impressive final week of her career in the back row during the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament and the first round of the state playoffs to help her earn her second career recognition.
Athletic Profile
Age: 18
Birthday: Oct. 25, 2001
Year: Senior
Fall Sport: Volleyball
Position: Libero
Years on Varsity: 4 Years
Height & Weight: 5-6, 135 pounds
Experience: 6 Years
“THE LAST SERVE” WITH LAYNE MAULTSBY
RSHS Academics: Having already completed the Advanced Placement cluster, Maultsby is staying busy during her final fall semester with several Richmond Community College classes. She’s taking English 112, Microeconomics 251, Philosophy 240 and Public Speaking 231 at RichmondCC, while also taking Junior Leadership Senate and Weight Training Honors at Richmond.
“I’m really enjoying my senior year so far, and my classes are a lot of fun,” Maultsby explained. “I really have three favorites: Microeconomics, Senate and Weight Training.
“Mrs. (Kim) Parsons is so nice and I’m able to understand the content really well because of her,” she added of her Microeconomics professor. “Senate is always fun because Col. (Jon) Ring is very interesting and makes the class a blast with a good group of seniors. And I know Coach (Jessie) Covington really well and she pushes me beyond what I expect for myself.”
Maultsby has a 4.6 GPA and is currently ranked as the No. 11 student in the class of 2020. She’s an ‘A’ honor roll student, and serves as the National Honor Society’s public resource officer, the Senate’s historian and is a member of the National Beta Club.
Future Plans: In the midst of applying for college, Maultsby’s plans are to “attend a four-year university and major in business.” She added that business is a career path she’s come to enjoy thanks to her Microeconomics class. After college, she said she could see herself go into real estate or owning her own small business.
As of now, Maultsby has applied to Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, UNC-Wilmington, UNC Chapel Hill, the University of South Carolina and North Carolina State University. She’s also a Morehead-Cain Scholarship nominee, and has passed the interview process at Richmond. She’s waiting to hear back for her next round of interviews.
Athlete of the Week Stats: Maultby and the Lady Raiders played in four matches last week, the first three as a part of the SAC tournament. No. 3 Richmond would roll past No. 6 Purnell Swett 3-0 in the opening round before upsetting No. 2 Scotland High School with a three-set sweep on the road. In the championship match against No. 1 Pinecrest, the Lady Raiders came up short, but took the tournament’s runner-up spot.
On Saturday, as the No. 14 seed in the West region of the NCHSAA 4A state playoffs, Richmond saw its season come to an end with a four-set loss to Reagan High School. But Maultsby went out in style, recording a team-high 77 digs across the four matches. She also had four aces and one kill.
Her best performance was against Scotland in the SAC tournament semifinals, which saw Maultsby collect a season-high 30 digs, including 16 in the third and final set. She notched 19 digs against Purnell Swett, before adding 14 against Pinecrest and Reagan. Maultsby closed the door on her career with 1,189 digs.
Coach’s Corner: Ashleigh Larsen has coached Maultsby the last two seasons at the varsity level, but served as an assistant coach during Maultby’s freshman and sophomore years. The two have learned to share their love of volleyball on and off the court, and Larsen noted Maultsbty’s presence will be missed in the coming seasons.
“Layne has been a big part of the volleyball program for four years,” Larsen explained. “She holds a difficult position on the court and a lot is expected of her. She has worked really hard at becoming better each year at her position.
“I think she’s been been able to step out of her shell a lot this year and become a big leader for our team,” she continued. “She has a way of making everyone laugh and keeping things calm when things get tense. She definitely leaves some big shoes to fill.”
Raider Video Chats: Layne Maultsby, Official Richmond County Female Athlete of the Week
New this season is our “Raider Video Chats” segment that allows student-athletes to connect with fans and readers through video interviews. In her video, Maultsby talks about her final season as a Lady Raider, her big week in the SAC tournament and answers questions in our “Rapid Raider Response” segment, including what the experience of being on homecoming court was like.
Click photo for video.
