It was another Cedar Ridge sweep, but it name only.
Anyone sitting within the tension filled environment at Cedar Ridge gymnasium on Tuesday night understood why so many of the Orange volleyball players were battling the defending 3A State Champions like it was the last game they would ever play.
It’s because, in most cases, they really did.
There’s a bond that intersects the Orange-Cedar Ridge volleyball rivalry in many ways. Orange middle blocker Erin Jordan-Cornell and setter Caitlin Carden won an Orange-Person Athletic Conference championship with the Stanford Chargers (now Orange Chargers) in middle school with Cameron Lloyd as a teammate when they were in 8th grade. Lloyd, Jordan-Cornell and Carden played on travel teams together in their pre-teen years.
Their allegiances drifted apart after middle school. Lloyd joined Cameron Lanier, Julie Altieri, Anaya Carter and Grace Young at Cedar Ridge. Jordan-Cornell and Carden opted for Orange. Though they played on different teams, their friendships remained intact. When Cedar Ridge won the 3A State Championship last year at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, Jordan-Cornell was outside the locker room waiting with Cedar Ridge parents and relatives to congratulate them. On October 11, when Jordan-Cornell and Carden defeated Eastern Alamance in their senior night game at Panther Gymnasium, Lloyd and Altieri were there.
Lloyd, Carden and Jordan-Cornell won a championship together in 8th grade. The cruel irony surrounding Tuesday night, unspoken but understood, was not simply that somebody’s high school career would end. It was that someone’s close friend would play a big part in ending it.
After Lloyd spiked him match point to complete a 3-0 Cedar Ridge win, it appeared that both teams would be content with just waving to each other, a practice that replaced a postgame handshake during the sensitive times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, perhaps realizing the magnitude of the moment, they thought better of it. Jordan-Cornell, whose jovial nature almost always leads to her entering games with a smile on her face, didn’t even lose her grin as the handshake line started as her Orange volleyball career ended.
Then reality set in. After slapping hands with some of Cedar Ridge’s players, she wiped a tear from under her right eye with her jersey. Carden began getting emotional, as well.
As the two teams went to their respective benches, Cedar Ridge public address announcer Jon Franklin paid tribute to the Orange seniors by reading their names over the public address system while the fans, parents and students from both schools applauded. Jordan-Cornell, Carden, Lillie Smith, Cameryn Stewart, Ashlyn Davis and Ashlyn Hoffman stayed around long after the final point to talk to parents from both teams.
Cedar Ridge (23-1) advanced to the round of 16 of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3A State Playoffs with its fourth win over Orange this year. The Red Wolves will face First Flight on Thursday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. First Flight survived a five-set battle with Lee County in Kill Devil Hills on Tuesday.
Lloyd finished with ten kills for Cedar Ridge. Senior Cameron Lanier, second behind only Lloyd on Cedar Ridge’s all-time killslist, finished with nine kills and two blocks. Junior setter Rachel Alverson, replacing senior Julie Altieri in the lineup, had a career-high 33 assists.
Orange junior Ella Wimsatt had seven kills to lead the Lady Panthers. Jordan-Cornell, replacing Allie Wilkerson, had five kills and three aces.
For Orange, the loss was filled with more of the standard finality that comes with the conclusion of a season. In addition to the seven seniors, coach Kelly Young plans to step down at the end of the year.
All of which may have played a part in Orange’s emotional start that knocked the Red Wolves back in the opening minutes. Jordan-Cornell served up two aces to put the Lady Panthers ahead 8-3 in the first set, leading to an early timeout from Cedar Ridge coach Fiona Cunningham.
“Orange gave it everything they got,” Cunningham said. “Orange played out of their minds. That was some of the best volleyball I’ve seen this year from anybody. We came out really timid. They came out really aggressive. Emotions really controlled most of the match.”
Orange, who ended Cedar Ridge’s 62-set winning streak last week in the Central Carolina Conference Tournament championship game, won long rallies early. Wimsatt slammed home a spike off an assist from freshman Katie Silcott to put the Lady Panthers ahead 11-7. Cedar Ridge freshman Claire Hargett scored off an assist from Alverson to lead to a Red Wolf side out, leading to 6-2 Cedar Ridge run to tie the set.
The opening frame had five lead changes and nine ties. Orange won another lengthy rally when Wimsatt tapped the ball over the outstretched arms of Melissa Benkowitz to give the Lady Panthers a 19-18 lead. The Red Wolves would deliver another patented run when it mattered the most, finishing with seven consecutive points with junior Graylinn Serge serving. During the run, Lanier had three kills and Serge had an ace. An errant attack by Orange led to the Red Wolves taking the frame 25-19.
“We had a lot of talk about staying confident,” Cunningham said. “We made sure that we stuck to what we’re good at and our game plan. We came out and all of the work we had done on scouting and a game plan just kind of went out the door. He just had to refocus.”
The second set was just as tight. Orange freshman Ava Wilkerson evened things at 13 with a block. The Red Wolves array of weapons proved too much again late. They scored seven of the next eight points, including four kills from Benkowitz. A block by Lanier led to an Orange timeout. Cedar Ridge would take the set 25-20.
The early emotion appeared to catch up with Orange in the final set. Cedar Ridge opened with a 6-2 run and never trailed. Red Wolf senior Anaya Carter and Lanier each had two early kills. Orange freshman Aubrey Jordan finished with five kills, including four in the final set, but Lloyd got match point to end things.
It was Cedar Ridge’s 40th straight win over a Central Carolina Conference opponent.
Orange ends the year 19-11, its most wins since 2008.