Jeff Hamlin

Despite getting swept by Chapel Hill on Thursday night, the Orange volleyball team had a three-game winning streak that has them tied for 3rd in the Big 8 Conference. An instrumental part of that streak is senior Jordan Lloyd, who has been playing volleyball since she was in elementary school around the White Cross Recreational Gym. Currently being recruited by various college, Lloyd discussed being a leader on a squad with only three seniors and what’s ahead for the Panthers during the 2nd half of the season.

Orange Panther of the Week: Jordan Lloyd

For the 2nd time in her career, Jordan Lloyd has been named the Orange Panther of the Week.

Amidst a trying week, running back London Saunders is trying to keep a positive attitude despite losing his chance of playing in the postseason. Saunders had four touchdowns in Cedar Ridge’s victory over East Chapel Hill on Labor Day.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: London Saunders

Amidst a difficult week, senior London Saunders looks to press on with his senior season after scoring four touchdowns on Labor Day vs. East Chapel Hill.

After a tough five set loss to Chapel Hill on Tuesday, the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves had another tough road match with a similar result on Thursday.

Northwood defeated the Red Wolves in Pittsboro 3-1 on scores of 25-23, 25-22, 8-25 and 25-14.

Cedar Ridge junior Alexis Dumain had nine kills. Sophomore Sarah McCuiston registered six kills and two solo blocks. Alexa Pagnanelli had 14 digs and two aces.

The race for the Big 8 conference has quickly turned into a chase for Chapel Hill, who is in first place after a decisive victory at Orange on Thursday. The Red Wolves are now 4-7, 2-2 in the Big 8, placing them in a tie for third with Orange and Northern Vance. Chapel Hill stands at first with a 4-0 mark following wins over Cedar Ridge, East Chapel Hill and Orange this week in a span of four days. J.F. Webb is in second at 3-1.

Elmer Trujillo scored in overtime as Cedar Ridge defeated Southern Durham 3-2 at Spartans Field on Wednesday night.

It was the 2nd conference win in three days for the Red Wolves, who won via forfeit over Northern Vance on Monday. Trujillo opened the scoring in the first half. Trent Gill also scored.

Trujillo factored in on all three goals, scoring twice and assisting on the goal by Gill, who leads the team in scoring with seven goals and three assists.

Cedar Ridge sophomore Tatha Hso also finished with an assist.

Red Wolves goalkeeper Justin Callemyn made twelve saves to earn his third win.

Cedar Ridge is 4-1-3 overall, 2-0-1 in the Big 8.

The Red Wolves have a showdown at Chapel Hill on Tuesday for first place in the Big 8.

It’s time for the weekly “Jamar Davis collects a hat trick” story.

For the third time in five weeks, the Orange striker scored a hat trick, this time against Northern Vance on Wednesday at Orange Soccer Park. The Panthers rolled past the Vikings 10-1.

Davis has 13 goals this season after hat tricks against Northern Durham and Bartlett Yancey (where he finished with 4 goals).

Also scoring for the Panthers were Bryan Torres and Ewan McCallum with 2 goals each. McCallum also finished with three assists.

Clevin Noronha had a goal and an assist. Levi Anderson finished with two assists. Cameron Krogstad, Malcolm Phillips and Noah Miller each registered with an assist.

The news wasn’t as good on Thursday night against 2A power Carrboro. The Jaguars pitched a clean sheet with a 2-0 victory.

Orange is 5-3-1, 1-0-1 in the Big 8.

After Cedar Ridge unseated Chapel Hill last season as the heir apparent to Cardinal Gibbons atop the Big 8 Conference, the rivalry that carried over into 2016 was certain to be intense. Sure enough, Tuesday night didn’t disappoint.

After dropping the first set, the Tigers rallied to defeat the Red Wolves 3-2 on scores of 14-25, 25-21, 25-23, 23-25 & 15-13. It was the 2nd 5-set game for Chapel Hill in two nights. They held off crosstown rival East Chapel Hill on Monday.

Cedar Ridge got another strong performance from Lily Henry, who appeared in only her second match of the season after returning from ACL surgery. Henry finsihed with 21 assists, eight digs and 2 aces.

Meg Anderson registered 22 digs and ten kills. Lindsay Thompson had 16 digs and four aces, while BayleeAnne Twilla had 8 kills.

