For a lofty goal that has been denied to the Orange volleyball team the past eight years, reaching the third round of the 3A State Playoffs came easy enough.
The Lady Panthers endured some early hiccups to roll past Northern Nash 3-0 on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. The Lady Panthers (24-4) have now won more game than any Orange team in the 17 years. Records on MaxPreps that date back to 2007 show the winningest team in the last 16 years was the 2008 team, which finished 19-5.
It’s the first time that Orange has reached the 3rd round of the 3A State Playoffs since 2015.
Orange will face Union Pines in Hillsborough on Thursday night at 6PM. The Vikings defeated won a five-set thriller against Western Alamance in Cameron on Tuesday.
Senior Ella Wimsatt finished with 12 kills and seven digs. Sophomore middle blocker Ava Wilkerson finished with eleven kills. Sophomore Aubrey Jordan had seven kills.
While the best may still be ahead for the Orange volleyball team, getting past the second round is no small feat for a senior class that had spent the past two years bumping its head on a glass ceiling. Last year, Cedar Ridge defeated Orange in the second round. In 2021, Hunt edged the Lady Panthers in five sets.
“Starting this season, the seniors had set the goal of getting past the second round,” said Orange coach Hope Heverly. “Coach (Mary Alice) Pike and I quickly told them that wasn’t an OK goal, that we were going to make it more than just past the second round. But I know that was something important to them was to make it past tonight.”
Northern Nash, coming off its first playoff win in nine years, ends the season 15-6. The Knights found themselves ahead 7-4 in the opening set after Orange had three early serves go long.
“I could tell the girls were just a little bit nervous,” Heverly said. “You could tell it was a mixture of adrenaline and nerves early. I knew they would settle down. Once we settled down, we really showed them who we were.”
Jordan started a 7-2 run with a kill set up by White. Wilkerson followed with an unassisted spike on a low-hanging ball off a serve from junior Abby Silinski. Wilkerson put Orange ahead for good, both for the opening set and the rest of the match, with another kill assisted by White. Orange ended the set on a 9-1 run, ending with a spike by Jordan.
Sophomore Katie Silcott and freshman Sawyer White alternated between setter and right outside hitter. Silcott, who surpassed 1,000 career assists in the regular season finale against Walter Williams, came away with 27 assists, five kills and three digs. White had five kills, 16 assists and seven digs.
“We’re making more of a dynamic front,” Heverly said. “Having Sawyer coming on now and stepping up to run a 6-2 has been really beneficial for us. Sawyer has been training with Katie a lot this season and you can see it’s really coming up big now in the postseason.”
Silinski caused the Knights fits in the second set. She had four aces during a 10-1 Orange run that culminated the second set. After a kill by White set up by Wimsatt, Orange completed the frame after a serve by the Knights went into the nylon, ending at 25-10.
Orange opened the third set with four straight points, including a kill by Wilkerson. The Knights came back to even things at 5-5 after a block by Brooke Rose, but the Lady Panthers came back with six in a row. White and Wimsatt each had blocks to put Orange ahead 11-5. Orange went on an 8-2 run to go ahead 22-9, ending with a kill from sophomore Mariah Poole. Wilkerson had a kill on match point.