After the inclusion of East Chapel Hill to the Big 8 Conference, the goings figured to be tougher for Cedar Ridge and Orange in many sports, none more so than tennis.
Indeed, East Chapel Hill, coached by Caldwell-native Nick Walker, won the Big 8 Championship. Chapel Hill finished 2nd, which left Cedar Ridge hoping for a wildcard spot that didn’t come to fruition.
A 13-6 record with season sweeps against Eastern Alamance, Orange, Northern Durham and Southern Durham wasn’t enough for the Red Wolves to reach the field of 32 in the 3A state playoffs. After winning the 2016 Big 8 Championship for the first time in school history, the Red Wolves reached the state quarterfinals before falling to Terry Sanford.
Now, Cedar Ridge will prepare four players for the 3A Mideast Regionals on Saturday at the Burlington Tennis Center.
Sophomore Olivia Ward will compete in singles after advancing to the Big 8 semifnals last week at East Chapel Hill’s Lindsay Linker Tennis Complex. Ward both of her matches 10-1.
Freshman Ivy Garner will also compete in the regionals. Garner, who is a star soccer player, didn’t play in the regionals.
The doubles team of Kate Milner and Brianna Cellini also advanced to the regionals. Cellini and Milner captured its first two matches at last week’s conference tournament before the rest of the tournament was rained out.