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.