Month: August 2021

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team played its first Central Carolina Conference game on Tuesday night, but the result was the same as the rest of their matches this season. The Red Wolves swept traditional power Person on scores of 26-24, 25-23 and 25-15. in the final set, Cedar Ridge junior middle hitter Cameron Lanier had six kills and one block. She also earned match point off an assist from classmate Julie Altieri. Junior libero Grace Young finished with 15 digs. Including a remarkable save off a Person spike that fooled so many people, the Rockets started celebrating the point. Young’s dig was sent to Altieri, who passed it to Cameron Lloyd for a point to go ahead 16-9. Lanier and Young are part of a junior class that has turned Cedar Ridge into a dominant team locally. The Red Wolves are 6-0 and have opened the 2021-2022 season by winning its first 18 sets. The Red Wolves will look to continue its dominance when they travel to Pittsboro to face Northwood on Thursday.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is freshman tennis player Ella Caltabiano. Last week in her first varsity match, Caltabiano defeated Voyager Academy’s Karli McKenna 8-5 at #4 singles. Later in the day, Caltabiano found herself playing at #3 doubles in a match that would determine who would win the season-opener. Caltabiano teamed with Reagan Simmons to defeat Shea Dixon & Fiorella Cendeno 8-3 as Cedar Ridge won the dual match 5-4. On Monday, Caltabiano won her singles match over Kalei Stephens of Person 8-0 as the Red Wolves won 7-2. It was the first sports event where Cedar Ridge competed in the new Central Carolina Conference. Caltabiano didn’t start seriously playing tennis until just a few years ago, but is one of the young stars of a Cedar Ridge team that hopes to makn impact under head coach Steve Mayhew. Caltabiano and the rest of the Red Wolves will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Northwood. The Red Wolves are 2-0, 1-0 in the CCC.

Men’s Soccer: Orange 4, Graham 1: It appeared the Orange men’s soccer team would come up short in its search for its first road win of the season.

Trailing 1-0 with 15:00 against Graham, the Panthers unleashed four goals in the final 14 minutes to beat the Red Devils 4-1 on Monday night. In the final minute, Orange wingback Jasper Fast attempted a free kick from 24 yards. The ball was stopped on the goal line, but junior Darius Corbett chipped it in for the final goal.

Nicholas Hengsterman earned the win in net for Orange, who will face Riverside at Durham’s Linny Wrenn Stadium on Wednesday.

Orange 9, Henderson Collegiate 0: Orange claimed its first win of the season with a 9-0 win over Henderson Collegiate at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on Saturday. The game kicked off a 3PM in the midst of 95-degree heat, but the Panthers didn’t let that deter them.

Tyler Mann and Carter Thompson each scored three goals for Orange. Darius Corbett added two goals, while Traver Bruhns added another marker. Thompson, Corbett and Bryan Membreno all had assists. Nicholas Hengsterman earned the clean sheet for the win.

Women’s Tennis:

Cedar Ridge 7, Person 2

The Cedar Ridge women’s tennis team had the distinction of being the first team to play a match in the new Central Carolina Conference on Monday afternoon. The Red Wolves defeated Person 7-2 at Red Wolves Tennis Courts.

Sophomore Cameron Mayhew won at #1 singles 8-0. At #2 singles, Chloe Patz defeated Alora Horton 8-1. Hannah Shinnick won at #3 singles 8-0. Freshman Ella Caltabiano, Senior Captain Olivia Kelly and freshman Adeline Cummings all won their respective singles matches 8-0.

In doubles, Cedar Ridge’s Reagan Simmons and Catherine Ballenger won 8-4. The Red Wolves are 2-0 overall and will travel to Northwood on Wednesday.

Orange 5, Western Alamance 3

The Orange women’s tennis team had a long night in its Central Carolina Conference opener. A match that started in the heat of the day wasn’t decided until nightfall had descended in Elon, but the Lady Panthers won 5-3.

Both the #3 and the #4 singles matches wound up in a third set tiebreaker. Tea Jones won her match at #3 singles, while senior Jinkie Andrews won at #4 singles to put Orange ahead 4-2 in the doubles round. Jones and senior Jera Hargrove won at #2 doubles to clinch the match for Orange. The #3 doubles match was canceled because of lightning.

Orange is 5-1, 1-0 and will host Walter Williams in Hillsborough on Wednesday.

Cedar Ridge 5, Voyager Academy 4

The Cedar Ridge women’s tennis team opened its season last Tuesday with a 5-4 win over Voyager Academy. It was a dual match that came down to #3 doubles.

With the dual match even 4-4, the #3 doubles team of freshman Ella Caltabiano and Reagan Simmons won 8-3 to preserve a win in the season opener. Earlier in the day, Caltabiano won her first match at the varsity level at #4 singles, beating Voyager’s Karli McKenna 8-5.

