Month: September 2019

The Orange volleyball team swept Northern Durham to complete a strong week on Thursday night. Junior Chloe Riley finished with one kill, two aces and eight digs. Orange only trailed once in the entire match to finish a stretch of three wins over four days, starting with the East Chapel Hill victory on Monday night. Sophomore Lottie Scully had 13 kills for Orange, while Ella Van Tiem had ten. Kaitlyn Werden chipped in 18 assists as Orange finished the month of September with a 10-5 overall record. Orange is 5-2 in the Big 8 Conference with a road trip to East Chapel Hill next on the slate coming up Tuesday night. Orange hosts Vance County on Thursday. 

Though Cedar Ridge football went winless in the noncconference portion of its schedule, the Red Wolves are building a foundation for success in the future. One of the pillars is running back Isaiah McCambry, who has 275 rushing yards and a touchdown. Last week against Providence Grove in Lewisville, McCambry had a career-high 80 yards on 17 carries. Last season when Cedar Ridge fielded a junior varsity team, McCambry was the leading rushing for a squad that won five games. Cedar Ridge will go for its first varsity football win since 2017 on Friday night. You can hear the game on Hillsboroughsports.com with Tim Hackett live from Pittsboro starting at 6:55. 

The Orange junior varsity football team shutout East Chapel Hill 35-0 at David Thaden Stadium in Chapel Hill on Thursday night. For sophomores Eli Danley, Brendon Worsham and Connor Ray, it was another successful outing in a year that started at the varsity level. Danley, Worsham and Ray played in the Orange varsity team’s opening games against R.J. Reynolds and Walter Williams. Orange scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter in a game where the contest was shortened to eight-minute quarters. After winning its first Big 8 Conference game, the junior varsity will return to Auman Stadium in Hillsborough next Friday for a game against Southern Durham. 

Last season, the Cedar Ridge junior varsity football team had a joyous trip to Pittsboro. The Red Wolves handily defeated the Northwood Chargers. On Friday night, many of those same players who suited up that night for the Red Wolves will gear up for another journey to Pittsboro, this time as a varsity team, to face Northwood. It will the Big 8 Conference opener for Cedar Ridge. Junior Toby Holmes is one of the Cedar Ridge players hungry to taste victory for the first time at the varsity level. On Friday, he will get a chance. You can hear Cedar Ridge at Northwood live on Hillsboroughsports.com starting at 6:55 for the C&R Ski Outdoor pregame show with Tim Hackett live from Pittsboro. 

Taylin Jean: The former Cedar Ridge goalkeeper posted her 3rd shutout of the season for the Limestone women’s soccer team on Wednesday night. Division II Limestone defeated North Greenville 3-0 at Saints Field in Gaffney, SC on Wednesday night. Jean made four saves in her sixth start of the season. She is now 3-3. After not playing last season, Jean also had clean sheets against Chowan and Lander earlier this month. Limestone improved to 2-1 in Conference Carolinas. On Saturday, Limestone will face Barton College in Wilson. 

Jordan Rogers: Division III William Peace University scored a resounding 7-0 win over Sweet Briar in Sweet Briar, VA on Wednesday night. Former Orange star Jordan Rogers made her eighth start of the season as a wingback. Rogers has started every game for the Pacers this year. With Wednesday night‘s win, Peace has already exceeded its win total from 2018. They’re now 3-4-1 overall. They will open play in the USA South Athletic Conference against Mary Baldwin College at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on Saturday. 

Brittany Daley: On Sunday, Division III Greensboro College fell to Eastern Mennonite 1-0 at EMU Turf Field in Harrisonburg, VA. Daley, a 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate, made her eighth start of the season at centerback. Daley had played 642 minutes for the Pride this season after making 15 starts in her freshman season. Greensboro is 5-3. They host Ferrum College on Thursday night at Pride Field in Greensboro.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The Division III Dickinson men’s soccer team shutout Neumann University 3-0 on Tuesday night in Aston, PA. The Red Devils are now 4-4. Reid-Shaw started the game at centerback and was credited with one shot off a corner kick. Reid-Shaw has played in all eight of Dickinson’s games this year. The Red Devils return to action in the Centennial Conference on Saturday against McDaniel College.

Bryse Wilson: Though he hasn’t pitched since Game 4 of the Governor’s Cup Semifinal series for the Gwinnett Stripers of the International League, Wilson is still on the 40-man roster for the Atlanta Braves. For the second year in a row, the Braves clinched the National League Eastern Division Championship on Friday, beating San Francisco 6-0 in SunTrust Park. The Braves will wrap up the regular season this weekend with a three-game series against the New York Mets at Citi Field in New York. Last season, Wilson finished the regular season with Atlanta but wasn’t on the 25-man postseason roster.

