Cedar Ridge High School

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. 

This week’s Lineman of the Week is Cedar Ridge senior Louis Tedder. Last Friday night, Tedder played both guards and defensive tackle as the Red Wolves defeated East Chapel Hill 8-6 to win its first varsity game since October 2019. It was an unusual night for Tedder. His father, Louis Tedder Sr., is a defensive line coach for East Chapel Hill. Last season, he coached for Cedar Ridge when the Red Wolves only fielded a junior varsity team. Tedder has been active with Cedar Ridge sports through his first three years. He wrestles for the Red Wolves wrestling team coached by Scott Metcalf. He also competes in track & field in the spring. Tedder and the rest of the Cedar Ridge defense held the East Chapel Hill defense without a point in the final 40 minutes of its win last Friday night. Tedder and the rest of the Red Wolves will journey to Bartlett-Yancey on Friday night to face the Bartlett-Yancey Buccaneers. Last season, Cedar Ridge defeated Barrett-Yancey in a junior varsity game. 

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior football safety Matt Turner. On Friday night, Turner secured a fumble recovery late in the fourth quarter against East Chapel Hill deep in Wildcat territory. Though the Red Wolves didn’t score on the subsequent possession, it did help secure a safety from linebacker James Este Wittinger that provided the game-winning points. It was Cedar Ridge football’s first varsity win in 1,050 days. Turner played football at Gravelly Hill Middle School. He played as a freshman under head coach Torrean Hinton in 2019. He took the following two years off from football, but decided to return for the 2022 season as Cedar Ridge revived its varsity program. Turner has been a steady contributor thus far through two games in the 2022 season. On Friday night, Cedar Ridge rode its defense to victory. The Red Wolves forced turnovers in its last four possessions, including two interceptions by Justin Hartsell. There was another by Mason Cates late in the game. Cedar Ridge will go for its second straight win when they face Bartlett Yancey on Friday night in Yanceyville. You can hear that game on Hillsboroughsports.com. Congratulations to Mattt Turner, this week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week. 

Women’s Tennis: Cedar Ridge 9, Person 0: While Walter Williams has established itself as the team to beat in the Central Carolina Conference, the race is on for the league’s second automatic spot in the 3A State Playoffs.

Cedar Ridge made itself into a contender this week with three strong victories, starting with its conference opener on Monday. The Red Wolves swept Person in Roxboro 9-0. Adeline Cummings, who was elevated to #1 singles, won her match 6-2, 6-0. Junior Cameron Mayhew, the younger sister of Central Carolina Conference Men’s Player of the Year Josh Mayhew, won her match 6-2, 6-0. Sophomore Ella Caltabiano (#3), junior Catherine Ballenger (#4), junior Annabeth Lundberg, (#5) and junior Rowan Mowes-Aring (#6) all won their singles matches.

Lundberg and Mowes-Aring were the only Red Wolves to win two matches on the day. They teamed together to win at #1 doubles 8-1. Molly Alversson and Addie Payne, a pair of sophomores, captured the #2 doubles match 8-1. The tightest match of the day was at #3 doubles where Chloe Pankratz and Lila Rhoades were extended to a tiebreaker after battling Cassidy Swank & Jessica Williams to an 8-8 tie. Pankratz & Rhoades won the tiebreaker 7-1.

Cedar Ridge 7, Southern Alamance 2: On Tuesday, the Red Wolves defeated the Patriots for the second time this season. Cedar Ridge won all six of its singles matches. Cummings, again starting at #1 singles, won the most competitive match of the day against Southern’s Faith Moore. Cummings prevailed 7-6 in the opening set, winning the tiebreaker 8-6. Cummings sewed up her fifth singles victory of the season winning the second set 6-2.

Mayhew captured her match at #2 singles 6-2, 6-2, her third victory of the year. Caltabiano (#3) won 6-1, 6-0 for her fifth victory of 2022. Catherine Ballenger won 6-1, 6-0. Annabeth Lundberg (#5) won 6-0, 6-2 to wrap up the Red Wolves’ third dual win of the season. Mowes-Aring finished the singles sweep 6-1, 6-1.

Caltabiano and Ballenger teamed together to win at #1 doubles 8-0, the only doubles win of the day for the Red Wolves.

Cedar Ridge 6, Northwood 3: In a dual matches that featured three singles matches going to 10-point, third-set tiebreakers, Cedar Ridge prevailed in its third match in three days on Wednesday.

Cummings had the longest match of the year in the CCC against Northwood’s Destyn Roder 2-6, 6-4, 15-13 in the 10-point tiebreaker. Later in the day, Cummings and Mayhew claimed a forfeit win at #1 doubles after a Northwood player had to retire due to a foot injury. For the week, Cummings won five matches overall.

Cedar Ridge won five out of six singles matches to take the dual match win. Ella Caltabiano (#3) prevailed 6-2, 6-4; Ballenger, who won four matches this week, prevailed 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 at #4 singles. Lundberg won at #5 6-3, 2-6 11-9.

Mowles-Airing completed the dual match win with a 6-2, 6-0 victory at #6.

Cedar Ridge is now 4-3 overall, 2-0 in the Central Carolina Conference. They travel to Orange on Tuesday.

Orange 8, Western Alamance 1: After winning three of its first four in the opening weeks of the season, the Orange women’s tennis team defeated Western Alamance in its CCC opener in Hillsborough on Tuesday.

#1 singles player Erin Sollars wound up in a three-set match for the second time this year. Sollars defeated Amelia Weaver 2-6, 6-3, 10-5 to improve to 4-1 on the season. Sollars would go on to team with her younger sister, Shannon Sollars, to win at #1 doubles 8-0.

Shannon Sollars won her #2 singles match 6-2, 6-2. Seniors Isabel Jones (#4 singles) and Madelyn Horn (who has now won seven overall matches this year) also won their singles matches to secure the dual match win.

In the only other doubles match, Jones and Makayla Davis won at #2 doubles 8-1.

Walter Williams 8, Orange 1: It a battle for first place in the CCC, Williams easily prevailed over Orange in Burlington on Wednesday. Sydney Rogers, who is also the starting kicker for the Orange football team, earned Orange’s only victory on the day. Rogers defeated Williams Gracie Hartle 6-3, 6-4. Orange is now 4-2 overall, 1-1 in the CCC. They will travel to Voyager on Thursday. The Lady Panthers defeated the Vikings in its season-opener on August 16 in Hillsborough.