Orange volleyball’s conference championship hopes were dangling from a thread on Wednesday night.
They were down two sets after dropping a draining, emotional 2nd game to crosstown rival Cedar Ridge 30-28, where Orange had led most of the way and had three set points, but couldn’t cash any of them in.
Instead of laying into her team between sets, Orange coach Hope Heverly found the right words.
She said nothing.
“I talked to my assistant coach and we turned around and saw the players talking to each other,” Heverly said. “They didn’t turn to go water. We saw in their eyes and their demeanor that we were going to win this next set.”
And they did, along with the fourth and fifth sets in front of a loud house at Red Wolves Gymnasium.
Now, instead of being out of the conference championship race, Orange is tied with Cedar Ridge and Western Alamance for first place in the Central Conference with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Junior outside hitter Aubrey Jordan finished with 20 kills, including four in the fifth set, as Orange rallied to defeat Cedar Ridge 3-2 on scores of 20-25, 28-30, 25-15, 25-22, 15-10. Jordan finished with 20 kills, a season-high, while junior Ava Wilkerson registered a career-high 27 kills.
The last time that Orange won a five-set match after dropping the first two games was October 18, 2022, when they defeated Western Alamance.
Cedar Ridge had spent the month of September building a two-game lead in the Central Conference, only to have it all washed away within 48 hours. On Tuesday, Southern Alamance upset the Red Wolves in four sets while Orange swept Williams.
Junior Claire Hargett finished with 22 kills for the Red Wolves (10-5 overall, 7-2 in the Central Conference). It was Cedar Ridge’s fourth five-set match of the year, which have all been at home. They’re 1-3 in those matches.
Wilkerson, who has committed to play at UCF, has been Orange’s most consistent striker during a season where the Panthers have struggled to find consistency against one of the toughest schedules in the state. Jordan started to find her groove in the fourth set, finishing with four kills, and Orange found the form that put them three points away from a state championship last November.
“We knew they had it in them,” Heverly said. “We’ve seen little glimpses of it and they showed what they can do with heart and determination. So they came out and put the pieces together.”
Trailing two-sets-to-one, Orange built a 13-9 lead in the fourth set behind consecutive kills from Jordan. After Cedar Ridge’s Mia Marty delivered an ace, the Panthers pushed its lead to 21-13 with a 10-2 run. Sawyer White, who registered eight kills and ten assists, started the run with a kill, which was followed by consecutive points from Wilkerson and an ace from Mariah Poole. Wilkerson delivered three more kills to push Orange’s lead to 21-13. Cedar Ridge roared back with seven straight points to cut the Orange lead to 21-20, ending with a block from Hargett. Wilkerson delivered a block of her own to gain a side out for Orange. After Cedar Ridge was called for touching the net, Jordan spiked down an unassisted kill to force a fifth set.
It was Orange’s second five-set match this year. They lost to Western Alamance in Elon last Thursday.
Marty, who finished with five kills and 23 assists, scored on a flash attack to even the fifth set 5-5. That’s when Jordan found her groove, triggering a 5-1 Orange run where she scored on five straight Panther points. Wilkerson delivered an ace as Orange pushed its lead to 10-8. Cedar Ridge cut its deficit to 12-10 after Hargett slammed down a point, but Wilkerson finished the match with three straight kills, the final one unassisted.
Orange’s Katie Silcott has seven kills, 29 assists and three aces.
Cedar Ridge never trailed in the first set, playing confidently despite losing the night before. Calla Lundberg opened the match with a kill as the Red Wolves built an 11-5 lead after White was called for a lift. Another kill by Lundberg pushed the Cedar Ridge lead to 14-7, which would be its largest advantage of the match. Hargett scored set point as Cedar Ridge took the frame 25-20.
Orange led most of the second set, where they took the opening three points starting with a kill from Jordan. Emory Williams delivered an ace to even the second at 10-10, but Orange built a 15-12 lead following a spike from Silcott assisted by White. Cedar Ridge took its first lead of the second set with four straight points, led by a block from Charlotte Lowry to put the Red Wolves ahead 16-15. The remainder of the set was played at a torrent pace that included 13 ties and ten lead changes. Orange had three set points, the first coming when they led 24-23 but Silcott pushed a soft palm strike wide. After Marty flipped a quick strike to the heart of the Orange floor for Cedar Ridge’s first set point, Wilkerson erased it with a kill to force overtime. Silcott delivered a kill to make it 26-25, but Hargett delivered again, followed by a kill from Ellamarie Perel to give Cedar Ridge a 26-25 lead. Jordan delivered a point and had earned a third set point when an attack by Perel went long. But Orange set the subsequent serve into the next. Tied at 28-28, Orange had two attacks go over the end line and Cedar Ridge won the set 30-28.
Orange never trailed in the third set, jumping out to an 8-1 lead behind a block from Poole. Cedar Ridge reduced the deficit to 13-9 following an ace from Marty, but Orange went on a 7-3 run to build a 17-11 lead. Jordan scored set point with an assist from Silcott, which ended a run of seven straight sets that the Red Wolves had taken from Orange dating back to last year.
Fabulous play for both teams! Jeff your call and article make me feel as if I’m there in person. Thanks for bringing the game to us! Congratulations Panthers!