Lady Raiders hang on for finale victory at Scotland

LAURINBURG — In its regular-season finale Thursday, the Richmond Senior High School girls’ tennis earned a narrow victory.

The Lady Raiders completed the season sweep of Scotland High School, winning 5-4 on the road.

All three of Richmond’s top three singles seeds earned a win, as the two teams entered doubles tied 3-3. Thanks to the No. 1 and No. 3 pairings, the Lady Raiders emerged victorious.

“This was a quality win for us to close out the regular season,” head coach Jessica Covington said. “It’s always tough to get into a groove when we haven’t played in so long, but the girls found their rhythm and were able to sweep Scotland.

“We knew going into doubles that we had to win two of the three matches,” she continued. “I told the girls to stay focused and just take each game one point at a time. I’m proud of the way they responded to the pressure and gave themselves a chance to win.”

Taking their respective singles matches were No. 1 senior Hanna Smith, No. 2 junior Jentry Denson and No. 3 senior Madison Grimes.

Smith rolled past Rhea Truesdell 8-1, while Denson and Grimes each defeated Lillie Rankin and Shay Ward, respectively, 8-1.

Richmond’s other three singles players — No. 4 sophomore Colbie Covington, No. 5 senior Ava Thompson and No. 6 senior Kenleigh Parker — all lost in varying fashion.

Thompson was the closest to victory, losing 6-8 to Kaleigh Leviner. Parker was edged 4-8 by Terralyn Edwards and Covington came up short 2-8 against Marissa Smith.

The No. 1 duo of Smith and Covington started doubles action with an 8-2 cruising of Truesdell and Ward.

Clinching the match victory was the No. 3 tandem of Thompson and Parker, who defeated Leviner and Edwards 8-3.

Denson and Grimes battled Rankin and Smith in the No. 2 contest, but couldn’t erase a 3-8 deficit.

The Lady Raiders (4-6, 4-6 SAC) will now prepare for the SAC tournament, which will be held Tuesday at Pinecrest High School.