Month: October 2023

Too Tough to Die–Cedar Ridge volleyball outlasts Franklinton in 3-2 thriller, advances to 3rd Round of State Playoffs

The 2023 Cedar Ridge volleyball team lost the school’s all-time leaders in kills, digs, assists and aces from last year’s squad due to graduation.

But they didn’t lose any toughness.

That’s been on full display since last week, when the Red Wolves stunned Orange to capture the Central Carolina Conference Tournament at Panther Gymnasium.

On Tuesday night, in its fifth match in eight days, the Red Wolves fought back from one obstacle after another to defeat Franklinton, champions of The Big East Conference, 3-2 in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs on the Lester Wilder Court. The Red Wolves advanced on scores of 25-21, 20-25, 24-26, 25-12, 15-10.

Cedar Ridge (17-8) will travel to Greenville to face J.H. Rose on Thursday night in the third round. It will be the third straight year that the Rampants and the Red Wolves have faced off in the state playoffs.

Franklinton ends the year 19-6.

Sophomore Claire Hargett finished with 18 kills and 15 digs. Senior Graylinn Serge registereed 14 kills and 20 digs. Setter Rachel Alverson had 46 assists and 13 assists for the Red Wolves, who won its first road state playoff game 2014 when they defeated Northern Guilford in Greensboro, also in five sets.

Every five-set match is a roller coaster ride and Tuesday night was no different. In the final set, Cedar Ridge jumped out to a 4-2 lead following an ace from senior libero Natasha Buchler-Fosado. The Rams came back with five consecutive points, keyed by a kill and an ace from Angelica Turnage. With its season six points from ending, the Red Wolves regrouped after a timeout from head coach Latacha De Oliveira and ended the match on a 9-1 run.

It started when Hargett scored off an assist from Alverson, the first of kills by Hargett during a 5-0 run. Hargett would notch another point to even the set 9-9. After a serve by Cecilia Kenan went long to put Franklinton back in the lead 10-9, the Red Wolves got a side out after a serve by Turnage went long.

Hargett went back to serve and Cedar Ridge never lost possession again. Kenan made two crucial digs off attacks by Franklinton’s Turnage and Ava Shane. Turnage’s next return was out and Cedar Ridge led 11-10. Serge got her only block of the night when she stuffed an attempt by Mikayla Taborn, which led to a Ram timeout. Hargett delivered a knuckleball serve that threw the Rams defense out of sorts. Tierrah Simmons return clipped the antenna. On match point, Hargett served up an ace and the Red Wolves reserves sprang off the bench like they were sitting on ejector seats, mobbing Hargett on a pileup on the Rams home floor.

It was the Red Wolves second five-set win this year, and its first since outlasting East Chapel Hill at Wildcats Gymnasium on September 11.

Cedar Ridge ended Franklinton’s 21-set winning streak in the opening frame, where the Rams scored the first three points. Hargett established herself with six kills in the first set, including one to end a 5-1 run that gave the Red Wolves an 8-5 lead. The Rams responded with a 6-2 run, including an ace from sophomore Kylie Sykes. Cedar Ridge went on a 6-2 spree following a spike from Addie Reid, who had 12 kills on the night, to take a 21-17 lead. On set point, Serge unleashed a swing that sent the ball that hugged the near sideline.

The second set had eight lead changes and seven ties. The Red Wolves were in position to go ahead two-sets-to-nothing after an ace from Buchler-Fosado put them ahead 17-13. Franklinton responded with five straight points, the capper coming off a block from Tabron that evened the set 17-17. The Rams scored the final four points to even the match, with set point coming off a block by Shontalae Evans.

Cedar Ridge was battling from behind the entire third set. An ace from Turnage put the Rams ahead 10-5, but the Red Wolves came back from three straight points, ending with a kill from Reid. Franklinton pushed its lead to 20-12 behind two blocks from Turnage and a kill from Taborn, but the Red Wolves rallied again. Two spikes from sophomore Kayla Stoll and another kill from Serge pulled the Red Wolves within one at 23-22. An ace from Serge evened things at 24-24, but Turnage scored the first point of overtime off a feed from Shane. Taborn got set point off a block.

As dominant as the Red Rams were in the third, Cedar Ridge totally controlled the fourth. Serge started things with an ace on the opening point, which triggered a 9-1 run. Hargett had consecutive aces to put the Red Wolves ahead 22-6. Serge ended the frame with another kill supplied by Alverson.

Cedar Ridge will return to J.H. Rose on Thursday night, which brings back the best of memories from 2021 and dark moments from last year. The Red Wolves won the 3A Eastern Regional championship against the Rampants in Hillsborough two years ago, which led to the crowning moment in women’s sports at Cedar Ridge: the 2021 3A State championship.

