Orange Volleyball

When she was named Orange volleyball coach in June 2018, Kelly Young make her goal clear.

“We’re coming for Chapel Hill,” she said.

Back then, there was no way Young could have imagined the circumstances surrounding the Lady Panthers’ first win over Chapel Hill, the defending 3A State Champions, in five years.

On Thursday night, Orange defeated Chapel Hill 3-1 on scores of 26-24, 25-17, 10-25 and 25-19.

It was Orange’s first victory over Chapel Hill since September 17, 2015.

Ordinarily such a result would lead to Orange’s student section, and several adults, rushing the floor. The fact that it came during a pandemic, reducing the crowd to only junior varsity players and assorted Orange staff, didn’t seem to matter.

Neither did the fact that it was the Lady Panthers’ first game of the year. While the Big 8 Conference’s other teams had played at least four contests, Orange had only a forfeit victory over Vance County on its record.

Nor did it seem to matter that the Lady Panthers have barely practiced the past two weeks. Though no one on the team has tested positive for COVID-19, there were potential exposures that caused a match against East Chapel Hill to be delayed twice. One Lady Panther had shingles.

“COVID is rough to plan around, for sure,” Young said. “I know a lot of people are really pushing other sports to get playing, but when you start doing it it’s really hard. They are so many moving pieces. There are so many different circumstances and situations for you athletes to work around. You have to be super flexible this year. You might miss two weeks of practice, have to reschedule and then play three games in one week. Like this week.”

“You’re worried about your girls being prepared,” Young said. “We lost practices, so I was worried we didn’t get enough time like everyone else. But we’d rather be safe than sorry.”

Young has a different health matter to worry about. She’s nine months pregnant with her first son due next week. Sitting on a chair for most of the game, Young said neither she nor her husband have figured out a name yet.

“We’re waiting to see what he looks like first,” Young said.

The opening set had seven lead changes. Behind several kills from junior Kaya Monrose, the Tigers built a 19-13 lead. Orange mounted a rally behind the serve of junior Avery Miller, who delivered consecutive aces and a kill during an 8-1 run to finish the set. Ella Van Tiem’s slam over the hands of two Tigers, assisted by Erin Jordan-Cornell, earned set point as the Panthers won 26-24.

The second set opened 7-7 before Orange went on a 6-2 run. With senior Chloe Riley serving, Jordan-Cornell had two kills to push Orange ahead 12-9. Junior Lottie Scully served three straight aces. The Lady Panthers finished with a 10-2 spurt that included two blocks from Allie Wilkerson and two aces from Jordan-Cornell. Aubri Wright finished the set with a kill as Orange won 25-17 to go ahead 2-0.

Chapel Hill cruised through the third set 25-10 behind sophomore Carly Sciborski, who had four aces in the frame. Senior Ellen Zwikker, daughter of former UNC basketball star Serge Zwikker, had three kills and one block in the third.

The Tigers had a 7-5 lead in the fourth before Orange reeled off seven consecutive points, which included two aces from libero Sadye Porter. A kill by Jordan-Cornell, assisted by sophomore Caitlin Carden, put Orange ahead 14-11. Carden later recorded an ace.

With Orange leading 23-19, Chapel Hill had a serve go wide. Miller delivered another winner on match point to deliver Orange an elusive victory against a cross-county rival.

It wasn’t lost on the Orange players that they were not the first team from Hillsborough to beat Chapel Hill this unusual season. Cedar Ridge did it two weeks ago. The Red Wolves and the Lady Panthers will meet at Cedar Ridge on Friday.

“Whenever you beat a good team in your conference, it’s always exciting,” Young said. “They’re still a solid team to contend with. We have to play them a second time, but I think this is a year where it’s anyone’s game.”

“We still have some other teams to contend against.”

For the first time since 2015, the Orange volleyball team has defeated Chapel Hill. The Lady Panthers, playing its first game of the season on December 1, topped the Tigers 3-1 on Tuesday night in a Panther Gymnasium limited to only junior varsity players and Orange staff. Sophomore middle blocker Erin Jordan-Cornell had several huge kills during the third set, including back-to-back finishes that evened the sore at 10. From there, Orange never trailed again in the match. Senior outside hitter Chloe Riley, a co-captain, started and had several important kills in the first set, which saw seven lead changes before Orange rallied from a 23-20 deficit to win 26-25. Orange will host Southern Durham on Thursday before traveling to undefeated Cedar Ridge for Hillsborough Heat on Friday night.