Senior Chloe Patz captured her #2 singles match 8-3. At #3 singles, Hannah Shinnick won 8-4. Senior Olivia Kelly won 8-6 over Shea Dixon at #5 singles.

Carrboro 7, Orange 2: Orange 5, Carrboro 2

Last Thursday, Orange completed its season-opening match against Carrboro, which was postponed from August 16 because of rain. The Lady Panthers won 5-2. Sophomore Grace Pell captured her match at #2 singles after her opponent retired. In the marathon match of the day, senior Jinkie Andrews defeated Carrboro’s Julianna Curry 11-10, winning a tiebreaker 7-5. Senior Tea Jones, sophomore Erin Sollars and freshman Shannon Sollars all won their singles matches.

The Jaguars won the regularly scheduled match. Jones defeated Carrboro’s Julianna Curry 8-3 at #4 singles. Shannon Sollars captured the match at #6 singles 8-1.

With 15 minutes remaining, the Graham men’s soccer team led Orange 1-0 on Monday night. The Panthers went off in the final 14 minutes, scoring four goals to win 4-1 and improve to 2-3 on the season. Wingback Jasper Tyll started a big sequence with the game tied 1-1 as he stopped the Red Devils’ leading scorer on one of the few breakouts that Graham could muster in the second half. Tyll played with a cast on his left hand after getting injured in the season opener against Chapel Hill. On Saturday, Orange labored through 95-degree heat to defeat Henderson Collegiate 9-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. The Panthers, coached by Palmer Bowman, have won consecutive games. They look to continue the winning streak when they face Riverside on Wednesday night at Linny Wrenn Stadium in Durham. Orange will travel to Western Alamance on Wednesday night for its Central Carolina Conference opener.

Chapel Hill’s first win at Auman Stadium since 2004 didn’t end in with comfort, where the coaches played out the string to run out the clock before a celebratory and comfortable ride back to the southern end of the Orange County.

Rather, it was filled with every incredulous turn, strange play calling, false finishes and gutsy gambles that make the Chapel Hill-Orange rivalry so zany, unpredictable and downright fun.

Anyone who knows this rivalry would expect nothing less.

In front of a spirited group of Chapel Hill fans that included a large student section waving team flags, the Tigers (1-0) held on to defeat Orange (0-2) 27-21 on Friday night. Not to be outdone, the Orange fans turned out on Hawaii night where the expected gear. Even Orange trainer Emily Gaddy showed up in a Hawaiian lay.

In April, Chapel Hill kicker Nolan Westroom kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired to lift Chapel Hill past Orange 24-22 in the regular season finale at Culton-Peerman Stadium. It preserved a share of the Big 8 Conference championship for the Tigers. On Friday night, it appeared that Orange was brewing for yet another dramatic comeback of its own. On a night where the humidity was 85%, the game was constantly halted because of players cramping up. It left the Tigers struggling to find enough capable bodies to hold onto a 27-14 lead it had built with 4:33 remaining. Orange had two chances to score the game-tying touchdown in the final three minutes of regulation. Both drives ended in turnovers.

Chapel Hill senior quarterback Caleb Kelly threw for two touchdowns, including one on the final play of the first half that vaulted the Tigers into the lead permanently. Kelly finished 9-of-18 for 140 yards and two touchdowns.

“This hurts as much as April,” said Orange Coach Van Smith. “Just too many mistakes. Golly, that’s the best quarterback we’ve seen in a long time. If we see another one better than that this year, it’s going to be freakin’ scary, because he’s dang good”

Orange has lost five straight home openers. Chapel Hill, which lost eleven straight times to the Panthers from 2009-2019, defeated Orange for the second time in four months.

If nothing else, the game was a dramatic improvement for the Orange offense, which labored through a poor season-opener at South Granville last week. Against the Vikings, the Panthers registered just 16 yards total offense and two first downs.

Orange’s Jared Weaver blocked a 37-yard field goal attempt by Chapel Hill kicker Taran Coyne Smith. That led to a 13-play, 71-yard drive where Orange converted four third-downs. It ended when senior running back Omarion Lewis broke two tackles to score on an 11-yard scamper into the end zone. Kicker Darius Satterfield took a snap from long snapper Jake Wimsatt on the extra point and ran it in to put Orange ahead 8-0.

Chapel Hill would score on its next three possessions. It started when senior Elijah Ayankoya returned the ensuing kickoff back 86 yards for a touchdown. Weaver blocked the extra point to keep Orange ahead 8-6.

The Tigers got the ball back with 1:06 remaining in the first half. Kelly threw to senior Josh Campos for a 41-yard pass to penetrate the Orange end zone. After three straight incompletions, Chapel Hill faced a 4th-and-10. Marsh eschewed another 40-yard field goal attempt, a decision that paid off handsomely. Kelly found Campos in the back corner of the end zone for a gorgeous 20-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the first half.

