Seniors Jakerra Covington (7) and Taylor Chappell (15) go up for a block Tuesday night against Pinecrest.
                                 Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal

Seniors Jakerra Covington (7) and Taylor Chappell (15) go up for a block Tuesday night against Pinecrest.

Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal

<p>Senior Georgia Grace Anderson tips a ball over a Pinecrest blocker at the net during Tuesday night’s loss.</p>
                                 <p>Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal</p>

Senior Georgia Grace Anderson tips a ball over a Pinecrest blocker at the net during Tuesday night’s loss.

Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal

ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior High School volleyball team fell 3-0 Tuesday night to an undefeated Pinecrest team for the second time this season.

The loss dropped the Lady Raiders to 4-5 on the season with a key road trip to Jack Britt on the horizon on Thursday before the holiday break.

The Lady Raiders had their moments against the Lady Patriots, particularly in the first and third sets, but ultimately couldn’t overcome Pinecrest’s onslaught.

“I think we just can’t figure out a way to get all six or seven players ready to roll 110 percent each time,” said head coach Ashleigh Larsen. “They hung with them in the first and third set, which was a huge improvement from the first time we played them. We caused them to make some mistakes. But, they’re an intelligent team and they placed the ball wisely.”

Senior Jakerra Covington praised Pinecrest’s aggressiveness at net and smart, tactical play on the court.

“I still believe they are beatable,” she said, “and we proved that tonight. We hung in there with them, we just had some mistakes here and there.”

How Richmond started off the match would be paramount because in the first meeting earlier this season, the Lady Raiders dug themselves a big early hole and were never quite able to claw their way out of it.

They got off to a much better start this time around. However, despite several long rallies, Pinecrest led early, jumping out to a 10-5 lead. The Lady Raiders showed that they learned from the first meeting and rallied to tie the set 14-14.

After Richmond tied it up, the Lady Patriots still continued to manage to keep the Lady Raiders at arm’s length despite several surges, pulling away to take the first set 25-19.

Using a variety of serves and service placement, Pinecrest was able to catch the Lady Raiders out of position on a number of points in the second set. After an early 8-3 lead, the Lady Patriots continued to control the set with their serving enroute to a 25-10 second set win.

A talk from Larsen between the second and third sets appeared to invigorate the Lady Raiders early in the third as they built an early 3-0 and 9-5 lead.

“During the third set, we came out there wanting to win and we had a little more fire and drive,” Covington said. “Coach Scully (Larsen) let us know we needed to pick our heads up and go fight for it because we are capable of doing so.”

Richmond was able to hold off Pinecrest until midway through the set when the Lady Patriots showed why they’ve been the best team in the Sandhills Athletic Conference all season long. Pinecrest closed out the set 25-18 to complete the season sweep of the Lady Raiders.

Senior Shelly Hoffman led the Lady Raiders with seven assists. Covington had three kills, while seniors Kelly Hoffman and Emy Cooley combined for 24 digs.

“Up until tonight, we were tied with Jack Britt for fourth place, so Thursday’s a big game for us — kind of a redemption game,” Larsen said. “We let them come in our gym and we lost in four. I think we’re a new team to see all of the remaining teams in the conference. We’re ready to step it up and prove our point that we didn’t get to prove the first go-around against some teams.”

JV wins in three sets

The JV Lady Raiders needed three sets against Pinecrest to extend their winning streak to six games.

Richmond dropped into an 0-3 hole early in the first set, but quickly rebounded with a 3-0 run to start things off. Sophomore Joy Styles was all over the floor for the JV Lady Raiders early on, diving for balls, covering open spaces and keeping the ball in play.

The first set largely remained close, and each time one team made a run, the opposing team responded in-kind. Freshman Katie Way went down to the ground awkwardly after going up for a tip at the net with the opening set tied 19-19. Both teams’ trainers helped her off the floor and over to the team bench where she iced her ankle the rest of the game. The JV Lady Raiders responded to Way’s injury with a 6-3 run to take the first set 25-22, ending it on an unreturned serve from freshman Allie Rodgers.

After starting the second set close, as both teams exchanged points back-and-forth, Pinecrest used a double-digit run to seize control of the set and go on to win it 25-11 to force a tiebreaker set.

Richmond jumped ahead 3-0 in the final set and eventually led 6-2, but the JV Lady Patriots rebounded with a 5-1 run. With the set tied 9-9, Pinecrest managed to gain a 12-9 advantage, but it was short-lived, as Richmond rallied with a 6-1 run to close out the set 15-13 and secure its sixth straight win.

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Reach Neel Madhavan at 910-817-2671 ext. 2751 or [email protected]. Follow on Twitter at @NeelMadhavan.