When Cedar Ridge faces Orange in volleyball, five dollars will get you ten that there will be a big crowd. There will be a warm gym. And there will be lots of noise.

This year, for the first time in quite awhile, there were also some big stakes.

Entering the night of October 8, Cedar Ridge was only one game behind Chapel Hill for first place in the Big 8 Conference. Orange was 6-3 and going for another state playoff spot.

On top of that, Cedar Ridge was going for its first sweep of Orange since 2015, having won the opening match 3-2 on September 12.

Orange captured the rematch 3-2 at Red Wolves Gymnasium in front of another large crowd that made noise with every point. Orange took the opening two sets on scores of 25-21 behind the strong finishes of sophomore Lottie Scully, who led the Lady Panthers with 12 kills.

It was a season of underclassmen at both Cedar Ridge and Orange. Scully was joined by fellow sophomores Avery Miller, and Emma Van Tiem as regular rotation players, along with Panther freshman Erin Jordan-Cornell. Red Wolf freshman Cameron Lloyd wound up on the All-Big 8 Conference team in November, while classmate Julie Altieri was named honorable mention. Freshman Cameron Lanier was also a regular contributor for Cedar Ridge.

Through the first two sets, Orange largely contained Lloyd, who led the team with 346 kills this season. With Cedar Ridge trailing 2-0, Lloyd got going. Lloyd delivered three kills over four points to vault the Red Wolves into a 23-22 edge in the third set.

With Orange on match point just moments later, Cameron Lanier delivered a middle kill and Julie Altieri dropped in back-to-back service aces to give the home team the 26-24 win.

In the fourth set, Cedar Ridge only trailed after Altieri sent the opening serve long. Strong serving from Haley Cothran and Lanier paved the way for a 25-19 Cedar Ridge victory to force a fifth set.

If Orange was knocked back after losing two straight sets to its archival, they didn’t show it when it mattered most. Orange won the first four points of the fifth set and won nine of the first ten overall before Lloyd finally got the Red Wolves settled with a kill.

Miller provided a rare left side kill to put Orange up match point. When Lanier’s diving bump pass attempt sailed wide, the Lady Panthers secured a 15-9 win to split the season series against its archival.

Scully finished with 12 kills, ten blocks, ten assists, eight digs, and three aces. Miller had six kills and three digs . Junior Chloe Riley and Devyn Norman each had five kills.

Lloyd finished with 25 kills, 17 digs and five aces. Lanier had nine kills, six aces and three blocks. Altieri had 45 assists, nine digs and four kills.

Orange would win four of its last five regular season matches, including coming back from two sets down to defeat Northern Durham for its final win of the year at Poe Gymtorium. The Lady Panthers lost to Clayton in the opening round of the state playoffs.

by John Franklin

THERE’S GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY

Back in June, I wrote about the change coming to North Carolina high school athletics with the addition of a 5A class. As the fall state playoff brackets have just been released by the NCHSAA, they are still a bloated mess. Hopefully in the fall of 2022, the engorged state tournaments will be a thing of the past. But until then, every team has to make do. As a matter of curiosity, why can’t we combine the way things used to be but update the process? I’m curious of what the various playoffs would look like without the split-level song and dance in football, and return to the old-school, 48-team tournament in all sports (32 in football).

In this edition of The Franklin Mint, I will make hypothetical playoff brackets for volleyball & football based upon the explanation below. In the winter, I will return to this issue and hypothesize the brackets for men’s and women’s basketball. Come spring, I will do the same for baseball and softball.

I. The Selection of Teams

1. Current Way: Conferences are guaranteed a number of playoff berths due to the size of a conference. Conferences with one to four teams receive one automatic qualifier, conferences with five to eight teams receive two, and conferences with nine or more teams are given three. Conference champions and the highest placed team from a split conference (per classification), automatically qualify.

UPDATE: Teams winning their respective conferences, whether by regular-season (without a tournament) or by tournament All teams not winning their conference championship will be designated as at-large teams. However, that team must be the #1 team in the conference, either outright, by tie-breaker, or by winning the conference tournament (if applicable). If you’re a team in a split-class conference, you have to be the #1 team of the entire conference to claim its’ championship status and automatic bid.

Just like the NCAA, the NCHSAA needs to allow for the only automatic qualifiers from the conference champions, and everyone else grouped from non-champions.

