Cedar Ridge Volleyball

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team continues to roll on. Playing its second match in as many night, the Red Wolves won its eleventh straight by beating Southern Alamance of the 4A DAC-VII Conference 3-0 on scores of 25-21, 25-21 and 25-16. Senior Grace Young turned in another solid defensive performance for the Red Wolves, who are now 11-1 overall. They sit atop the Central Carolina Conference with a 5-0 record. Last week in a 3-0 win over Orange, Young had a season-high 21 digs. On Tuesday, the Red Wolves defeated Western Alamance 3-0 in Elon. It marked the return of senior outside hitter Melissa Benkowitz to the lineup after she missed last week. This season, Benkowitz opened the year with seven kills against J.H. Rose. She followed with seven kills in a win over Apex Friendship, followed by another seven kills in a 3-0 victory over D.H. Conley. The most impressive thing about Cedar Ridge’s eleven-match winning streak is they haven’t dropped a set during that span. The Red Wolves will go for its twelfth straight win when they face Walter Williams tonight at Red Wolves Gymnasium in Hillsborough. 

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team has now won 28 consecutive conference games. The Red Wolves defeated crosstown rival Orange 3-0 on Tuesday night at Orange High Gymnasium on scores of 30-28, 25-9 and 25-23. Cedar Ridge had to fight off four set points in order to capture the initial frame. Junior Addie Reid notched the first point of the match with a block, then slammed home set point with a kill to end the longest set of the season for Cedar Ridge. In the third set, Orange had a 19-16 lead before Cameron Lanier earned a Red Wolf side out with a kill set up by Julie Atliteri. Lanier took over service and delivered three straight aces to give Cedar Ridge a 21-19 lead. Lanier finished the night with ten kills, three aces and one block. Reid had six kills and two blocks. Cedar Ridge has won eight in a row, all of them 3-0 sweeps. They are also atop the Central Carolina Conference with a 3-0 record. The Red Wolves, the defending 3A State Champions, will return home to face Eastern Alamance on Thursday night. 

Photo by Sherry Lloyd

There’s an old line by Oscar Wilde that claimed “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

For Orange volleyball, they had four chances to take the opening set from crosstown rival and defending 3A State Champion Cedar Ridge on Tuesday night at Orange High Gymnasium. Those are precious points against a team riding a 28-game conference winning streak.

When Orange used all four of them up without securing the set, Cedar Ridge made them pay as only they can.

Cedar Ridge junior Addie Reid, who scored the opening point of the 1st set with a kill, notched the final point of the set with a block that secured the opening frame 30-28. The Red Wolves (8-1, 3-0 in the Central Carolina Conference) would go on to defeat Orange 3-0 on scores of 30-28, 25-9 and 25-23. Cedar Ridge, gunning for its third consecutive regular season championship, now sit atop the CCC alone at 3-0.

Orange (7-5, 2-1) had five kills from junior Ella Wimsatt. Allie Wilkerson and her younger sister Ava each had four kills. Allie Wilkerson announced over the weekend she will play volleyball at Averett University.

Cedar Ridge, whose last conference loss was on October 15, 2019 to East Chapel Hill, has beaten their crosstown rival five straight times.

Orange led the majority of the first set, pushing its lead to 6-2 early after an ace from Wimsatt. After Allie Wilkerson buried an attack off an assist from Caitlin Carden, Orange had a 24-23 lead. Cedar Ridge’s Cameron Lloyd, who finished with 15 kills, canceled the Lady Panthers’ first set point off a feed from fellow senior Julie Altieri, who finished with 41 assists.

As the opening set went into overtime, Orange had another chance leading 26-25 after a serve by the Red Wolves went long. Red Wolves freshman Claire Hargett scored a kill to extend the set. Lloyd had consecutive kills in overtime, including one that ruined the Lady Panthers’ third set point. The second one gave Cedar Ridge its first set point, which was turned back courtesy of a block by Wimsatt. After a side out for Orange, Altieri dunked the ball over the net following a dig by Graylinn Serge, leading to Reid’s set-clinching block.

Cedar Ridge immediately took control of the second set with nine straight points. Altieri notched a block for the first tally, then served the subsequent eight points which contained two kills each from Lloyd and Reid. Senior libero Grace Young had back-to-back aces that pushed the Red Wolves lead to 15-4, leading to an Orange timeout.

There were eight lead changes and 15 ties in the third set. Orange appeared set to end Cedar Ridge’s 23-set winning streak after junior Josie Crawford landed an ace to put the Lady Panthers ahead 19-16. Then the Red Wolves racked up seven straight points, starting with a kill from Lloyd. Cameron Lanier, who finished with eleven kills, hit three consecutive aces to give the Red Wolves a 21-19 lead. Reid’s kill off an assist from Altieri sent the traveling Cedar Ridge student section into delirium and gave the Red Wolves a 23-19 lead.

