Trying to play high school sports in the midst of a pandemic has been a struggle between routine and uncertainty. In the midst of the most unusual volleyball season ever, Cedar Ridge has shown unwavering stability.
The Red Wolves have every excuse otherwise available. They’re under a new head coach, its fourth since 2015. They play only two seniors in a Big 8 Conference that includes perennial power Chapel Hill, the defending 3A State Champions. There have been games postponed with less than 24 hours notice.
Now at the midway point of an abbreviated 14-game regular season, Cedar Ridge is atop the Big 8 Conference at 7-0. This season, only two teams from the Big 8 will make the 3A state playoffs. With seven matches remaining, Cedar Ridge has opened up a two-game lead over a league that became more logjammed over the past week.
Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill and Orange are all tied for second place in the loss column. Orange, which entered the week 4-0, suffered consecutive 3-0 losses to East Chapel Hill and Northwood on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
While the absence of crowds may make road games less imposing compared to an ordinary year, Cedar Ridge has still mounted a 4-0 record away from Red Wolves Gymnasium. While fans won’t be allowed into Cedar Ridge, the Red Wolves will start a four-game homestead on Tuesday against crosstown rival Orange.
Most impressively, Cedar Ridge has registered sweeps in five of its six wins (Southern Durham forfeited). The most recent came on Thursday night against Northwood, where the Red Wolves prevailed on scores of 25-18, 26-24 and 25-18.
The only set Cedar Ridge has dropped this season came against East Chapel Hill on December 1.
As was the case in 2019, it has been sophomores who have paved the way to Cedar Ridge’s best start since 2015: Cameron Lloyd, Julie Altieri and Cameron Lanier.
Lloyd has been the centerpiece of Cedar Ridge’s finishing attack. She leads the team with 54 kills, including a season-high 19 against East Chapel Hill. She’s also is second on the team with 46 digs.
Setting up Lloyd for many of those kills is Altieri, who leads the team with 103 assists. Altieri, whose brothers Andrew and Eddie played basketball at Cedar Ridge, also leads the team with 18 aces.
Lanier has 42 kills and and a team-high ten blocks. Last season, as a freshman, Lanier had 193 kills, second only to Lloyd.
As with most successful teams, it’s only as good as its seniors. Libero Marlee Rakouskas has a team-high 54 digs and 91 serves received. Rakouskas’ classmate, Layne Foster, was named the Player of the Match against Chapel Hill on November 24. Foster has 14 kills, six assists and 41 digs so far.
As Cedar Ridge students have learned remotely since the pandemic started it March, it’s been impossible to build a sense of school spirit. Nonetheless, the volleyball team is on pace to earn Cedar Ridge’s first conference championship since the 2019 softball team. Last year, with the spring sports season canceled, Cedar Ridge only made the state playoffs in one sport: volleyball, where the Red Wolves lost to Terry Sanford in the opening round.
On Tuesday, Cedar Ridge will host Orange, a perfect matchup at the worst possible time. With it’s arguable that the two best volleyball teams in the Big 8 are both in Hillsborough, it goes without saying that this would be the most anticipated Orange-Cedar Ridge matchup in years if fans were allowed into Red Wolves Gymnasium. But reality has stepped in, once again, intruding our lives in ways that were unimaginable one year ago.
While Cedar Ridge isn’t a sure thing yet to win the Big 8, or even make the state playoffs, one thing is certain. This road to the conference championship runs through Cedar Ridge’s backyard this year.