A team’s complete body of work goes far beyond what is accomplished in conference play alone. If a team has a great non-conference slate, and relents in conference play by a game or two, they could be tremendously punished by the Association all because of one segment of their season. At the inverse, those who have a strong conference showing, but struggled in non-conference play, their season can be improved and rewarded. Teams would stand a much more fair opportunity should they be evaluated by the entire season.

In 2017, South Caldwell – a 4A member of the Northwestern Conference along with McDowell, was the top 4A team in their conference due to their head-to head win over McDowell. As a result, South Caldwell automatically qualified for the state playoffs. The only problem with South Caldwell’s win, it was their only win of the season (1-10). Never mind the fact that South Caldwell and McDowell were the two worst teams in the entire Northwestern Conference in 2017.

Not only did they qualify for the playoffs, but they also somehow acquired the #2 seed in the 4A West Playoffs. As per seeding rules, all conference champions or top teams in a split class conference for a particular classification, were tiered above all other at-large teams for the top seeds. South Caldwell received a bye in the first round, and a home game in the second round. Subsequently, their 1-10 record showed how bad they were as they were trounced in the next round.

If you’re the conference champion, the best in your conference, you should definitely qualify. But if you’re not the top team, you should only get in as an at-large team.

—-

2. Current Way: There are no pre-set number of wins that would qualify you as a playoff participant. Over the past twenty years, teams with abysmal, sub-500 records were qualifying as a result of how they finished in a conference.

UPDATE: Qualifying teams must have a record that is above .500. Any team with a .500 record or worse will be disqualified, unless that team is the conference champion.

For years, I have argued that every college football team playing in a bowl game should have a record of .500 or better. This would mean a team with a 7-5 record or better would qualify, while the 6-6 teams should go home and focus on basketball. This is no different for high school football. With one less game than their college counterparts, all teams should be striving for the minimum of a 6-5 record if they play an endowment game, a 6-4 record without one. This will also be true of other sports. To qualify for an at-larger berth, a team must be above .500, unless that team were to win their conference’s championship.

Last season, as a result of Hurricane Florence, football teams faced cancelation of games. This was also true during snow events in the winter. Should teams have games canceled due to no fault of their own, teams still must maintain an above .500 record in order to qualify. Teams with a .500 record will provisionally qualify, provided there are vacancies in the brackets.

The NCHSAA needs to stop rewarding teams with mediocre and inferior records. As I’ve mentioned before with the bifurcated football playoff system and the 64-team tournaments, the Association is needing as many teams possible to fill all of its playoff spots. More teams equals more games, and more games equals more money.

II. The Designation of Teams per Region

Current Way: All playoffs are divided by east and west regions – per each tournament. Schools are then pre-assigned to a specific region. Instead, the NCHSAA determines which schools will go to which regions after the qualifiers are determined.

The NCHSAA uses the actual longitude for a school to determine regions. Based on the longitudinal location of all schools that qualify for the state playoffs in a given classification (and / or subdivision in football), the western-most half will go to the West region, while the eastern-most half will go the East region.

Both regions will have an equal number of teams assigned to them.

UPDATE: The NCHSAA will go back to a pre-determined list of schools for each region, for the year, and not by each set of playoffs. Over the last 20 years, teams have flip-flopped between the regions causing undue amount of travel to extremely far locations. With a pre-set list of the regions, schools can plan for travel within their region and budget the necessary funds to pay for travel costs.

For the sake of time, I am only organizing the 3A classification as it relates to Orange and Cedar Ridge. As of this year, there are 109 schools in 3A. The boundaries for this year lies between Northeast Guilford and Eastern Guilford. Northeast Guilford is the eastern most West Region team, while Eastern Guilford is the western most East Region team. Despite an uneven number of teams, I flipped a coin to see who would get the extra team, which was won by the West.

III. The Seeding of Teams

Once the qualifiers are determined and the regions are assigned, the NCHSAA will seed the state playoff brackets. Unlike the NCAA Tournament, seeding for NCHSAA playoffs is not done by a subjective committee. Instead, the Association uses a strict and simple formula to determine the seeds.

Current Way: All regular season conference champions (and top teams from split conferences) are seeded first. All second-place automatic qualifiers are seeded next, and then any third-place automatic qualifiers. Once all automatic qualifiers have been seeded, the at-large teams are seeded behind them. All tiers are seeded by their Adjusted MaxPreps Ranking or AMPR.

