LAURINBURG —Sarah Eury was overcome with emotions after the Scotland volleyball team lost 3-0 (19-25, 16-25, 14-25) to Richmond on Tuesday night.
Eury and her fellow seniors – Beatrice Eddy, Nakiya Locklear and Jahkayla Walker – had just played their final game with the Fighting Scots.
“It’s been a blessing to play with these girls,” Eury said. “It’s been a rocky road, but I’m glad I played with them. I wouldn’t want to play with anyone else.”
The loss to the Lady Raiders (13-7, 10-4 SAC) ended a tumultuous season for the Lady Scots. Under interim head coach Mallarie Snow, Scotland finished the season with a record of 7-11, including a 6-8 mark against Sandhills Athletic Conference opponents.
“I helped one of my great friends, (head coach) Mallory Wheeler, but she will take the reigns come next year,” Snow said.
Snow assumed her interim role prior to the season after it was announced that Wheeler would be taking the year off from coaching.
The Lady Scots wrapped up the season inside Scotland’s old gym, which has served as the team’s home court since Hurricane Florence rendered the school’s main gym inaccessible.
It was the old gym’s relatively low ceiling that caused a problem near the end of the first set on Tuesday.
With Richmond leading the opening set 20-18, the ball ricocheted of a light fixture hanging from the ceiling. The hit jarred the fixture’s cover loose, leaving it hanging over the court.
After a delay of nearly 20 minutes, the cover was re-installed in a makeshift fashion, and the game resumed.
Richmond then ended the set on a 5-1 run and used an attack error by the Lady Scots to close out a 25-19 victory.
The Lady Raiders jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second set with the help of a pair of aces by Carley Lambeth.
Scotland rallied and eventually closed Richmond’s lead to 8-7 on a service ace by Carleigh Carter, but the Lady Raiders didn’t allow them to get any closer.
Another kill by Carter made the score 16-11 in Richmond’s favor later in the set , but the Lady Raiders closed the game on a 9-5 run to claim a 25-16 victory.
A trio of errors by the Lady Scots helped the Lady Raiders get the final three points they needed for a 25-14 win in the third set.
Scotland’s Asjah Swindell notched a kill to cut Richmond’s lead to 20-13 in the final set, but the Lady Raiders ended the game on a 5-1 run.
