ROCKINGHAM — Although the Richmond Senior volleyball team lost to Union Pines in three sets (25-22, 31-29, 25-20) Wednesday evening, coach Shellie Wimpey believes it was a good test for her team.

“They are the best team we’ve played and I think that’s what it’s going to be like to play Pinecrest next week,” Wimpey explained. “It was good for the girls to be able to see that tonight and know that they can compete with them.”

Richmond had a chance to even things up in the second set, but just couldn’t get the job done. The Lady Raiders went up 8-3 early, forcing a Union Pines timeout, and led by as much as six (16-10) in the set.

The Lady Vikings came charging back, however, and gave themselves and opportunity to take a 2-0 set lead when the tied the game up at 24. Both teams upped the ante, trading points back and forth, before Union Pines recorded back-to-back points to take the 31-29 win.

“I think the problem was we didn’t win that second game when we had the chance to. I think that could’ve changed the momentum of things,” Wimpey added. “And then the third game, they just got on us. I thought we did a good job of rallying back that third game and not just giving it away.”

Richmond found itself down quickly (20-10) in the third set. The Lady Raiders were able to rally back and bring the game within four points, but Union Pines used back-to-back kills to pull out the win.

“I just told them to keep their heads up. They had been playing hard the whole time, so don’t give up now.” Wimpey added.

Altman Griffin recorded 15 kills, Layne Maultsby had 12 digs, Brianna Baysek led the way with three aces and four blocks and Mackenzie Webb regsitered 26 assists.

Richmond is back in action Thursday, Sept. 15, at Lumberton.

“We should win tomorrow. That’s the goal — that’s the goal every game,” Wimpey said. “I thought they did a really good job tonight. We made some adjustments and they did well making those adjustments.”

Reach sports editor Leon Hargrove Jr. at 910-817-2673 and follow the sports section on Twitter @RCDailySports.

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By Leon Hargrove Jr.

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