UPDATE: Instead of having a tiered system that seems to punish schools who might have a decent season, but lost a game or two in conference play, seed the teams by a point system. This will allow of playoff teams to be seeded by their entire season of work instead of by conference finish. The final AMPR (prior to the start of the playoffs) would be utilized as an aid to seeding. No preference is given to conference champions as the champions might have had an inferior record than others. This will equate the playing field. Ties will be broken utilizing the AMPR.

The playoffs are seeded by a point system. Three points are given for a regulation win, two points are given for an overtime win, one point for an overtime loss, and zero points for a regulation loss. This system would give additional benefit for teams who go into overtime (likewise of a 5^th set in volleyball or criteria in wrestling), but fall short of a win. The point system is designed to seed teams on the basis of the most points accrued for the highest seeding.

One caveat to the point system is if a team plays more games, but under modified rules. For example – volleyball. If a team plays in a tournament where games are a best of three instead of the best of five, the games played under the best of three rules will be not be included in their overall record for seeding purposes. If the NCHSAA allows a game in any sport to be played under modified rules, those games will not be included in the season record.

As I previously mentioned of South Caldwell, the tiered seeding system benefited them. Because of their win over McDowell, they struck the gold mine. Under my modifications, South Caldwell would have not even come close to playoff qualification as they were the second-to-last team in the Northwestern Conference with an atrocious, 1-10 record.

IV. The Layout of the Brackets

Current Way: All dual team sports with the exception of football, lacrosse, and wrestling will field a 48-team tournament in 1A and 4A, and a 64-team tournament in 2A and 3A. Football is subdivided into A and AA based on average daily membership, and each subdivision has a 24-team tournament in 1A & 4A, a 32-team tournament for 2A & 3A. Women’s lacrosse is a 40-team, open class tournament; while the men have a 32-team tournament for a combined 1A/2A/3A class, and a 32-team tournament for 4A. Dual Team Wrestling is also a 32-team tournament in all classes.

UPDATE: The 64-team tournaments in 2A and 3A will be scaled down to 48-team tournaments. This is performed to allow the best teams in each region to be rewarded with a bye in the first round of the sectionals. All other tournaments will remain the same.

Again, no subdivision will take place in football, while all football tournaments will be a 32-team tournament in all classes.

IV. Local Results

In football, Cedar Ridge (1-10) & Orange (5-6) did not have winning records, and therefore, did not qualify. 

In volleyball, Cedar Ridge would have received the #10 seed and a home game to face the #23 seed, Southern Lee, in the first round. This was an improvement from their actual #20 seed and first round road game. A win would have advanced the Red Wolves into the second round at #7 Cleveland. Orange improved four spots to #15 (actually seeded #19), and would have had a home game against #18 seed, C.B. Aycock. A win would have set up a second round date at #2 Union Pines.

V. Conclusion

Sometimes, the present can be simplified by the past while modernizing the operation. It feels that as time progressed, the entire process of the playoffs has been complicated. With the changes coming in a few years, perhaps the simplification of high school athletics will return. As of now, it’s a mess and there has to be a better way to determine the state’s playoff system.

Following her team’s most successful season since 2015, Cedar Ridge volleyball coach Anna Seethaler has been named the Big 8 Conference Coach of the Year.

In addition, Cedar Ridge junior Marlee Rakouskas and freshman Cameron Lloyd were named to the All-Big 8 Conference team this week.

Orange, who finished 16-8, had seniors Kaitlyn Werden and Brooke Fryar named to the All-Big 8 team.

Seethaler took a Cedar Ridge team that posted a 7-15 record in 2018 and led them to an 18-6 season, despite losing promising middle hitter Lydia Wood during the summer after she transferred. Cedar Ridge stormed out to a 6-0 start. After they suffered their first setback at Jordan on September 9, the Red Wolves stunned Chapel Hill the following night in Hillsborough. It was the Tigers’ first and only loss of the season.

Chapel Hill won the 3A State Championship over West Henderson in Raleigh two weeks ago.

As if that wasn’t enough, Cedar Ridge defeated Orange in five sets at Panther Gymnasium 48 hours later. It was the first time Cedar Ridge win at Orange since 2015.

“Ours was a team that showed up for each other. We worked as a unit, as a team, as a family,” Seethaler said after the season-ending loss to Gray’s Creek in the 3A State Playoffs. “Throughout the season the parents, grandparents, friends, administrators and players all showed up and worked together to make some really incredible things happen. There were challenges and upsets and annoyances, like any other family. But everyone just kept showing up through all of it.”

