PINEHURST — Wasting little time this season, the Richmond Senior High School varsity volleyball team laced up and hit the hardwood for its first bit of live action Saturday.
Just two days after completing tryouts, the Lady Raiders traveled to Sandhills Community College for the annual Flyers High School Jamboree.
Competing in the second of three four-team pods, Richmond scrimmaged against East Bladen and Eastern Randolph high schools, as well as now-former conference opponent Southern Lee High School.
The Lady Raiders were led by eighth-year head coach Ashleigh Larsen and this year’s roster features a dozen players — three seniors, eight juniors and one sophomore.
Packed with more experience than a season ago, Richmond has eight returners from last season, double the amount from 2024.
Those players are seniors Carleigh Gibson, J’Nasia Neal and Ka’mora Watkins, along with juniors Madisen Jackson, Kalynn McCormick, Riley McDonald, Kaylan Parsons and Kenley Smith.
Junior Lillian Hill will play her first full season at the varsity level, having made her debut during the Lady Raiders’ playoff match last season.
Newcomers this fall are juniors Kaylee Dunn and Ava Edwards, and sophomore Kaylee Connor.
Each scrimmage was 45 minutes of live play and no official score was kept. However, unofficial scores kept by assistant coach Melissa Dennis resulted in leads for Richmond against two of the three opponents.
The Lady Raiders won the first set 25-23 to open against East Bladen and led 22-18 in the second set when time expired. Richmond played two full sets against Southern Lee, taking each by scores of 25-23 and 25-19.
In its final scrimmage of the day, Richmond split its two sets with Eastern Randolph with tallies of 25-20 and 22-25.
Larsen noted the primary focus for the team Saturday was to get as many reps as possible and continue building upon a variation of lineups.
“Collectively, everything was for the good today,” Larsen shared. “Our heads were up no matter what and the girls raised each other’s spirits the few times we needed to do that.
“Our unity today was awesome and we played as a team no matter who was out there. This was a really great and encouraging start to the season.”
Earlier this summer, the Lady Raiders performed well at a team camp at Tusculum University. Larsen noted that a lot of that momentum carried over into Saturday’s scrimmages.
“It was evident that the girls still had a lot of chemistry and connection from our strong camp at Tusculum,” Larsen said. “For the nine girls who went, they continued right along and the three newcomers joined right in.
“I put Kaylee (Dunn) and Kaylee (Connor) in the middle, and Ava went in at defensive specialist. All three really played well. The biggest takeaway for me was we are a much stronger hitting team up front. The girls are attacking the net and placing the ball more aggressively.”
Next week the Lady Raiders will continue practice and also host a two-day camp for local elementary-aged players Tuesday and Wednesday. Larsen hopes to take that time to “tweak some little things” and “make adjustments.”
A scrimmage is scheduled for Thursday at Anson High School. Junior varsity will start at 5 p.m. followed by the varsity team.
Richmond’s season opener against non-conference Lee County High School is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 6 p.m.
The Richmond Observer will publish a season preview, complete with a full schedule and video interviews, next week.