Orange fought back off a block from Wimsatt and two Red Wolves returns that didn’t clear the net. After an error by Orange, the Red Wolves secured two match points. Orange crept back after a kill by Wimsatt off an assist from Katie Silcott, but Cedar Ridge clinched the match after an Orange attack bounced off the tape.

Cedar Ridge has not lost a set since dropping its season-opener to J.H. Rose on August 17 in Greenville. They have now won eight in a row and will travel to Mebane on Thursday to face Eastern Alamance.

Orange heads up Highway 57 to face Person on Thursday night.

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team has won seven in a row. On Thursday night, the Red Wolves swept Northwood to improve to 2-0 in the Central Carolina Conference. Cedar Ridge won three matches this week, sweeping East Chapel Hill, Person and Northwood. Perhaps most daunting for the other teams in the CCC is that the Red Wolves may be deeper than its 2021 3A State Championship team. This week, freshman Claire Hargett had nine kills against East Chapel Hill. Also, junior Graylinn Serge, a regular rotation player from last year, had a career-high seven kills, tied for game-high honors with Anaya Carter. Serge also had five digs against the Rockets. Against East Chapel Hill, Serge had four kills and six digs. Cedar Ridge is tied for first place in the CCC with its crosstown rival, Orange. The Lady Panthers will host the Red Wolves on Tuesday night at Orange High School. 

Since she became the Cedar Ridge volleyball coach, Fiona Cunningham has made it a priority to make the Red Wolves’ nonconfernece schedule as difficult as possible.

In the opening two weeks of the season, the Red Wolves played five of its first six games away from Hillsborough. But they haven’t lacked for support.

That’s because of a rambunctious group called “The Wolf Pack,” Cedar Ridge’s traveling volleyball cheering section that knows no limits in how to support the defending 3A State Champions, whether its distance traveled (a healthy number made the trek to Greenville last week for a match against D.H. Conley) or volume generated in an opposing team’s gym.

On Saturday night, Cedar Ridge faced a Wake County team inside a Wake County gym for an event sponsored by a Wake County website. Yet the Red Wolves volleyball team controlled the action on the floor while the Wolfpack made the most noise in the stands.

Cedar Ridge defeated the defending 4A State Champions, Green Level, 3-0 on scores of 25-21, 25-18 and 25-21. It concluded an impressive week where Cedar Ridge (now 6-1 after wins over East Chapel Hill and Person this week) captured three road matches over teams that all won state championships within the last five years. Last Tuesday, the Red Wolves swept D.H. Conley (the 2021 3A State Champs) in Greenville. The following day, Cedar Ridge defeated Carrboro (the 2017 2A State Champs) at Jaguars Gymnasium.

“I was happy with our poise tonight,” Cunningham said after the Green Level win at Garner High School. “We didn’t let little things impact us. We weren’t intimidated about facing the 4A champions because we have faith in ourselves. We have a group that’s played on the biggest stage before.”

Senior outside hitter Cameron Lanier, who has committed to play at Elon University, finished with eleven kills, three blocks and two aces. Cameron Lloyd, who has committed to play at Bucknell University, finished with nine kills, seven digs and three assists. Senior Julie Altieri, who is the all-time school leader in assists, finished with 25 assists and six digs as the Red Wolves won its fourth straight game. Libero Grace Young had 15 digs.

The cramped settings at Trojan Gymnasium created an unpredictable atmosphere where balls bounced off low-hanging lights, if they came down at all. In the opening set, Young received a serve. As Altieri positioned herself for the second hit, she kept waiting and waiting, only to find the ball got stuck on top of the lights. At various points, Young spilled into the “Wolf Pack” student section twice diving for loose balls.

With the opening set even 7-7, Cedar Ridge reeled off six straight points. Lanier had three kills and a block during the run. Junior Graylinn Serge served up an ace, which led to a Gators timeout. After Green Level reduced the Red Wolves lead to 15-13, Altieri got a kill at the net, which triggered a run that would carry the Red Wolves to the opening set, ending with a kill by Lanier.

The second set would prove to be the tightest of the match. With the frame tied 16-16, Cedar Ridge finished on a 9-3 run behind kills from Lanier and senior Anaya Carter. Lanier would notch a kill to make it 23-18, then got an ace. Cedar Ridge took the set after a Gator return went into the net.

Between sets, the Garner High Athletic Director asked the Wolf Pack not to make any noise while Green Level served. The Wolf Pack followed the orders, going as far as holding up a peace sign while pressing their lips together as the Gators put the ball in play, garnering plenty of chuckles from parents seated around them.

Cedar Ridge never trailed in the third set, which started with Altieri serving up four straight aces. The Red Wolves stretched its lead as wide as 19-11 after consecutive blocks by junior Addie Reid. On match point, Reid scored a kill off an assist by Altieri.