From the time the season unofficially started with a scrimmage at Burlington’s (non-air conditioned) Fairchild Community Center in early August, Seethaler was set to play three freshmen in her regular rotation. Indeed, Lloyd, Julie Altieri and Cameron Lanier started right away and immediately posted impressive numbers.

“For me, actions speak louder than words,” Seethaler said. “Even though I was hopeful and open gyms were looking good AND I kept hearing ‘we’d have a great team this year’, I didn’t really know what we were capable of until we actually competed throughout  the season. About half way through the season I looked back at where we came from, even from last year and thought ‘Well dang. We’ve won more games halfway through this season than we won the entire season last year, I’d say we are doing pretty good.’”

Lloyd was the only freshman in the Big 8 Conference who finished in the top five in kills, aces and digs. She registered 342 kills, 68 aces and 237 digs. On September 17 against Northern Durham, Lloyd had a triple-double with 17 kills, 12 aces and ten digs.

During Cedar Ridge’s team banquet last week, Lloyd was named the Team MVP.

Rakouskas, a junior libero, had 224 digs and 472 service receptions. She had a season-high 20 digs and 37 service receptions in a 3-2 win over Northwood on October 1.

The Orange volleyball team won more games than any other Lady Panther squad this decade. Fryar, who signed with Gardner-Webb last week, was a senior libero who led the team with 276 digs and 338 service receptions. She was third on the team with 52 assists.

“I owe (Orange) Coach (Kelly) Young a lot,” Fryar said. “She’s coached me since I was a freshman. Now I’m a senior. She just really helped out my game.”

Werden led Orange with 36 aces and 290 assists. She was second on the squad with 121 digs. In a victory over Northern Durham on September 26, Werden had 18 assists and 13 digs.

Cedar Ridge’s Altieri and Emma Downing were named honorable mention All-Big 8.

Orange sophomore Lottie Scully and senior Elizabeth Vosburg were also named honorable mention.

Looking back at the night of August 28, there wasn’t much of a reason to think that Orange volleyball would fare well against Person.

Just the week before, the Rockets disposed of the Lady Panthers with ease in three sets on scores of 25-11, 25-21 and 25-15. In fact, opening week was forgettable for Orange.

During a one-day event at Apex Friendship High School, Orange had several players out because they had to take the LSAT. Apex Friendship and Jordan each disposed of the Lady Panthers in three sets.

However, Orange showed a spark of what it could become in the final game in Apex when they defeated Jack Britt in straight sets.

As disappointing as the first week of the season had been, the second week would be much better.

It started with a sweep of South Granville in Creedmoor, the Lady Panthers third straight win over the Vikings dating back to last season. It turned out to be the first of several strong nonconference victories for Orange in 2019. South Granville would eventually go undefeated in the 2A/1A Northern Carolina Conference and reach the 2nd round of the 2A State Playoffs.

Two nights later, Orange came out with tenacity in the Person rematch in Hillsborough. A week after Person stomped Orange in the first set, the Panthers responded by winning the opening frame 25-15. The Lady Panthers fed senior attacker Kaitlyn Werden, who finished with ten kills, two aces, two blocks, ten digs and 21 assists, essentially a volleyball triple-double.

To their credit, Person controlled the second set 25-12 behind junior Karoline Cox, who had six kills in the set. After that, it was all Orange.

The Panthers took the third frame 25-18. This was the first time that the Lady Panthers showed off its depth in terms of finishers, many of them underclassmen. Sophomore Emma Van Tiem had seven kills. Van Tiem’s classmate, Avery Miller, also had seven kills. Senior Emma Vosburg, the younger sister of former Orange basketball center Logan Vosburg, came away with seven kills. Senior Vale Serge also had seven kills, a season-high.

Orange wrapped up its most impressive win of the season when they captured the fourth set 25-16. Miller and Van Tiem would have several big blocks in the final set. Each finished with five, as did freshman Erin Jordan-Cornell.

There was hardly any time for Orange to enjoy its win. The very next night, South Granville came calling again, but the Panthers put the Vikings away in straight sets. It continued a six-game winning streak, the longest of the season.

Person’s losses this season were few and far between. The Rockets finished 23-3 and won the Mid-State Conference championship with a 13-1 record. They would fall to Chapel Hill in the third round of the state playoffs.

