SCOTLAND — Following last Thursday’s sweep at the hand of arch-rival Scotland, the Richmond Senior High School Lady Raiders will face third seed Union Pines in the opening round of the Sandhills Athletic Conference Tournament.

After falling in straight sets 25-14, 25-23 and 25-17, the giving the Scotland Fighting Lady Scots a series sweep, the Lady Raiders will likely face the Union Pines Lady Vikings in the SAC Tournament opener, who also swept the Lady Raiders twice this season.

“The girls could have played better. Offensively, we struggled a bit tonight. All-in-all, they played pretty well. The second set was good,” Richmond coach Ashleigh Larsen said.

After keeping it close in the first set with both teams in a 7-7 stalement, Scotland pulled away after going on a 5-0 run and build a commanding double-digit lead until match point, taking the first of three sets 25-14. In the second, the Lady Raiders came to their senses. Similar to the first set, the Lady Scots began to pull away early, but a kill by outside hitter Ka’Mora Watkins and an errant shot closed the distance 18-14, then a kill and an ace by JNasia Neal, as well as a net violation pulled Richnond within a point, but that’s as close to victory as the Lady Raiders would get as Scotland pulled away while capitlizing on Richmond’s errors in communication. For Scotland coach Adam Romaine, defeating rival Richmond on senior night is special, but with reallignment looming, he worries it will be the final time both teams meet in conference play.

“It’s always good to beat Richmond on senior night. To not know where we’re going to fall at next year with the realignment, this may be the last time we play them as a senior night. We take those two things out (from Thursday) it was kind of big for these girls also,” Romaine said. “I love the coach from Richmond. We always work well together when we do these senior nights. We were at their place last year. I thought it was so cool, so I said take all of the time you want for those seniors. She let us do the same thing tonight, and I was grateful for that also.”

While the first and second set were contentious early, Scotland ran away with the third set, despite a strong effort from Richmond outside hitter Riley McDonald, who kept the Lady Raiders in it early with a kill and an ace. The Lady Scots eventually took the third set 25-17 and will likely face Southern Lee (8-12, 1-11) in the SAC Tournament opener, With the win, Scotland ends the regular season 17-5 and second in the SAC to Pinecrest with a 8-4 record. who the Scots previously defeated 3-0 and 3-1. Richmond ends the regular season 7-13 and sixth in the SAC with a 3-9 record. As for the postseason, despite limited practice due to homecoming, Larsen believes her team will be ready to challenge Union Pines.

We just have to with more intensity, and be ready to roll. We need to bring that intensity from Thursday,” Larsen said.