Chapel Hill freshman Courtney Zwikker, the daughter of former UNC center Serge Zwikker, finished with 13 kills on a .463 hit percentage. Shea Golden had 29 digs for the Tigers.

Cedar Ridge is now 4-7, 2-4 in the Big 8. Chapel Hill is in 1st place in the Big 8 with a 3-0 conference record, 9-3 overall. The Tigers visit Orange on Thursday. Cedar Ridge travels to Northwood Thursday.

With a vital match against Chapel Hill on the horizon, Orange volleyball took care of business against Southern Durham.

The Panthers swept the Spartans 3-0 on Tuesday night at Spartans Gymnasium on scores of 25-9, 25-15 & 25-11. Macy Hughes had six aces and six kills. Emma Clements has four aces, four kills and 5 digs. Julia Fish added five kills and four blocks. Julia Lovingood had 2 kills and 15 assists.

Orange has won three in a row and are now 4-5. They are tied with Webb for 2nd place in the Big 8 with a 2-1 record, one game behind undefeated Chapel Hill. The Tigers visit Jim King Gymnasium in Hillsborough on Thursday night at 6:30.

As Cedar Ridge girls tennis reaches the midway point in the season, there’s no question they’ve established themselves as the team to beat in the Big 8 Conference.

A week after sweeping Chapel Hill and Northwood in road matches, the Red Wolves captured its eighth straight victory over Webb 7-2 in Hillsborough on Monday afternoon.

Olivia Ward won at #2 singles over Anna Freuler in three sets,  capturing the 10-point tiebreaker 10-7. Ward is now 7-3.

From there, Cedar Ridge dominated singles play, dropping only three games in the final four matches.

Leah Thompson defeated Sarah Monte 6-1, 6-1 to bolster her record to 7-1. Serena Sauters dispatched of Erin Bostic 6-1, 6-0 to remain undefeated at 10-0. Alana Lutz swept Emily Burns 6-0, 6-0. Hannah Spear wrapped up the victory wth a 6-0, 6-0 golden bagel of Anna Currin.

Spear is also undefeated at 8-0.

Thompson & Lutz won its doubles match 8-1. Emma Wilson and Sauers swept its doubles match over Burns and Currin 8-0. Lutz & Thompson improved to 6-1 as a tandem in 2006. Sauers & Wilson improved to 4-1.

Cedar Ridge is now 9-1, 5-0 in the Big 8 Conference. They travel to the Rock Quarry on Thursday to face Voyager Academy before venturing back into conference play next week.

It’s a full week for volleyball, girls tennis and soccer in Hillsborough. The shape of the Big 8 Conference Volleyball race will start to take form as Cedar Ridge at Orange both have matches against Chapel Hill. The Red Wolves play three road games in four days, including a trip to CHHS on Tuesday. Orange hosts the Tigers on Thursday.

The Cedar Ridge girls tennis team will look to remain atop the Big 8 when they host Webb this afternoon at 4:30. It’s the Red Wolves only conference match this week. The Orange girls tennis team hosts Northwood this afternoon and Webb on Wednesday.

Here’s this week’s slate:

Monday:

Boys Soccer:  Cedar Ridge at Northern Vance 5:00; Orange at Carrboro 6:00.

Volleyball: Cedar Ridge at Eastern Alamance 6;30 (V); 5:00 (JV)

Girls Tennis: J.F. Webb at Cedar Ridge 4:30; Northwood at Orange 4:30.

Tuesday: 

Volleyball: Cedar Ridge at Chapel Hill 6:30 (V); 5:00 (JV); Orange at Southern Durham 6:30 (V) 5:00 (JV)

Wednesday: 

Boys Soccer: Southern Durham at Cedar Ridge 6;30 (V) 4:45 (JV); Northern Vance at Orange 6:30 (V) 4:45 (JV).

Girls Tennis: Orange at J.F. Webb 4:30

Thursday: 

Football: Orange JV at Western Guilford 

Volleyball: Cedar Ridge at Northwood 6:30 (JV) 5:00 (JV); Chapel Hill at Orange 6:30 (V) 5:00 (JV)

Girls Tennis: Cedar Ridge vs. Voyager Academy (at the Rock Quarry) 4:30; Person at Orange 4:30.

Friday: 

Football: Cedar Ridge at Cardinal Gibbons 7:00; Western Guilford at Orange 7:00 (Coverage on HillsboroughSports.com starts at 6:45.)