Month: November 2020

As freshmen in 2019, Cedar Ridge’s Cameron Lloyd, Julie Altieri and Cameron Lanier didn’t flinch when they faced Chapel Hill, the three-time defending Big 8 Champions, in the conference opener.

The Red Wolves won 3-2 in Hillsborough. Chapel Hill didn’t lose again. They claimed the 3A State Championship with a 27-1 record.

So why would the Red Wolves be intimidated on Thursday night?

A year wiser and more mature, Cedar Ridge throttled the Tigers 3-0 on scores of 25-23, 25-21 and 25-12 at Smith Middle School in Chapel Hill.

In front of a crowd limited to junior varsity players from both teams due to the pandemic, the Red Wolves dominated the defending 3A state champions to improve to 2-0 in the Big 8 Conference. Cedar Ridge started its season with a 3-0 win over Northwood on Tuesday night in Hillsborough.

It was the second win for new Cedar Ridge coach Fiona Cunningham, a former Chapel Hill assistant who faced her former team for the first time.

“It was a long of fun,” Cunningham said. “It’s always great to come out with a win. It was also fun to just feel that sense of volleyball community again. Players getting to see players again that they know. It brings a sense of normalcy.”

During a year where nothing has been normal, Cedar Ridge’s players have spent the year adjusting to a new routine. While most sports skidded to a halt around the world during the summer, the club volleyball season carried on, albeit to a lesser degree. Some of the Cedar Ridge players were teammates on the beach volleyball court, which allowed them to get used to playing with masks.

“I think we’ve all adapted to it pretty well,” said Altieri. “We’ve had a few struggles, but we’re working as a team to get through it and to get to know each other better.”

There’s no time for slack. Because of the pandemic, a regular season that ordinarily is 23-25 games has been riddled down to 14. It will be exclusively conference games for Cedar Ridge.

There also will be no wildcard in the playoffs. Only the top two teams for the Big 8 will see the postseason, which makes Cedar Ridge’s strong opening week all the more important.

After an 18-6 campaign in 2019 under former head coach Anna Seethaler that ended with an opening round playoff loss to Terry Sanford, the Red Wolves lost four seniors. Lloyd, Altieri and Lanier all played over 75 sets last season as freshmen.

On top of that, together they’ve now handed Chapel Hill its last two losses. The Tigers have gone 81-15 since 2017 with two regional championships and our Big 8 titles.

While it would be easy to attach a slogan like “a statement win” or “a changing of the guard” to Cedar Ridge sweeping the defending state champions, Cunningham has her own phrase.

A grain of salt.

“That’s how we’re taking it,” Cunningham said. “We know that Chapel Hill is a great team. But we also know that this year, more than any, will be anybody’s game when it comes to the playoffs. Teams are going to be rapidly changing this season.”

After Thursday night’s win, Cunningham received a congratulatory text from a Chapel Hill assistant about the Red Wolves’ performance. It’s a win over Chapel Hill in volleyball. Ordinarily, that would be something that speaks volumes.

For Cedar Ridge, it will—until Monday, at least. That’s when they host crosstown rival Orange, who defeated the Red Wolves at Cedar Ridge Gymnasium last year.

Cunningham will be new to the Hillsborough rivalry, but she knows what to expect. On Friday morning, she finished up practice with a word to her team about the first matchup with the Lady Panthers.

“We want to make sure that emotionally, it’s a stable game,” Cunningham said. “That’s what we’ve been talking about since the start of the season–not having big ups and downs. Coming off the Chapel Hill win, we don’t want our girls to start to get complacent.”

Orange will start its season on Friday night against East Chapel Hill inside Wildcats Gymnasium. The two teams split the season series in 2019.

Usually, November is around the time that volleyball season ends in North Carolina. But this is 2020, when nothing is normal. Thus, the Cedar Ridge volleyball team started its season on Thursday night in front of a audience comprised solely of junior varsity players, staff and one media member at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The Red Wolves won 3-0 over Northwood. However, sophomore Julie Altieri has been active during the pandemic. She has played beach volleyball with her club team. Altieri started as a freshman in 2019, when the Red Wolves went 18-6 and finished tied for 3rd in the Big 8 Conference with a 10-4 record. Altieri led the Red Wolves in assists on Tuesday night. The third member of her family to play sports at Cedar Ridge, Altieri will look to defeat defending 3A State Champion Chapel Hill on Thursday night at Smith Middle School. Last season, Altieri led the Red Wolves with 80 assists and also registered 178 digs, which was third on the team.

There was finally a sense of normalcy on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. The Cedar Ridge volleyball team became the first squad to return to action since the pandemic started in March. The Red Wolves started its 14-game regular season with a 3-0 win over Northwood. Senior libero Marlee Rakouskas started under new head coach Fiona Cunningham as the Red Wolves won on scores of 25-22, 25-14, 25-23. Rakouskas was named the player of the match. Despite the pandemic, Rakouskas has remained busy on the volleyball court this summer with her club team. Last season, Cedar Ridge finished 3rd in the Big 8 Conference and was the only team to defeat Chapel Hill, who went on to win the 3A State Championship. On Thursday night, Cedar Ridge will travel to face Chapel Hill. The match will be held at Smith Middle School, but fans won’t be permitted due to COVID-19 restrictions.