Last year, the most successful team senior class in Cedar Ridge history, regardless of sport, had a disappointing end to their careers when the Rampants swept the Red Wolves in a hostile atmosphere in Greenville, once again for the 3A Eastern Regional title. It also turned out to be the final game for Fiona Cunningham, who would later depart the Red Wolves as head coach to become an assistant at North Carolina Central.

The current senior class of Red Wolves won’t go into Greenville with the lofty individual or team numbers that the Class of 2023 did, but they’ll be every bit as gritty.

Little Earthquakes: Wilkerson racks up 12 kills, six blocks in Orange volleyball’s sweep of Swansboro; Cedar Ridge rolls past Scotland

The small earthquake felt around Hillsborough on Thursday wasn’t directly related to a local volleyball practice. It happened just before noon, hours before volleyball practice started at Orange or Cedar Ridge.

While Ava Wilkerson opening spike in the opening set against Swansboro didn’t put a hole in the brand new floor at Orange High, it could have easily led to more seismic activity.

An Orange team seeded #2 in the 3A East Region roared past Sawnsboro 3-0 on scores of 25-10, 25-1 and 25-13 in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Panthers, the regular season champions of the Central Carolina Conference, advanced to host Northern Nash on Tuesday night in Hillsborough.

There were plenty of near-statistical milestones for Orange against the Pirates (9-13), the #31 overall seed from the Coastal Conference. Sophomore setter Katie Silcott was on pace for a rare triple-double, but never saw the floor in the third set. In the opening two sets, Silcott had 14 assists, six digs and eight aces.

Swansboro simply had no answer for Wilkerson, the 6-foot-3 middle blocker, who wasn’t far from a triple-down of her own. Wilkerson came away with 12 kills, six blocks and two aces. Sophomore Aubrey Jordan had nine kills. On defense, senior libero Sadye Porter had 26 digs.

Swansboro did open with the first three points, but it was all Orange after that. With Porter serving, Orange ran off 16 straight points, kick started by three straight blocks from Wilkerson. Jordan had three kills and a block during the spree. Mariah Poole spiked home set point off an assist from Wilcott.

Freshman Sawyer White took over setter duties in the second set while Silcott moved to outside hitter. Orange scored the first eight points of the second set, which started with back-to-back blocks by Wilkerson. In the second, Wilkerson was responsible for six points. Silcott served eight aces in the second set alone, including set point at 25-1.

Wilkerson, Jordan and senior Ella Wimsatt each had four kills in the third set. White racked up 12 assists in Silcott’s absence. Wilkerson also had two aces. Josie Crawford had a point that led to match point, which Orange won after a Pirate committed a net violation.

Orange will look to clear an elusive hurdle on Tuesday night against Northern Nash, from The Big East Conference. The Lady Panthers have been eliminated in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs each of the last two years.

Cedar Ridge 3, Scotland County 0: Just days after winning the CCC Tournament championship over its archrival, Cedar Ridge played its fourth match in six days with a victory over Scotland County on Saturday.

It may have well been the final home game for nine Cedar Ridge seniors, many of whom won a state championship together two years ago. Over the past four years, Cedar Ridge has a 43-4 record inside of Cedar Ridge Gymnasium.

Cedar Ridge, the #11 seed in the East Region, prevailed on scores of 25-13, 25-13 and 25-11. Sophomore Claire Hargett finished with 19 kills and eight digs. Senior Graylinn Serge had six kills and 21 digs. Setter Rachel Alverson had 34 assists and three digs. Senior libero Natasha Buchler-Fosado had eight digs.

Scotland County, from the 4A/3A Sandhills Conference, ends the season 15-9 overall after finishing 3rd in its league.

The Red Wolves have won a state playoff game for the fourth straight year. On Tuesday night, Cedar Ridge will travel to face Franklinton, the champions of The Big East Conference. The Rams, with an overall record of 19-5, finished 13-0 in conference play this year, winning both The Big East regular season and conference tournament championships. The Rams swept Fayetteville 71st in the opening round on Saturday.

The winner of Cedar Ridge/Franklinton will face either J.H. Rose or Jacksonville in the third round on Thursday.

