Sweeps can be deceiving in volleyball.
Last Tuesday, Orange swept Williams while holding the Bulldogs to 38 points over three sets.
On Tuesday night in Hillsborough, Orange swept Person, but it was anything but decisive.
As Orange enters the postseason, the biggest difference between the young team that started practice two weeks ago and the team that’s now on a three-game winning streak is they’re winning the big points at the right times.
Orange defeated the Rockets for the sixth straight time on scores of 31-29, 25-20 and 26-24. It’s the first time this year that the Lady Panthers have won three straight matches.
Orange maintained its tie with Cedar Ridge and Western Alamance for first place in the Central Conference with an 8-2 league record. Also on Tuesday night, the Red Wolves swept Eastern Alamance in Mebane. Western Alamance, which has won six in a row, swept Williams in Elon.
It was anything but an unorthodox win for the Lady Panthers. Person led in the opening set by as much as 15-7 after a kill by Person’s Lilly Atkins. Orange narrowed the gap to 17-14 following a 7-2 spurt, which ended with a kill by sophomore Sawyer White, who finished with eight kills, 17 digs and 18 assists. Still, Person had a 24-19 lead after an ace by Orange was nullified by a rotation violation. Incredibly, Person had nine set points in the first set and couldn’t close the deal. White started the run with a kill set up by Katie Silcott, followed by an ace from Addison Guentensberger. Ava Wilkerson, who registered 12 kills, eleven digs and two assists, followed with an kill set up by White. Person’s Kylee Hayden pushed a two-handed attack long to send the set into overtime. Person would have three more chances to close out the frame, but White, Wilkerson and Jordan all registered kills to extend the set. Jordan’s spike made it 29-29. The Panthers got consecutive points when the Rockets sent Atkins sent an attack into the net. On match point, the Rockets were called for a double hit ending a long struggle.
Orange had to play catch up again in the second set. Person jumped out to a 13-6 lead behind two aces from Hayden and another by junior Abby Sharlow. A block by Orange’s Mariah Polle ended a 4-0 Lady Panther spurt to close the Rocket lead to 14-10. White got back-to-back kills to start a 7-2 Orange run that evened the set at 18-18, ending with a kill by freshman Aubry Hodges assisted by Katie Silcott. The Panthers finished the set on a 7-1 flourish, starting with a spike by Wilkerson off a set from White. Jordan had three kills in the closing run, along with an ace from libero Abby Silinski.
Person built yet another run in the third set, going ahead 13-7 after a block from Kayle Parker on a kill attempt by Jordan. Once again, Orange chipped away at the deficit with Silinski delivering an ace to cap a 4-1 Orange spree, reducing the Rocket lead to 14-11. Orange would scored four straight points to take a 20-19 lead, ending with an ace from White. Jordan scored off an assist from Silcott to give the Panthers a 22-21 lead, followed by an unassisted kill from Poole. Person came back to tie it up at 23-23 off a kill from Kaiden Hawkins and a block from Parker. A return from Person went long to set up Orange’s first match point, but Jordan pushed an attack wide to force overtime. Jordan would atone with a kill for Orange’s second match point. Jordan then ended the match with a tap that landed in the heart of the Person side of the floor.
On Wednesday night (tonight), Orange will host Carrboro in a rematch of last year’ Eastern Regional championship match. The Lady Panthers will travel to Southern Alamance for a crucial match on Thursday.