Orange High School

Over the past few years, the Orange women’s tennis team has prided itself on having multi-sport athletes up and down its roster. This year, the Lady Panthers are in second place in the Central Conference. On October 7, the Lady Panthers will face Williams with a chance to tie for first place in the regular season. One of the multi-sport athletes on this year’s team is Molly Kruse, the younger sister of Connor Kruse, the all-time leading scorer in Orange lacrosse history. On September 11, Kruse teamed with Shannon Sollars to defeat Reagan Williams and Sarah McLaughlin of Western Alamance 8-2. Orange’s Adelyn Alvis, who has been Orange’s #6 singles player for much of the year, runs track & field during the spring. The Lady Panthers are on the verge of returning to the state playoffs. Last week, the Lady Panthers defeated Person and Southern Alamance in Hillsborough. Kruse and Sollars teamed to defeat Southern Alamance’s team of Madalyn Corbett and Gabby Canup 8-0. Orange celebrated Senior Night against the Patriots. Sollars and Aubrey Petrosanu were honored by head coach Justin Webb. The Lady Panthers will return home to face Eno River Academy on Monday for another home match. They will travel to Eastern Alamance on October 2.

Orange women’s tennis players Shannon Sollars and Molly Kruse talk new tennis court

Over the past few years, the Orange women’s tennis team has prided itself on having multi-sport athletes up and down its roster. This year, the Lady Panthers are in second place in the Central Conference. On October 7, the Lady Panthers will face Williams with a chance to tie for first place in the regular season.

The race for the Central Conference volleyball championship dramatically changed this week. Orange is now tied with Cedar Ridge and Western Alamance after a dramatic win by the Lady Panthers over Cedar Ridge in five sets on Wednesday night. Orange came back down two sets for the victory. Orange’s Aubrey Jordan had a season-high 23 kills, including five in the final set. Jordan sparked Orange’s comeback with six kills in the fourth set, which Orange claimed 25-22. Orange middle blocker Mariah Poole had a crucial ace that put Orange tied the fifth set 3-3. Poole finished with three aces and two blocks as Orange improved to 9-7. Junior Ava Wilkerson led all players with 27 kills. Her presence was also felt defensively with ten digs. Orange showed grit after they lost the second set 30-28. Cedar Ridge fought off three Orange set points to go ahead two-sets-to-nothing. Orange, Cedar Ridge and Western Alamance are now tied for first place with a 7-2 conference record. Orange will host Person in Hillsborough on Tuesday night. Cedar Ridge will travel to Eastern Alamance on Tuesday, then face Western Alamance in what could be a battle for first place on Wednesday night in Hillsborough. Also on Wednesday night, Orange will host Carrboro in a rematch of last year’s 3A Eastern Regional championship match.

Orange volleyball’s Aubrey Jordan & Mariah Poole discuss win over Cedar Ridge

The race for the Central Conference volleyball championship dramatically changed this week. Orange is now tied with Cedar Ridge and Western Alamance after a dramatic win by the Lady Panthers over Cedar Ridge in five sets on Wednesday night. Orange came back down two sets for the victory.

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Orange volleyball’s conference championship hopes were dangling from a thread on Wednesday night.

They were down two sets after dropping a draining, emotional 2nd game to crosstown rival Cedar Ridge 30-28, where Orange had led most of the way and had three set points, but couldn’t cash any of them in.

Instead of laying into her team between sets, Orange coach Hope Heverly found the right words.

She said nothing.

“I talked to my assistant coach and we turned around and saw the players talking to each other,” Heverly said. “They didn’t turn to go water. We saw in their eyes and their demeanor that we were going to win this next set.”

And they did, along with the fourth and fifth sets in front of a loud house at Red Wolves Gymnasium.

Now, instead of being out of the conference championship race, Orange is tied with Cedar Ridge and Western Alamance for first place in the Central Conference with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

Junior outside hitter Aubrey Jordan finished with 20 kills, including four in the fifth set, as Orange rallied to defeat Cedar Ridge 3-2 on scores of 20-25, 28-30, 25-15, 25-22, 15-10. Jordan finished with 20 kills, a season-high, while junior Ava Wilkerson registered a career-high 27 kills.

