ROCKINGHAM —The Richmond Senior High volleyball team successfully defended its home court by way of a testy four-set win (25-21, 25-23, 15-25, 25-19) over Anson in both teams’ season opener on Tuesday.
Lady Raiders (1-0) coach Ashleigh Larsen wasn’t pleased with her group’s lackluster third set in which the Lady Bearcats used their serves and energy to claw back into the match.
“Though I’d like to have seen us finish it up in three sets, it’s always good to start the season with a win,” she said.
Larsen praised middle hitters Georgia Grace Anderson and Jakerra Covington for their play around the net to give the team an early two-set advantage. Anderson wrapped up the night with a team-high 11 kills, while Covington finished with nine kills and a team-leading four blocks.
“Overall, I was happy with the way our middle hitters kept pounding out there,” Larsen said. “Georgia Grace was huge for us tonight.”
In the first set, after the Lady Bearcats went on a run to tie the score at 12, Covington polished off a 5-1 Lady Raiders’ spurt with one of her six kills in the opening frame that gave the team a 17-13 advantage. Anderson finished the set with a kill to claim a 25-21 victory.
In the final frame, both Anderson and Covington had a block apiece that proved to be timely in a back-and-forth set. It was Anderson’s five kills that provided the finishing touches to the victory.
Layne Maultsby was a force on the defensive end and set the tone early. The senior libero tallied nine of her team-high 11 digs in the first set.
Jadyn Johnson ended with nine kills for the Lady Raiders and Madison Jordan chipped in with six kills in the win.
In the junior varsity volleyball match, Richmond was overpowered by Anson, losing in three sets with scores of 19-25, 27-25 and 15-25.
Both Lady Raiders teams are back in action on Wednesday in a road matchup with Montgomery Central.
Raiders drop opener against East Mecklenburg
The Richmond boys soccer varsity team conceded early goals in both halves and eventually lost in a 3-0 shutout to visiting East Mecklenburg on Tuesday night.
Falling in a 2-0 hole midway through the first half, the Raiders (0-1) couldn’t find an answer offensively. They surrendered the third and final goal of the contest to the Eagles (1-0) within the sixth minute of the second half.
The Raiders are back on the pitch Saturday for the “Battle for the Bell” tournament in Fayetteville, with the time to be determined on Friday.
In the junior varsity game, Richmond drew a 1-1 tie with East Mecklenburg. Andres Sanchez scored the lone goal for the jayvee Raiders.