Orange played in the Big 8, which would send five teams to the state playoffs. The Lady Panthers would win ten matches against teams that made the state playoffs, including a four-set victory over East Chapel Hill, who would capture the second-seed in the Big 8 Conference. It would also start a memorable fall on volleyball courts across Hillsborough.

On Thursday, Orange senior Brooke Fryar officially signed with Gardner-Webb University, where she will play volleyball in the Big South Conference. This season, Orange had the most wins than any other Lady Panther volleyball team this decade. Fryar led the team with 276 digs in the regular season, including 42 against East Chapel Hill and 33 versus Northern Durham in the final win of her high school career. Fryar was a libero who helped Orange to 16 wins this season and an appearance in the 3A State Playoffs. As a junior, Fryar had 176 digs and received 234 serves. 

Keshawn Thompson: The Campbell Fighting Camels of the Football Championship Subdivision suffered its first Big South Conference loss of the season to #11 Kennesaw State, 38-35, at Barker-Lane Stadium in Buies Creek on Saturday. Thompson, who wasn’t credited for a tackle last week against North Alabama, made a career-high seven tackles against the Owls. A redshirt sophomore, Thompson had five tackles in a season-opening loss to Troy of the Sun Belt Conference. Campbell is 6-3 overall, 3-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. They return to action against Monmouth next Saturday.

Payton Wilson: #4 Clemson defeated N.C. State 55-10 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh Saturday night. Wilson, a redshirt freshman, left the game with a sprained left shoulder in the 2nd quarter and didn’t return. Wilson had two tackles up to that point. He emerged from the locker room with his left arm in a sling on the sidelines during the 2nd half. After the game, Wolfpack Coach Dave Doeren said he didn’t know how long Wilson would be out. N.C. State has three games remaining, starting with Louisville next Saturday in Raleigh.

Trenton Gill: Against Clemson, Gill had five punts for an average of 52.2 yards per punt. On a brisk night, his longest was 75 yards. Three of the punts were over 50 yards, two were downed inside the 20-yard line and one was a touchback. Gill also had three kickoffs, one of which was a touchback.

Adam Chnupa: The FCS Elon Phoenix’s hopes making the FCS playoffs took a drastic hit on Saturday after losing 31-17 to Maine at Rhodes Stadium in Elon. Chnupa, redshirt freshman, played special teams for Elon, who falls to 4-6, 3-4 in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Rodney Brooks: In CIAA action on Saturday, Fayetteville State defeated Livingston 32-0 at Alumni Memorial Stadium in Salisbury. Brooks, who suited up for Livingstone, had three tackles, including one for a loss. Brooks is classified as a junior, according to the Livingstone website. The Blue Bears haven’t scored in eight quarters and have lost five straight. They’re 4-5 overall, 1-5 in the CIAA. They conclude the season next week against Johnston C. Smith in Salisbury next week.

Chandler Compton: After four years on the Wofford men’s soccer team, Compton’s college career came to an end on Friday night. The Terriers lost to Mercer 3-0 in the opening round of the Southern Conference Tournament at Stone Soccer Stadium in Greenville, S.C. Wofford finished the year 4-13-1. Compton played in two games. He played 17 games in his Wofford career. He scored one goal in 2018 against VMI.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The college career of Lionel Reid-Shaw also ended on Saturday. Division III Johns Hopkins defeated Dickinson 2-0 in the semifinals of the Centennial Conference Tournament at Franklin & Marshall University in Lancaster, PA. Reid-Shaw scored his only college goal last week in his final home game against Muhlenberg. Reid-Shaw concludes his career with the Red Devils with 67 games played. He started 45 with one goal and one assist. Dickinson ends the year 10-8.

Taylin Jean: The Division II Limestone Saints women’s soccer team defeated North Greenville University 2-1 in the opening round of the Conference Carolinas Tournament on Saturday at Saints Field in Gaffney, S.C. Jean started at goalkeeper for the Saints and earned the win after she made three saves. Limestone, who is a #4 seed in the tournament, will face regular season champion Mount Olive on Thursday in the semifinals.

Brittany Daley: The season of the Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer team ended in the semifinals of the USA South Athletic Conference on Friday. Covenant College defeated Greensboro 3-1 on penalty kicks after the two sides played to a scoreless tie in regulation. Greensboro lost despite outshooting the Scots 22-3 in regulation. As she has done every game this season, Daley started at center back for the Pride. Daley didn’t attempt a penalty during the shootout. Greensboro, which went undefeated in the regular season last year only to lose in the USA South Conference Tournament and were denied a trip to the Division III National Tournament, end the year 13-4-2. Daley, a sophomore, started all 19 games for the Pride.

