There was a quiet change inside Red Wolves Gymnasium to start this volleyball season on Monday night.
All of the players who played on Cedar Ridge’s 2021 3A State Championship are gone now. The core of the group graduated in 2023, a unit that brought home three consecutive conference championships. Their coach, Fiona Cunningham, existed with them for an assistant job at North Carolina Central. She’s now at East Carolina.
Addie Reid, Rachel Alverson, Natasha Buchler-Fosado, Graylinn Serge and Ellie Woolson added the 2023 Central Conference Tournament championship, at Orange High no less, before they turned their tassels in June.
Now, a generation that played junior varsity and at Stanback Middle School while Cameron Lloyd, Cameron Lanier, Julie Altieri, Melissa Benkowitz, Grace Young and Anaya Carter set a legacy of domination have their turn to carry Cedar Ridge volleyball into the future and forge their own path.
On Monday night, they got off to a good start.
Junior outside hitter Claire Hargett, the only returning starter, finished with 20 kills as the Red Wolves defeated Jordan 3-1 on scores of 25-9, 25-17, 22-25 and 25-17. In her first varsity start, libero Sydnee Tapper finished with 20 digs.
Junior setter Mia Marty finished with 14 assists, eight kills and eleven digs for the Red Wolves (1-0), who shut down the lights during the pregame introductions as public address announcer Jon Franklin read off the starting lineups and the only lights in the building came from the cell phones of the Cedar Ridge student section.
Ellamarie Perel finished with five kills and six digs. Hargett and Perel were voted co-Captains earlier this month to lead a young team.
“The players have confidence in Ellamarie and Claire,” said Cedar Ridge head coach Latacha De Oliveira, who started her second year. “They see a lot of leadership in them. So we expect big things out of both of them.”
Cedar Ridge didn’t lack for attackers against the Falcons (1-3). Seven different players registered kills in the opening set as the Red Wolves seized control with a 8-3 run, capped by an ace from Tapper and a kill from Stoll assisted by Ellie Miller. Perel closed out the set with an unassisted kill.
Cedar Ridge has six juniors on its roster.
“We have mostly juniors,” De Oliveira said. “We pulled (sophomore) Alex Engel up from junior varsity at the last minute. She played through some nerves but did a good job. Overall, most of our players are either juniors or seniors.”
Jordan led for most of the third set behind four kills from junior Tamari Hill.
Cedar Ridge never trailed in the fourth set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead behind an ace from Emory Williams, who shares time with Tapper as libero. Perel and Stoll had kills on consecutive points, which triggered a 5-1 Red Wolf run that continued following another ace from Tapper that landed in the heart of the Jordan floor, leading to a Falcon timeout.
A spike from Madi Hill closed the Falcon deficit to 19-16, but Hargett closed out the match with five kills in the fourth set. Following a kill by Stoll set up by Miller, Marty delivered an ace on match point.
It was a positive first step in a new chapter for Cedar Ridge volleyball. They once stood in the shadows of giants, and now they seek to return the Red Wolves back to the top of the Central Conference. Hargett, who led the team with 333 kills in 2023, figures to be the leader.
“Claire isn’t new to this,” De Oliveira said. “She led us last year in several different areas. But having her and Kayla (Stoll) as starters, they were both with us last year. It makes a big difference. They have the confidence, they have the experience. They played in some big games.”