Rodney Brooks: As mentioned in Sunday’s update, the Division II Livingstone Blue Bears defeated Allen University 21-7 at Alumni Memorial Football Stadium in Salisbury on Saturday. Brooks, who spent last season with Fort Union Military Academy, had a fumble recovery for Livingstone, one of two turnovers forced by the Blue Bears’ defense. Brooks has played in all three games this season. Livingstone is 2-1 and will face Lincoln University in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Lili Henry: Division III Salem College defeated Methodist University in volleyball 3-1 on Wednesday night at the Riddle Center in Fayetteville. The Spirits defeated the Monarchs on scores of 25-21, 25-21, 24-26 and 25-21. It was the USA South Athletic Conference opener for Methodist. Monarchs junior Lili Henry, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2017, finished with 15 assists and one ace. Henry leads the team 167 assists this season. The Monarchs are 1-8 overall and will host Averett University in Fayetteville on Saturday. 

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team is learning on the job what it’s like to be the hunted. Especially for a team that starts three freshmen.

On Tuesday night, the Red Wolves retained its share of first place in the Big 8 Conference with a 3-2 win over Vance County at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The Red Wolves prevailed on scores of 25-14, 16-25, 25-15, 20-25, 15-3. It was the second five set match of the year for Cedar Ridge. Two weeks ago, the Red Wolves stunned Chapel Hill in five set in front of a rowdy crowd in Hillsborough.

With the win, Cedar Ridge is 11-2, 5-1 in the Big 8 Conference. Cedar Ridge will host Southern Durham on Thursday night. With one more win, the Red Wolves will clinch its first winning season since 2016, when they reached the Eastern Regional Championship match.

The Red Wolves remain tied with Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill for first place in the Big 8. East Chapel Hill, who lost to Orange on Monday, rebounded with a 3-1 victory over Northwood in Pittsboro on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Chapel Hill swept Northern Durham 25-11, 25-16, and 25-8. Since losing to Cedar Ridge, the Tigers have won five in a row, dropping just one set in the process.

In the Bull City on Tuesday night, Orange rolled past Southern Durham 3-0 for its third win in four matches. The Lady Panthers cruised on scores of 25-4, 25-15 and 25-10.

Sophomore Avery Miller led Orange with eleven kills. It’s the fourth time this year that Miller has finished in double-digits in kills. Her career-high of 13 kills came in the 3-2 loss to Cedar Ridge on September 12.

Senior Kaitlyn Werden had ten aces, three digs and 23 assists. Freshman Erin Jordan-Cornell had six kills.

Orange is now 9-5 overall, 4-2 in the Big 8. After its win over East Chapel Hill on Monday, the Lady Panthers’ MaxPreps ranking went up to #21 among 3A teams. Chapel Hill is #2, Cedar Ridge is #11, East Chapel Hill is #18. Person, who Orange split the season series with, is #12.

Orange will host Northern Durham on Thursday. The Knights defeated Orange three times last season, including in the opening round of the Big 8 Conference Tournament last October.

Men’s Soccer: Orange opened the week with back-to-back matches. Northwood held off Orange 2-1 in Pittsboro, despite the Panthers having many chances that they failed to convert. The Chargers earned a penalty kick with nine minutes remaining, which they converted. Tyler Werden scored the Panthers’ only goal.

On Tuesday night, the defending 3A State Champion Chapel Hill defeated Orange 2-0 in a match that was scoreless at halftime. The Panthers are 4-6, 1-4 in the Big 8 Conference. Orange will travel to Carrboro on Friday.

On Monday, Northern Durham defeated Cedar Ridge 5-0 at Jack Armstrong Stadium in Durham. The Red Wolves are 3-6-1, 1-3 in the Big 8 Conference. Cedar Ridge hosts East Chapel Hill at Red Wolves Stadium on Wednesday night (tonight).

Cedar Ridge had its second five-set match on Tuesday night, holding off Vance County 3-2. The Red Wolves won on scores of 25-14, 16-25, 25-15, 20-25, 15-3 in the first-ever match against the Vipers. With the win, Cedar Ridge is 11-2, 5-1 in the Big 8 Conference. The Red Wolves also maintain its share of first place in the Big 8 Conference, remaining tied with East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill with one loss each. Cedar Ridge will wrap up the week against Southern Durham in Hillsborough. With a win against the Spartans, the Red Wolves will clinch its first winning season since 2016. Thanks to Jon Franklin, the public address voice of the Red Wolves, for conducting this interview with Coach Seethaler and Altieri.  