On the opening kickoff of the second half, Chapel Hill’s Tai Kirk recovered a fumble by Orange’s returner at the Panther 29-yard line. Kelly got into the red zone with an eleven-yard run, and later flipped the ball on a tap pass to wide receiver Anthony Muldrow, who curved up the middle of the line for a 5-yard touchdown. Drew Allen added the 2-point run as Chapel Hill increased its lead to 20-8.

“We couldn’t have had a more disastrous end to the first half and beginning to the second half,” Smith said. “I thought we were doing pretty well offensively in the first half before the kickoff returner.” It

Orange’s sophomore running back Nate Sorrells took over on the next drive. He started by returning the kickoff 31 yards. After Lewis converted a 3rd-and-2, Sorrells bolted around left end for a 35-yard run. Hecht would score his first touchdown of the season on a fullback dive to reduce Chapel Hill’s lead to 20-14.

Jabari Albright recovered a fumble late in the third quarter to start a drive at the Chapel Hill 49-yard line. The drive stalled out after consecutive penalties pushed Orange back to the 50-yard line.

The game turned on Orange’s opening possession of the fourth quarter. The Panthers were set to punt on a 4th-and-10 from its own 35-yard line. At this point, Orange called for a fake punt, where Hecht was stopped by Becket Yates and Palmer Blanchard after a 2-yard gain, which turned the ball over on downs to Chapel Hill deep in Orange territory.

“We had poor execution,” Smith said about the called play. “It was there. It was there. Wide open.”

Chapel Hill needed only six plays to score what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown. After Kelly started the drive with a 12-yard gain, Allen scored on a 1-yard plunge with 4:33 remaining.

Trailing 27-14, Orange needed something fast and they got it. Quarterback Wynston Brown found Sorrells for a nine-yard gain, and picked up 15 more yards after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Brown floated a screen pass to Sorrells for a 35-yard touchdown pass, scoring just 40 seconds after Kelly touchdown.

Orange forced Chapel Hill into its only 3-and-out of the game after Kelly was pressured into a incompletion on 3rd-and-11 by linebackers Connor Ray and Jackson Wood. Orange took over at its own 26-yard line, but on 3rd-and-9, Brown had the ball knocked free and recovered by Tiger defensive lineman Edward Bassett.

It appeared that the Tigers would simply run out the clock, but this wild night wasn’t going to end that meekly. Running back Cayden Forbes, who finished with 102 yards, fumbled at the Orange 16-yard line with 1:02 remaining. Orange’s Kameron Harshaw got the ball back and the Panthers incredibly got yet another chance to take the lead.

But there was no miracle on Friday night.

Brown marched the Panthers into Chapel Hill territory after a 11-yard pass to Sorrells, followed by another personal foul penalty. Chapel Hill’s Jeremy Breeze ended the struggle with an interception at the 30-yard line.

Orange will travel to Burlington to face Cummings next Friday.

CHAPEL HILL 27, ORANGE 21

CH 0 12 8 7-27

OR 0 8 6 7-21

ORANGE-Omarion Lewis 11 run (Darius Satterfield run)

CHAPEL HILL-Elijah Ayankoya 86 kickoff return (kick blocked)

CHAPEL HILL-Josh Campos 22 pass from Caleb Kelly (run failed)

CHAPEL HILL-Anthony Muldrow 5 pass from Kelly (Drew Allen run)

ORANGE-Nate Hecht 1 run (pass failed)

CHAPEL HILL-Allen 1 run (Taran Coyne Smith kick)

ORANGE-Nate Sorrells 35 pass from Wynston Brown (Satterfield kick)

RUSHING-CHAPEL HILL 32-132 TD (Cayden Forbes 20-102, Kelly 7-20, Allen 3-17 TD, team 2-(-7)

ORANGE-46-225 (Lewis 17-89 TD, Sorrells 6-57, Hecht 8-26 TD, Brown 6-20, Jackson Wood 4-19, Ronald Cooper 2-13, A’Mare Morgan 2-4, team 1-(-3))

PASSING–CHAPEL HILL (Kelly 9-18 140 yards 2 TD) ORANGE (BROWN 4-8 65 TD, INT)

RECEIVING–CHAPEL HILL (Campos 3-67 2 TD, Muldrown 3-27 TD, Kaire Ryland 1-28, Ayankoya 1-12, Jamazia Williams 1-6)

ORANGE–(Sorrells 3-56 TD, Lewis 1-9)