The last time that Orange won a five-set match after dropping the first two games was October 18, 2022, when they defeated Western Alamance.

Cedar Ridge had spent the month of September building a two-game lead in the Central Conference, only to have it all washed away within 48 hours. On Tuesday, Southern Alamance upset the Red Wolves in four sets while Orange swept Williams.

Junior Claire Hargett finished with 22 kills for the Red Wolves (10-5 overall, 7-2 in the Central Conference). It was Cedar Ridge’s fourth five-set match of the year, which have all been at home. They’re 1-3 in those matches.

Wilkerson, who has committed to play at UCF, has been Orange’s most consistent striker during a season where the Panthers have struggled to find consistency against one of the toughest schedules in the state. Jordan started to find her groove in the fourth set, finishing with four kills, and Orange found the form that put them three points away from a state championship last November.

“We knew they had it in them,” Heverly said. “We’ve seen little glimpses of it and they showed what they can do with heart and determination. So they came out and put the pieces together.”

Trailing two-sets-to-one, Orange built a 13-9 lead in the fourth set behind consecutive kills from Jordan. After Cedar Ridge’s Mia Marty delivered an ace, the Panthers pushed its lead to 21-13 with a 10-2 run. Sawyer White, who registered eight kills and ten assists, started the run with a kill, which was followed by consecutive points from Wilkerson and an ace from Mariah Poole. Wilkerson delivered three more kills to push Orange’s lead to 21-13. Cedar Ridge roared back with seven straight points to cut the Orange lead to 21-20, ending with a block from Hargett. Wilkerson delivered a block of her own to gain a side out for Orange. After Cedar Ridge was called for touching the net, Jordan spiked down an unassisted kill to force a fifth set.

It was Orange’s second five-set match this year. They lost to Western Alamance in Elon last Thursday.

Marty, who finished with five kills and 23 assists, scored on a flash attack to even the fifth set 5-5. That’s when Jordan found her groove, triggering a 5-1 Orange run where she scored on five straight Panther points. Wilkerson delivered an ace as Orange pushed its lead to 10-8. Cedar Ridge cut its deficit to 12-10 after Hargett slammed down a point, but Wilkerson finished the match with three straight kills, the final one unassisted.

Orange’s Katie Silcott has seven kills, 29 assists and three aces.

Cedar Ridge never trailed in the first set, playing confidently despite losing the night before. Calla Lundberg opened the match with a kill as the Red Wolves built an 11-5 lead after White was called for a lift. Another kill by Lundberg pushed the Cedar Ridge lead to 14-7, which would be its largest advantage of the match. Hargett scored set point as Cedar Ridge took the frame 25-20.

Orange led most of the second set, where they took the opening three points starting with a kill from Jordan. Emory Williams delivered an ace to even the second at 10-10, but Orange built a 15-12 lead following a spike from Silcott assisted by White. Cedar Ridge took its first lead of the second set with four straight points, led by a block from Charlotte Lowry to put the Red Wolves ahead 16-15. The remainder of the set was played at a torrent pace that included 13 ties and ten lead changes. Orange had three set points, the first coming when they led 24-23 but Silcott pushed a soft palm strike wide. After Marty flipped a quick strike to the heart of the Orange floor for Cedar Ridge’s first set point, Wilkerson erased it with a kill to force overtime. Silcott delivered a kill to make it 26-25, but Hargett delivered again, followed by a kill from Ellamarie Perel to give Cedar Ridge a 26-25 lead. Jordan delivered a point and had earned a third set point when an attack by Perel went long. But Orange set the subsequent serve into the next. Tied at 28-28, Orange had two attacks go over the end line and Cedar Ridge won the set 30-28.

