ROCKINGHAM – Last Thursday, the Richmond Senior High School Lady Raider tennis team was shutout in Southern Pines by perennial conference power Pinecrest High School. On Tuesday afternoon, the team rebounded in a big way, recording a 7-1 victory over Jack Britt High School on its home court.
After just one week of conference action, Pinecrest and Jack Britt were the only two schools boasting undefeated records in Sandhills Athletic Conference play. If Richmond would have dropped back-to-back matches to both schools, the Lady Raiders could have taken themselves out of the conference title or even postseason discussions early.
After last week’s loss to Pinecrest and the memory of losing two heartbreaking 5-4 decisions to Jack Britt a year ago, it could have been easy to lose focus. Instead, Richmond came out swinging and secured the victory early by winning five of the six singles matches.
“I think we played really good during our singles matches,” said senior Chloe Wiggins. “If we continue to play like we have been playing, we will continue to win matches.”
Wiggins, who played in the No. 4 slot, defeated Jack Britt’s Hannah Jang 7-6, 6-4.
In the No. 1 slot for the Lady Raiders was senior Jayana Nicholson. Nicholson easily defeated Taylor Benson of the Lady Bucs 6-2 in the opening set, but Benson battled back to even things up with a 7-6 win in set two. Nicholson recovered and won the third set 10-8, earning a big point for the Lady Raiders.
Fellow senior Greyson Way swept Jack Britt’s Leonie Brown 7-6, 6-3 on the No. 2 court. Following the win, Way shared that she feels that the team is moving in the right direction.
“I think we are making a lot of progress as a team,” Way said. “We have a team full of athletes that play other sports. We have a lot to work on, but we work hard every day to improve as much as we can. Coming out with a win against Jack Britt tonight was huge for us, especially after falling a little short against them last season.”
Senior Emily Parsons was the victor for the Lady Raiders in the No. 3 slot. She defeated Jack Britt’s Angie Castro in two sets (7-5, 6-1). Taylor Parrish, also a senior, earned the fifth singles point for Richmond in the No. 5 slot, taking down Cammie Corbett 6-2, 4-6, 10-8. Following the match, Parrish echoed Way’s view of the team’s progress.
“We have been working really hard so far this season to prepare for teams like Jack Britt and Pinecrest,” Parrish explained. “Everyone on the team has made progress since the first practice. Even though we did not beat Pinecrest, the score did not reflect how we really played. Today’s victory against Jack Britt gave us a boost of confidence heading into the rest of the season.”
Junior Emily Buie was the only Lady Raider to come up short in singles. She fell to Jack Britt’s Tatyana Sluss 2-6, 2-6.
One doubles match was dropped, but the Lady Raiders easily won the two that were played. Way and Parsons defeated Castro and Jang 8-1. Parrish and Buie took down Sluss and Victoria Atakuzi 8-3 for the final win of the day.
The Lady Raiders (2-3, 2-1 SAC) will return to action Thursday when they host Hoke County at 4 p.m.