 

Cedar Ridge volleyball’s Graylinn Serge, Natasha Buchler-Fosado & Cecilia Kenna talk playoff win over Scotland

It was likely the final home game for the Cedar Ridge volleyball team of the 2023 season on Saturday when they defeated Scotland County in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. The Red Wolves seniors won their 12th state playoff match in the past four years when they swept the Fighting Scots in Hillsborough. Senior Graylinn Serge finished with six kills and 21 digs as the Red Wolves improved to 43-4 at home since 2020. Senior libero Natasha Buchler-Fosado had eight digs, two aces and one assist against Scotland County. The Red Wolves were coming off winning the Central Carolina Conference Tournament with an upset of Orange on Wednesday night. Against the Lady Panthers, Buchler-Fosado had a career-high 25 digs. It was the fourth straight year that Cedar Ridge won a conference championship. Serge finished with a double-double with 12 kills and 28 digs. Senior Cecilia Kenan had seven digs against Orange. The Red Wolves will look to reach the round of 16 for the fourth straight year on Tuesday night when they journey to Franklinton, the champions of the The Big East Conference. The Rams are 19-5 and have won seven straight matches. The match at Franklinton High will start at 6PM.

Cedar Ridge’s Graylinn Serge, Natasha Buchler-Fosado & Cecilia Kenan talk playoff win vs. Scotland

It was likely the final home game for the Cedar Ridge volleyball team of the 2023 season on Saturday when they defeated Scotland County in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. The Red Wolves seniors won their 12th state playoff match in the past four years when they swept the Fighting Scots in Hillsborough.

 

 

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Salomon Hernandez

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior men’s soccer defender Salomon Hernandez. On September 20, Hernandez scored the game-winning goal as the Red Wolves defeated Western Alamance 1-0 at Red Wolves Stadium. It’s the only conference loss the Warriors have suffered this season and put Cedar Ridge in first place in the Central Carolina Conference. Against Southern Alamance, Hernandez scored his first career hat trick as the Red Wolves defeated the Patriots 7-2 at Red Wolves Stadium on October 4. Hernandez trains with Wake FC in Holly Springs and has also spent time with the North Carolina FC Academy in Cary. This season, he has been one of the sparkplugs for the most successful season for the Red Wolves in recent history. He has scored six goals, with additional tallies against Eastern Alamance and Person. Next week, Cedar Ridge will officially make the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2016, which was the goal of the team from the very beginning of the year when they defeated Eno River Academy on August 14. Hernandez has been a member of the varsity since he was a freshman. Cedar Ridge will wrap up the regular season against Eastern Alamance at Red Wolves Stadium on Tuesday night.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Solomon Hernandez

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior men’s soccer defender Salomon Hernandez. On September 20, Hernandez scored the game-winning goal as the Red Wolves defeated Western Alamance 1-0 at Red Wolves Stadium. It’s the only conference loss the Warriors have suffered this season and put Cedar Ridge in first place in the Central Carolina Conference.

Soccer notebook: Mil Cruz scores in Orange’s victory over Eno River; Red Wolves drops heartbreaker to Williams

Walter Williams 1, Cedar Ridge 0: The hopes of Cedar Ridge to win its first conference championship in men’s soccer suffered a major blow on Wednesday night at Red Wolves Stadium. Anderson Aguilera fired in a shot from 17 yards off an assist from Bryan Isley with 6:47 remaining in regulation as Williams defeated the Red Wolves.

Cedar Ridge’s loss put Western Alamance in sole possession of first place in the Central Carolina Conference. On Wednesday, the Warriors rolled past Person 9-0.

The loss came two nights after Cedar Ridge played to a scoreless tie against Western Alamance in Elon. The Red Wolves simply needed to defeat Williams and Eastern Alamance in order to gain a share of the Central Carolina Conference championship.

Cedar Ridge can still claim a share of the championship with a win over Eastern Alamance on Tuesday night in Hillsborough, along with a loss by Western Alamance to Southern Alamance.

Cedar Ridge defeated Williams 2-1 in Burlington on September 25.

Orange 2, Eno River Academy 1: In the first-ever meeting between the two Hillsborough-based schools, the Panthers got the game-winning goal from Daniel Romero to defeat the Bobcats at soccer.com field in Efland. Traver Bruhns assisted on the game-winning goal as Orange won its third game in five days.

The Panthers defeated Walter Williams and Cedar Ridge leading up to the victory over the Bobcats.

Orange senior goalkeeper Finn Kelly, who plays at the North Carolina FC Academy, earned the victory in net, making seven saves.

Southern Alamance 3, Orange 0: On its senior night on Monday night, the Panthers fell behind early and suffered a loss to the Patriots. Evan Benthe scored the game-winning goal off an assist from Heinzen Amaya. Billy Clark and Nicola Sansovivi also had goals for the Patriots.

Orange, who defeated Southern Alamance 3-2 on September 20 in Graham, got seven saves from Kelly.

Orange 1, Eastern Alamance 1: Emmanuel Mil Cruz notched the equalizing goal for Orange in its final home game of the season on Thursday night. Mil Cruz’s goal was his fifth of the year.