Bailey Lucas: The Division III Meredith volleyball team had its season come to an end in the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals on Friday. Maryville defeated Methodist 3-1 in the USA South semifinals at the Grant Center in Danville, VA. Lucas started again for Meredith and finished with 25 assists, eleven digs, and one kill. In the quarterfinals, Meredith defeated William Peace 3-1 at Weatherspoon Gym in Raleigh on Wednesday. Lucas started and had 28 assists, 10 digs and one kill. Meredith ends the year 20-9. Lucas was 2nd on the team this season with 267 assists.

Icez Barnett: The Division II Chowan women’s basketball team had an exhibition game against Gardner-Webb last week. The Running Bulldogs won 69-33. Barnett came off the bench and played three minutes. She grabbed one rebound. The Hawks will officially start its season on Friday against North Georgia in Dahlonega, GA.

Lauren Cates: Wake Tech Community College improved to 2-0 on the season with a 117-24 win over Fayetteville Technical Community College at Reid Ross Gymnasium in Fayetteville on Wednesday night. Cates scored 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range. Cates also had three rebounds, three steals and two assists. On Saturday, the Eagles suffered its first loss of the season to South Carolina-Salkehatchie 58-50. Statistics from that game weren’t immediately available.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The 2016 Orange graduate picked quite a time to score his first career goal for the Division III Dickinson men’s soccer team. In the 65th game of his career, Reid-Shaw scored off a header in the 76th minute for the game-winning goal as the Red Devils defeated Muhlenberg in the final home game of the regular season for Dickinson at Miller Memorial Field in Carlisle, PA on Wednesday night. Reid-Shaw is a senior. The goal secured either a #2 or #3 seed for Dickinson in the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament. Dickinson will travel to Johns Hopkins on Saturday.

Kayla Hodges: The 2018 Orange High graduate was named 2nd team All-Colonial Athletic Conference in women’s soccer on Thursday. This season, Hodges started all 17 games for Elon. She scored four goals and tallied two assists. Towards the end of the regular season, Hodges scored goals in consecutive games against William & Mary and Drexel. Hodges, a sophomore, helped Elon go from 3-10-4 in 2018 to 12-5-2 in 2019. On Friday night, the Phoenix defeated Northeastern 2-1 in the opening round of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament at Hoftra Soccer Stadium. Hodges started at midfield as Elon advanced to the semifinals of the CAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Elon will face top-seeded Hofstra on Sunday afternoon.

Taylin Jean: The Division II Limestone women’s soccer team dropped a tough 1-0 overtime decision to Catawba on Wednesday at Saints Field in Gaffney, S.C. Hodges, a 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate, started in net for the Saints and made five saves. She is now 8-7 this season. Limestone is 7-2 in Conference Carolinas, two games behind Mount Olive for 1st place. Jean has started every game for the Saints. They return home on Saturday to face Mount Olive.

Jordan Rogers: The Division III William Peace University women’s soccer team ended its season on Wednesday. Methodist defeated the Pacers 1-0 at Monarch SoccerPlex in Fayetteville in the opening round of the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament. Rogers started at wingback for the Pacers, who ended the season 7-11-1. It set a new program record for wins in a season. The team also made the USA South Tournament for the first time in team history. Rogers, a sophomore, started all 19 games this season for Peace and moved from midfielder to wingback. Last season, Rogers played 14 games for Peace.

Brittany Daley: The Greensboro College women’s soccer team didn’t play this week. They earned a bye to the quarterfinals of the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament after the Pride finished as the top-seed from the Eastern Division. Greensboro hosts Huntingdon on Saturday afternoon at Pride Field.

Lili Henry: The Division III Methodist volleyball team lost to Guilford College 3-1 at the Riddle Center in Fayetteville. Henry, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2018, led the Monarchs with 23 assists. She also had two aces and six digs. Methodist is 6-17 overall, 5-9 in the USA South Athletic Conference. They will host Greensboro and William Peace in a tri-match on Saturday.