Orange never trailed in the third set, jumping out to an 8-1 lead behind a block from Poole. Cedar Ridge reduced the deficit to 13-9 following an ace from Marty, but Orange went on a 7-3 run to build a 17-11 lead. Jordan scored set point with an assist from Silcott, which ended a run of seven straight sets that the Red Wolves had taken from Orange dating back to last year.

In the first three years of the Central Conference, there’s been a clear front runner in volleyball.

In 2021, Cedar Ridge won 14 consecutive league matches en route to the state championship. A year later, they won 62 consecutive sets in clinching another league regular season and conference tournament title. Last year, Orange won 29 straight sets during an undefeated run to its first conference title since 2005.

This year, it’s different. While Orange and Cedar Ridge remain formidable opponents, there’s no dominant team this year because the Alamance County schools are making some noise.

Last week, Western Alamance upset Orange, which put Cedar Ridge in the lead by two games at the midway point of the conference season.

On Tuesday night, Southern Alamance pulled its own upset, beating the Red Wolves 3-1 in Graham on scores of 16-25, 25-23, 25-21 and 25-23. Cedar Ridge falls to 10-4 overall, 7-1 in the Central Conference. The Red Wolves are now one game ahead of Orange, who swept Williams on Tuesday night in Hillsborough.

Orange (8-7, 6-2) is now tied with Western Alamance for second place. If that wasn’t dramatic enough, Cedar Ridge and Orange will meet tonight at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The match was moved from Thursday to Wednesday because of rain in the forecast, which led to Cedar Ridge’s Homecoming football game being shifted to Thursday night.

Cedar Ridge suffered just its second loss to an Alamance County team in the four years of the Central Conference.

Cedar Ridge closed out the opening set against the Patriors with a 4-1 run. Kayla Stoll ended a long rally with a kill set up by Mia Marty on set point.

There were 13 consecutive points with a side out in the 2nd set as neither team could gain momentum. Kayedance Wright delivered three straight aces during a 6-0 Patriots run. The Red Wolves evened things up following an unassisted kill by Stoll in the midst of a 7-0 spurt. Ellamarie Perel had four kills in the set. A kill by Stoll gave Cedar Ridge a 19-17 lead, but the Patriots scored five of the next six points, starting with an ace from junior Roslyn Taylor. Cedar Ridge led 23-22, the Patriots closed out the set with three straight points, ending with a kill by Poppie Shanklin.

The third set was tied 11-11 when Lexie Crawford spiked down a point off a feed from setter Ava Duggins. The Patriots didn’t trail again in the set, leading by as much as 21-16 after an ace from Duggins.

In the fourth, Stoll scored a kill, followed by an ace from Marty to put the Red Wolves ahead 15-14. Southern evened things up with a kill from Taylor, which started a 4-0 Patriots run. Sydnee Tapper delivered an ace to get the Red Wolves within one at 23-22, but the Patriots scored off a spike from Duggins. Taylor scored on match point leading to a big Patriots celebration.

ORANGE 3, WALTER WILLIAMS 0: Orange kept its chances alive to win the Central Conference title by crushing over the Bulldogs on scores of 25-12, 25-14 and 25-13.

Sophomore Sawyer White had eight kills, seven digs and eleven assists. Junior Ava Wilkerson finished with nine kills as the Panthers led for nearly the entire match. Junior Katie Silcott finished with 18 assists.

Orange finished the first set with five of the last six points, which included an ace from White. Wilkerson and White had kills to close out the first set.

The Panthers scored seven straight points to take a 7-2 lead in the second set. Mariah Poole had a block and Addison Guentensberger added an ace. Wilkerson closed out the set with a powerful spike along the near post.

Orange scored the opening seven points of the third set, which included three straight kills from Wilkerson. Silcott closed out the match with a kill assisted from Wilkerson.

“I like what you’re doing here. Keep it up.”

The words from Western Alamance head coach Jeff Snuffer to Orange head coach DeVante Pettiford following the postgame handshake served as a boost of confidence. Following a dismal performance on September 23 against Montgomery Central, a 46-6 loss at Wolves Den Stadium in Troy, Pettiford wanted to see more fight from his team in its Central Conference opener at Auman Stadium last Friday.