Four Cedar Ridge women’s tennis seniors celebrated senior night on Monday, but this was no ordinary group. Olivia Ward, Nora Sauers, Brianna Cellini and Karen Alvarez represent the final group of players who are connected to Cedar Ridge’s 2016 Big 8 Championship team. Ward, Cellini and Sauers were regular players on that squad, which was the most successful tennis team in school history. They reached the 3A State Quarterfinals after dual match wins over Swansboro and Burlington Williams. The 2016 Red Wolves finished 19-2, including a perfect 12-0 in the Big 8. Ward, Sauers, Cellini and Alvarez will depart Cedar Ridge as more than a winning class. They’re a championship class. They will also continue their season on Wednesday afternoon at Northern Durham. 

Wild West wisdom dictates there isn’t a horse that can’t be rode and there never was a rider that couldn’t be thrown.

The Big 8 Conference volleyball season isn’t even halfway over, and four of its teams are ranked in the MaxPreps top 25. Not one of them is undefeated in conference play.

Not after Monday night when Orange defeated East Chapel Hill 3-1 in surprisingly convincing fashion at Panther Gymnasium. The Wildcats took a nip-and-tuck opening set 25-27, staving off two set points. Orange took the final three frames 25-19, 25-12 and 25-20.

The irony is both teams ended last week with polar opposite results. On Friday, East Chapel Hill polished off Cedar Ridge 3-0 in front of a raucous crowd at Wildcat Gymnasium that was a showdown for first place in the Big 8 Conference.

On Thursday, Orange had its flattest performance of the season. Chapel Hill swept the Panthers 3-0 in a match that barely took an hour.

Afterwards, Orange coach Kelly Young squatted in front of her team for 15 minutes in an impassioned speech as the fans filtered out of the gym.

In short, Young wanted her team to loosen up. A day after the Chapel Hill loss, there were no wind sprints or meticulous review of fundamentals.

The practice consisted of simply playing volleyball.

“I think they want to have a perfect game, which just isn’t going to happen in this league,” Young said. “They’re human beings. They’re teenagers. They put a lot of stress on themselves. On Thursday, it looked like they hated what they were doing. So Friday, we just played. No drills. No corrections. We just played to remind them why they do this.”

Orange’s win also did a big favor to crosstown rival Cedar Ridge. The Red Wolves are now tied with East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill in the loss column for 1st place in the Big 8 Conference. East (8-2, 4-1 in the Big 8), will face Northwood on Tuesday and Chapel Hill on Thursday.

Orange played without sophomore Avery Miller, who was injured. Senior Elizabeth Vosburg and sophomore Lottie Scully tied with a team-high eight kills. Vosburg had a whopping nine blocks. Scully also had 17 assists, nine digs, three blocks and two aces. Junior Chloe Riley finished with seven kills, 15 digs, and one block.

Senior Kaitlyn Werden finished with 18 assists, three kills, eleven digs and one ace.

With the win, Orange is now ranked #24 in the MaxPreps 3A polls. Orange and West Henderson are the only teams in the top 24 with five losses.

The Lady Panthers jumped out to a 8-2 lead in the second set. They pushed the lead to 20-12 before East called timeout.

The third set was even more lopsided. Orange led 19-11 before finishing the sett on a 6-1 run to take a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth set, a kill by Riley pushed Orange’s lead to 23-18.

Orange will play two more matches this week. They travel to Southern Durham on Tuesday, then host Northern Durham on Thursday.

It was one remarkable time for Nicholas Frank to notch his first brace in high school soccer. Frank scored two goals in a span of 49 seconds last Wednesday night to even the first leg of the Hillsborough Derby at 3-3. The Red Wolves eventually won in penalty kicks 4-3. Naturally, Frank had the game-winning score in penalties, and goalkeeper Ty Corbin made the final save against Orange to trigger a wild celebration among the Red Wolves. It was their first home win over Orange since 2015. Frank becomes the latest freshman to win Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week. Of the five Red Wolves who have been awarded this year, three are freshman. Frank has four goals this season, along with ten points. He also scored goals against Carrboro on August 26 and the Durham School of the Arts on September 4. Cedar Ridge hosts East Chapel Hill on Wednesday night.