Bailey Lucas: On Friday night, the Meredith volleyball team ended its regular season with a 3-1 win over Salem College at Varsity Gym in Winston-Salem. Lucas had a team-high 28 assists and 18 digs. The Avenging Angels finished the regular season 19-8, 13-3 in the USA South Conference. In a packed Weatherspoon Gym in Raleigh on Wednesday, William Peace defeated Meredith volleyball team 3-1 on scored of 17-25, 25-20, 25-23 and 25-19. Lucas, who graduated from Orange in 2018, played in all four sets for Meredith. She finished with a team-high 23 assists, 12 digs, and two kills. The loss knocked Meredith out of first place in conference play. They will go into the USA South Conference Tournament, which starts Tuesday, as the #2 seed.

A season ago, the Clayton High School volleyball team finished the year with 15 wins, got to the final of the Greater Neuse Conference tournament where they lost to conference rival Cleveland, made the 3A state playoffs as a #14 seed, hosted the #19 seed in the first round – and lost in straight sets.

Now, one year later, the Comets found themselves in familiar territory. Clayton finished the year with 15 wins, got to the final of the conference tournament where they lost to rival Cleveland, made the 3A state playoffs as a #14 seed, and hosted the #19 seed in the first round – but this year, the end result was a little different.

On the other side of the floor, the Orange High School volleyball team had been in the playoffs for the past four years, but the Panthers hadn’t been able to push past the first round since 2015, when Orange got all the way to the third round as a 21-seed. A couple of key wins late in 2019 ensured the Panthers would be playoff participants again, giving second-year head coach Kelly Young a second chance to guide the Panthers deep into the postseason.

On Saturday afternoon, the #19 seed Orange Panthers (16-8) took a long trip south to Johnston County and battled the Clayton Comets (15-10) every step of the way, but Clayton’s depth on the outside and talent at the service line helped lift the Comets to a straight-sets win (25-22, 25-20, 29-27) over Orange, ending the Panthers’ season in the first round for the fourth straight year.

Orange got out to a quick early lead on the road in the first set, but Clayton tied the score at six apiece and then went a big run to open up a 17-12 lead. Young called a timeout and her team responded, battling back to within 19-18, which prompted a matching timeout from first-year Clayton head coach David Nicholson. That timeout had a similar effect for the Comets, which pulled away for a 25-22 win.

Orange again struck for an early 4-1 lead in set two, but Clayton, needing some offense, once again found it through Kayla Burbage, a 6’2 junior middle hitter with long arms and a cannon of a swing. She missed nearly all of September and it’s fair to wonder how much better Clayton’s seed would’ve been had she played the entire season, but she certainly came to play Saturday. A player that averages 4.87 kills per set with a hitting clip of .360 and that kind of height is a potential star at any level, and she was a matchup nightmare for Orange Saturday. The Panthers did well to limit top Clayton outside Maya Gray, who averages 3 kills per set herself, but Burbage’s big arm helped stake the Comets to a 20-13 edge. The Panthers were able to claw back into the set, but the deficit was too large to overcome – Clayton won 25-20 for a 2-0 set advantage.

Unlike the first two sets, in the third, it was Clayton that grabbed an early lead. But, also unlike the first two sets, the Comets never held a big lead. Instead, Orange, knowing its season was on the line, fought every step of the way, fending off match points at 24-23 and 26-25, and even having a chance to take the set themselves at 27-26. But on their third match point, the Comets forced Orange into a tough defensive situation, and the Panthers overpassed the ball right in the center of the net – and there, of course, waiting to spike it down was Burbage to lift Clayton to a 29-27 victory and a straight-sets win.

Clayton played to its strengths perfectly in this match. A Comet team that, incredibly, averages more than twice as many service aces as it does errors served well all day Saturday, and with top outside Gray stopped up, the Comets found offense from other sources, including Ella Callahan, a freshman outside who tallied at least 15 points serving and attacking after she had appeared in just six sets all season prior to Saturday.

But Orange truthfully played a very strong game as well, producing an effort that would have been more than good enough to beat a lesser team that doesn’t have the ability to go on service runs like Clayton does. The Comets slowed down top Panther outside Avery Miller, but the patented Panther right-side attack from Lottie Scully and especially Ella Van Tiem worked excellently. Emma Vosburg and Devyn Norman both had their moments in the middle, offensively and defensively. Senior Emma Clements has been resurgent lately in this season, and she had a solid final game overall as a Panthers. Scully and Kaitlyn Werden split the setter duties well, both serving well and facilitating clean offense. And libero Brooke Fryar was back there to keep things about as clean as usual. But on this day, all of those good efforts were simply not good enough, and the Panthers quickly packed up their things and hopped on the bus back to Hillsborough to reflect on another strong season of volleyball at Orange.