Eastern Alamance opened the scoring in the first half. The Panthers are 7-7-3 overall, 5-4-2 in the CCC. The Panthers will wrap up the regular season with another game against Eastern Alamance on Monday night in Mebane.

Caltabiano, Lundberg win as Cedar Ridge women’s tennis edges Orange 5-4 in state tennis playoffs

The third time wasn’t the charm for Orange against its archrival, but it was much, much closer.

In the end, the Cedar Ridge women’s tennis team came away with its first win in the state team tournament since 2016.

In a dual match that came down to the final doubles match, Raven Mowles-Airing and Annabeth Lundberg captured the #3 doubles battle against Violet Shaw and Ellie Wilson 7-6, winning the tiebreaker 7-3. Cedar Ridge won the overall match 5-4 against the Lady Panthers at Red Wolves Tennis Courts in the opening round of the 3A State Dual Team Playoffs.

Cedar Ridge, the #14 seed, advances to face Rocky Mount in the round of 32 on Monday.

Orange ends the season 13-6, the fifth time in six years that Orange has won at least ten dual matches in a season.

It is Cedar Ridge’s first win in the State Tournament since November 1, 2016, when they defeated Walter Williams 5-3 in Hillsborough.

Cedar Ridge swept the regular season series against Orange, winning on September 5 and September 27, each time by a score of 6-3. The final match, at Panthers Tennis Courts, was an intense affair where points were replayed because of various objections by coaches and players. It led to Orange coach Justin Webb and Cedar Ridge coach Steve Mayhew taking the unusual step of acting as judges, standing on opposite sides of the net, to preside over a doubles match. Afterwards, vibes from the Cedar Ridge victory spilled over onto social media, namely on Instagram.

With that experience likely in the back of their minds, Orange played with a purpose. Of the three doubles matches, two of them went to tiebreakers. Four of the nine matches overall had tiebreakers. The doubles team of Erinn and Shannon Sollars won at #1 doubles match over Cedar Ridge’s Cameron Mayhew and Adeline Cummings 7-6, winning the tiebreaker 7-5.

Mayhew and Cummings handed the Sollars sisters its only two losses of the regular season. On September 5, Mayhew & Cummings won 8-5. At Orange, Mayhew & Cummings prevailed 8-4.

Cedar Ridge won the other two doubles matches to advance to the second round. Junior Ella Caltabiano and Catherine Ballenger defeated Molly Kruse and Makayla Davis 8-6 at #2 doubles to even the dual match 4-4. The victory by Mowles-Airing and Lundberg set Cedar Ridge to the second round.

Cedar Ridge’s Cameron Mayhew won at #1 singles over Erinn Sollars 6-4, 6-1. Mayhew improved to 14-2 on the season.

Orange’s Shannon Sollars evened the match with a victory over Caltabiano 6-3, 6-0. Sollars, a junior who is now 15-1 on the season in singles play, will likely be the Lady Panthers #1 singles player in 2024.

Cummings gave the Red Wolves the advantage again when she defeated Davis 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, which proved to be a huge victory. It was the third matchup between Cummings and Davis this year. They had split their previous matchups, with Davis winning 10-7 on September 5. On September 27, Cummings won 6-0, 4-6, 11-9 (the third set was a 10-point tiebreaker).

Wilson, an Orange freshman, squared the match at #4 singles with a victory over Mowles-Airing 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). Orange sophomore Molly Kruse defeated Ballenger 6-0, 6-1. Cedar Ridge’s Lundberg defeated Violet Shaw 6-4, 6-2 to gain a split in the singles matches.

The Red Wolves 14 dual match victories are the most they’ve had since the 2016 squad went 19-2, winning the Big 8 Conference Championship over teams like Chapel Hill and Northwood.

On Friday, the Mideast Regionals were held at the Burlington Tennis Center. Annie Lieberman of Terry Sanford, the #2 overall seed, defeated Mayhew 6-0, 6-3 in the opening round.

For Orange, Erin and Shannon Sollars narrowly missed qualifying for the 3A State Championships for the second straight year. In the opening round, the Sollars defeated Andrea Romero and Sophie McLean of Harnett Central 6-0, 6-1 in the opening round. In the quarterfinals, the Sollars faced a Central Carolina Conference rival. Lindley Oler and Lauren Turner of Walter Williams won a tight match, beating the Sollars 6-4, 7-6 (11-9).

The Sollars sisters reached the 3A State Tournament quarterfinals in 2022.

Makayla Davis and Molly Kruse also qualified for regionals, falling to Shea Bieniek and Anna Piland of Cape Fear in the opening round. Bieniek and Piland would go on to qualify for the state championships.