RALEIGH — Richmond County football fans went to Raleigh on September 6 to see the varsity football team from Richmond Senior High School play Cardinal Gibbons High School. The Raiders were one of many Richmond County athletes participating in the area that night, though.
The Pacers volleyball team from William Peace University played Warren Wilson College (Swannanoa, N.C.) at Humann Athletic Center at 7 p.m., the same time that the Raiders’ game. Humann Athletic Center is just over five miles from Cardinal Gibbons.
The game was part of the Raleigh Invitational, which was held over two days and had four games. William Peace played Guilford College (Greensboro, N.C.), Randolph-Macon College (Ashland, Va.), and Bridgewater College as well.
Georgia Grace Anderson was proud to serve William Peace. She is a senior middle for the Pacers and will graduate from Richmond Senior High School in 2021. Anderson played volleyball in middle school and high school in Richmond County.
He also played with the Athletic Club of the Sandhills (ACS), a club team from Moore County, but he says that college volleyball was faster for the Pacer.
Anderson said, “The pace in college is crazy fast and it keeps getting faster and faster.” “That’s likely the biggest difference between college and high school or club.” Girls who are bigger. Everyone works out hard and lifts a lot more than I did in high school. At the very least, it was big, strong, and quick.
Anderson’s volleyball career is pretty unusual in Richmond County. Not many Richmond Senior players have gone on to play volleyball in college, and even fewer have played for four years at the college level.
COVID-19 almost stopped her from starting to play volleyball in college. Even though there were a lot of unknowns at the time, the outbreak gave Anderson a one-of-a-kind chance.
William Peace’s fall 2020 season was pushed back because of the pandemic. It will now be played in the spring of 2021. After only a few months, the Pacers opened their fall 2021 season by hosting Washington and Lee University on their home court.
Some players were sick, and the gym was full of people wearing masks. Anderson, who was a freshman at the time, started the game for the Pacers as part of their starting six. It was her first game with the team.
Even though William Peace lost 3-1, he then won three straight games on the road in Danville, VA by a score of 3-0. Anderson had a team-high 14 kills in the Pacers’ sweep of Shenandoah University, which was part of that run. From then on, Anderson has started every game.
From her second year on, Anderson has been a team leader. Following her sophomore year, she was named to the USA South Athletic league all-league second team, and after her junior year, she was named to the same team as the best player in the conference.
Anderson just started her last term at William Peace this fall. She is majoring in elementary education. She wants to go back home to teach at L.J. Bell in Rockingham when the semester is over.
In Richmond County, people have become much more interested in volleyball over the past few years. The second Richmond Senior High School middle school jamboree took place last Thursday. Nearly 60 players from Rockingham Middle, Hamlet Middle, Cordova Middle, and Ellerbe Middle took part in the game.
Cordova Middle had trouble getting the minimum six players on their team three years ago. At the jamboree, 14 Lady Cavaliers were all dressed up.
Little Ellerbe Middle School, which is in the Southeastern Middle School Athletic Conference, had 18 girls in dress. Anderson had a message for all the athletes in her neighborhood who want to play volleyball at the next level.
Anderson told them to “keep working hard and pushing.” “Volleyball isn’t very popular in Richmond County yet, but it’s slowly growing, so keep doing what you’re doing.” Go on trips, have fun, go to middle school, and go to high school. Do it all. Of course, don’t just play volleyball; do everything.
After beating Warren Willson College on September 6, William Peace has won five of their last six games. Anderson has hit 68 kills for the Pacers so far this year. The first game in the conference season for William Peace is Wednesday at home against Pfeiffer University.