With its biggest tests still ahead against the southern end of Orange County, the Orange volleyball team has momentum headed into its Big 8 Conference opener.
On Wednesday night, the Lady Panthers quickly finished Roxboro Community School 3-0 at Panther Gymnasium in Hillsborough. Orange won its fifth straight on scores of 25-18, 25-17 and 25-11.
After starting the season 0-3, the Lady Panthers will host East Chapel Hill in its conference opener in Hillsborough on Thursday night in Hillsborough.
Freshman Erin Jordan-Cornell, the younger sister of former Orange offensive lineman Jace Jordan-Cornell, finished with seven kills and two blocks. Last week, Jordan-Cornell had eight kills in a 3-0 win over South Granville in Creedmoor.
Senior Kaitlyn Werden and Emma Clements tied Jordan-Cornell with a team-high seven kills. Werden, who had a team-high ten kills in an upset over Person last week, also finished with 16 assists, five digs and three aces. Clements added seven digs and one ace.
Senior Brooke Fryar and sophomore Lottie Scully each registered 15 digs. Scully also led Orange with 17 assists.
Tuesday’s match was the last before Orange enters Big 8 Conference play. In addition to Thursday’s match against East Chapel Hill, Orange will make its first-ever trip to Vance County on Tuesday. Vance County replaced Hillside as a member of the Big 8 Conference during the summer after the Hornets returned to 4A. Though its located in Henderson, Vance County is a separate entity from Northern Vance and Southern Vance, which consolidated to create the new school. It is located at the location of the previous Southern Vance High.
Orange’s next nine matches will be conference affairs. Their next nonconference tilt will be a return trip to Roxboro Community School on October 4, which is also slated to be its final nonconference game of the year.
Men’s Soccer: Orange 7, Hillside 1
After scoring three goals in a span of 13 minutes last week in a 5-3 victory over Eastern Alamance, the Orange men’s soccer team continued its fireworks with a 7-1 victory at Hillside on Tuesday night.
Jose Beltran, who notched the first hat trick of his career against the Eagles, added another goal against the Hornets. Elliott Sikes had the biggest night of all for Orange, racking up two goals and two assists. Leif Mahoney, Jason Franklin and Tyler Werden each had one goal and one assist. Nick Catalano also scored a goal for Orange. Rohan Kasthuri assisted on two goals for the Panthers, who have opened the year 3-1.
Orange will play one more nonconference game on Friday night at Riverside inside Line Wrenn Stadium in Durham. That is slated to be the final nonconference game of the year, but those plans may change. The Panthers had contest against Carrboro and Eastern Alamance rained out during the first week of the season. There has been no word on whether those games will be made up.
Orange will open Big 8 Conference play at East Chapel Hill next Wednesday inside Dave Thaden Stadium.
On Wednesday night, the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team will travel to the Durham School of the Arts. The Red Wolves, who had a game against Bartlett Yancey postponed last week, is slated to face the Buccaneers on Monday night in Yanceyville.