The first Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week for the 2020-2021 academic year is junior outside hitter Cameron Lloyd. It is the third time that Cameron has been honored in her Cedar Ridge career. The competition for the award was tight this week because several of Lloyd’s teammates had a huge week as the Red Wolf volleyball team started 3-0. Most memorable of all was the stunning 3-0 win over defending 3A State Champion D.H. Conley in Greenville, where Cedar Ridge avenged its only loss of the 2020-2021 season. Against the Vikings, Lloyd had 16 kills and two aces. Lloyd is a three-time winner of the Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week award. She is nearing 500 kills for her career. On Thursday, Lloyd added to her total as Cedar Ridge defeated Carrboro 3-0 on scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-15. Lloyd, the daughter of Joey and Sherry Lloyd of White Cross, led Cedar Ridge in kills last season as the Red Wolves won the Big 8 Conference championship. In just three years, she has helped the Red Wolves amass a record of 32-7 with three wins over teams that have won state championships since 2016. The victory over Carrboro on Thursday night was the first time Cedar Ridge had defeated the Jaguars since 2015. Cedar Ridge is 5-0 and will return to action on Tuesday for its first match in the new Central Carolina Conference. The Red Wolves will face Person in Hillsborough. It will mark the first time that Cedar Ridge and Person have squared off as conference rivals in any sport.

Volleyball: Cedar Ridge 3, Northern Durham 0

Three days after beating the defending 3A State Champions D.H. Conley, the Cedar Ridge volleyball team rolled past former Big 8 Conference rival Northern Durham 3-0 on Monday at Red Wolves Gymnasium.

The Red Wolves (4-0) played its fourth match in six days, but there was no sign of rust. Junior Cameron Lloyd led Cedar Ridge with eight kills, but sophomore Addie Reid came up with a career-high seven kills, which speaks to the increased firepower that the Red Wolves have developed over the course of the first week of the season.

Reid, who played sparingly in two matches at the end of last season, opened the year with four kills each in matches against East Chapel Hill and Riverside. Junior Anaya Carter had five kills and one ace.

Cedar Ridge captured the first set 25-13. They won 25-9 and 25-22. The Red Wolves have yet to drop a set in its four matches thus far.

Junior Julie Altieri finished with four aces. The Red Wolves will finish the week on Wednesday with a road trip against powerful Carrboro, who is 2-2 thus far. The Jaguars, which moved to 3A in the new Northern Lakes Conference this summer, won 27 consecutive games in the 2A Mid-State Conference. They captured back-to-back Mid-State Conference championships and won the 2016 2A State Championship. It will be the first matchup between the Red Wolves and the Jaguars since 2016, when Carrboro finished a perfect 30-0.

Women’s Tennis: Orange 9, Southern Alamance 0

The Orange women’s tennis team is off to its strongest start in at least a decade. The Lady Panthers improved to 3-0 with a 9-0 victory over Southern Alamance in Graham on Tuesday.

Sophomore Grace Pell started at #1 singles and won her match 6-1, 6-1. Senior Tea Jones started at #2 singles and captured her match 6-1, 6-1. Sophomore Erin Sollars, freshman Shannon Sollars, sophomore Makalya Davis and sophomore Isabelle Lynn completed the singles sweep for Orange.

In doubles play, sophomores Finley White and Pell teamed to win at #1 8-1. The only competitive match of the day came at #2 doubles, where Jinkie Andrews and Erin Sollars defeated the Patriots’ Faith Moore and Paicey Cameron 8-6. Katelyn Van Mater, who is now participating in her third sport at Orange (including soccer and basketball), teamed with Madelyn Horn to win at #3 doubles 8-2.

Orange 9, Riverside 0 (August 23)

The Orange women’s tennis team won its first road trip of the season with a 9-0 victory over Riverside in Durham on Monday. Lady Panthers coach Justin Webb named Jinkie Andrews the player of the match. Andrews won at #3 singles 6-2, 6-0 to improve her record to 2-0 on the season.

Finley White, who was a regular at #1 singles last spring, earned the top spot against the Pirates. White prevailed over the Pirates’ Delaney Schick 7-6 (7-5), 7-5. Grace Pell won at #2 singles over Sara Carbajal 6-0, 6-0. Tea Jones, Erin Sollars and Shannon Solars all won as Orange swept the singles matches.

In doubles play, Erin and Shannon Sollars defeated Schick and Carbajal 8-4. Faith Moore & Paicey Cameron won the tightest match of the day, beating Makayla Davis and Isabelle Lynn 9-7.

Katelyn Van Mater and Jones won over Juliet Paw & Alexis Hester 8-0.

Part of the reason for Orange’s earlier success is a strong turnover. Over 20 players on currently on the squad, which is the most Justin Webb has had since he became the Lady Panthers’ coach.

Orange will travel to Carrboro to complete a suspended match on Thursday, then play a regularly scheduled match. On August 16, Orange led the Jaguars 3-1 in Hillsborough when the match was interrupted by rain.