Richmond Senior was hot and Pinecrest was not in conference volleyball action at James Moore Gym, Tuesday evening.

The Patriots fell 25-12, 26-24 and 25-22 in the contest between two of the early-season Southeastern Conference contenders. They took a 2-2 league and 5-7 overall mark into Thursday's 6 p.m. match at Hoke County.

The Raiders, 4-0 and 9-2, faced a battle for the undisputed top spot on Thursday against undefeated Scotland County.

After falling behind 19-5 in their first game loss, the Patriots bounced back behind the serving and setting of Paige Horne and Megan Thomas, and hitting by Addy George and Felicia Painter. They took commanding leads of 20-12 and 22-15 in the second set before Rebecca Kinsey served for seven points in a row and a 23-22 Raider lead.

The Patriots drew even at 24-24 on a win at the net by Janea Williams, but a moment later, Michelle Brown served for the point that finished off the Raiders' 26-24 comeback victory.

"Pinecrest is a tough game for us every year," Raider coach Wendy Wallace said. "I think the girls came out focused because they knew the type of team they were going to play. We came out strong in the first game and were a little flat in the second game. But the girls knew they were going to have to play well to beat a team like Pinecrest."

The home team took a 13-10 lead in the third game behind the serving of Horne, but the Raiders again possessed the extra gear needed to rally and close out the match.

Horne finished with 11 service points and George had 10 kills to lead coach Barbara Foxx's squad. Brown served for 15 points for the Raiders.

Foxx felt her team came into the match prepared, but just got outplayed.

"The other team played hard and they were consistent and we were not," she said. "It's all about being consistent."

The Pinecrest junior varsity team picked up its first conference victory, 25-16, 19-25 and 25-17 over Richmond. The Pats took a 1-4 league and 6-6 overall record into Thursday's match at Hoke.