It’s always special to beat your crosstown rival. It’s even sweeter when you haven’t defeated them in four years.
Those were the circumstances that the Orange volleyball team found itself in on September 27th against Cedar Ridge. In the first match between the two teams on September 1st, the Red Wolves easily disposed of the Panthers 3-1, its seventh consecutive victory over Orange.
It wasn’t so much that Cedar Ridge had enjoyed an advantage over Orange. It was that they had become dominant. During its seven-game winning streak, the Red Wolves had won 21 out of 25 games against OHS. Four of the seven wins were sweeps.
The 2015 Red Wolves captured the Big 8 Championship in dominant fashion, finishing unbeaten in conference play. They even defeated Carrboro, who would go on to win the 2-A State Championhip a year later.
On September 27, Orange wasn’t just victorious against Cedar Ridge. They were due.
After dropping the first game 25-22, the Panthers won the final three sets 25-21, 26-24 and 25-18 to send the students inside Jim King Gymnasium into a frenzy, rushing the floor and gathering for a photo with the team.
Bailey Lucas had 13 kills with a kill percentage of 52%, a,one with 22 assists. Jordan Lloyd, who would sign with Division 3 Brevard College in December, finished with eight kills, 25 digs and an ace.
Unanimously, Lloyd, Macy Hughes, Mileah Shriner, Julia Lovingood and Eva Porter would call the win the highlight of their Orange careers.
The Panthers would go on to finish second in the Big 8, finishing only behind Chapel Hill. The Tigers, under first-year head coach Ross Fields, would claim the 3-A Eastern Regional Championship and face Concord Cox Mill for the state championship at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.
Orange made the state playoffs, falling in the first round against Cleveland. They finished 11-10, 8-4 in the Big 8.