When Regina was making life difficult for Richmond’s volleyball team, the Blue Devils went to their ABCs.

“When things are tough we remember our ABCs and just reflect back on them so we ride the wave and not the coasters,” senior setter Katie Teltow said Tuesday after Richmond defeated the Saddelites 25-23, 25-21, 25-17 in a Division 2 regional semifinal at Marysville High School.

“Stay up and don’t let them affect us. I think we do a really good job of that.”

And what are those ABCs?

“Act big. Breathe big. Commit big,” Teltow said.

That was never more apparent than in the opening set. The Blue Devils jumped out to a 4-0 lead helped by an ace serve from Teltow and a kill and a block from Alayna Esselink. Regina answered with a 12-1 run highlighted by three kills from Amanda Vushaj.

The Saddelites were leading 14-10 after a kill by Marisa Vushaj, but Richmond got a side out on a kill by Mikayla Starnes and the Blue Devils scored eight-straight points on serves by Jordyn Jones to take a lead it never relinquished.

The hitting of Amanda Vushaj, who missed a good portion of the season with an injury, kept it close but Jones secured the win with a kill.

“We did a good job coming out strong, then we kind of fell apart a little bit and gave it back to them,” said Blue Devils coach Char West. “Then it was just trying to get back on track again. The girls have done a great job of knowing that they’re capable and believing in themselves. They don’t get too down in the dumps or too dramatic.”

The second set was tight all the way. Richmond was leading 22-21 when the Blue Devils got a side out on a kill by Esselink. Esselink served the final two points, with the last coming again on a kill by Jones.

“We just kind of played our game,” said Ryley Pastuschyn, who was one of the leading hitters along with Jones and Esselink. “We hammered it down straightaway instead of letting them figure out how to play. We just kind of stood up today.”

It was Richmond’s first volleyball regional since 1988.

“We had to get our jitters out,” Esselink said. “I wouldn’t say we were nervous but it’s been a long, long time since Richmond played in a regional game. It was kind of a lot for us. We really came out in the third set. I’m proud of my team.”

Regina coach Laura Papa thought that if the Saddelites had won one of the first two sets, the outcome might have been closer.

“Richmond is a very, very solid team. They played great. But when you get down two sets it’s really hard to come back,” she said. “There are a lot of jitters. We fought really hard but some days it’s just not your day.”

Papa thought her team might have been trying too hard to stave off elimination.

“When (Amanda Vushaj) came off she said,’ I just don’t want this to end,’” Papa said. “They were in a panic mode in that final set.”

An 8-1 run, featuring three-straight kills by Jones, gave Richmond a commanding 11-5 lead on the way to the sweep.

The Blue Devils improved their record to 44-10. West gives a lot of credit to her assistants, Angela Jones and Sarah Pastuschyn.

“I sometimes get excited and focus on one thing,” West said. “Ang and Sarah will say, ‘I’m noticing this’ or ‘I’m noticing that’ and we get it together. It’s nice to have three viewpoints.”

Regina closed out the season 20-12-2.

“Grit was our thing this year,” Papa said. “We didn’t give up. Even when we were down 24-7 in the third set we didn’t give up. We were super gritty and we had some really good wins.”

Richmond will play Country Day, which swept Chandler Park 25-8, 25-2, 25-8 in its semifinal, for the regional championship at 6 p.m. today at Marysville.