Orange hasn’t defeated an Alamance County team in league play since the Central Conference formed in 2021. While they’re still waiting for that elusive victory, Pettiford could only walk off the field proud of his team that played without its top two skill players, both of whom were injured against Montgomery Central.

It was the Warriors who had the deeper team, nearly twice as many players as the Panthers. In the end, the Warriors successfully made it a battle of manpower in a 24-7 victory, its third straight over the Panthers. Snuffer continued to run fullback Jordan Hall and H-back Esaiah Slade against a depleted Orange defensive front. While linebackers Deandre Brown and Nahjour Kenion, among others, were limping at the end as the clock drifted away, they refused to go down.

“We have a lot of things to improve on, but I felt like we were the more physical team,” Pettiford said. “I felt like we fought, we kept getting after it. We saw some things go our way on offense, we just have to get out of our own way. Whenever we have a chance to make the big play, that’s when we start to drop the ball. In terms of effort, it was like night and day compared to last week.”

James Newton, a wide receiver who has committed to Gardner-Webb, finished with 61 yard receiving and a touchdown. Warriors sophomore quarterback Ethan Oakley threw for a career-high 15 completions for 230 yards.

Orange did get a glimpse of its future when freshman wide receiver Owen Phillips caught an 81-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kyse Devore, who was making his first career start in place of injured senior Hank Nunnery. The score tied the game at 7-7 with 1:32 remaining in the first quarter.

As has been the case for much of this year, it was 3rd downs that proved to be Orange’s downfall. Western Alamance overcame two holding penalties on its opening scoring drive. On 3rd-and-16 from the Warriors 38-yard line, Oakley found senior Will Clinkscales for a 35-yard gain to the Orange 27-yard line. On 2nd-and-10 from the Panther 13-yard line, Oakley hit Newton in the left corner of the end zone for the opening score.

The Panthers were 0-for-9 on 3rd down conversions. The Warriors were 6-for-12.

“We just have to focus more when it’s time to get off the field,” Pettiford said. “That’s something that we as coaches have to do a better job of communicating. They have a Division I receiver over there (Newton). He’s the real deal.”

Following Phillips touchdown, the game remain tied until there was 1:54 remaining in the first half. Oakley engineered an eight-play, 47-yard drive, where the biggest play came on a 3rd-and-6 when he found Clinkscales again for eight yards. On the next play, running back Collin Moylan took advantage of an extra tug from his left tackle to get around end and run into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. Camden Oliveira’s extra point put the Warriors ahead 14-7.

The Warriors exercised the clock perfectly in the final drive of the first half. Oakley hit Colten Hill for 16 yards on 3rd-and-10, leading to a 43-yard field goal from Oliveira that cleared the uprights by plenty.

Western Alamance’s Elijah Slade scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half from four yards out with 8:57 remaining in the third quarter, the game’s final score.

Orange crossed the 50-yard line once in the second half, but the drive stalled when Deandre Brown was thrown for a loss on 4th-and-9 from the Warriors 37-yard line.

WESTERN ALAMANCE 24, ORANGE 7

WA-7   10    7    0-24

OR-7     0     0     0-7

WA–James Newton 13 pass from Ethan Oakley (Nathan Oliveira kick)

OR-Owen Phillips 81 pass from Kyse Devore (Will Cooper kick)

WA–Collin Moyland 11 run (Oliveira kick)

WA–Esaiah Slade 4 run (Oliveria kick)

RUSHING–WESTERN ALAMANCE 34-150 2 TD (Jordan Hall 16-70, Oakley 8-39, Newton 3-12, Moylan 2-11 TD, E. Slade 2-9 TD, Asaiah Slade 2-5, Riley Poteat 1-4)

ORANGE: 20-19 (Deandre Brown 8-35, Kayden Bradsher 2-5, Garrett Sawyer 2-0, team 1-(-9), Devore 7-(-12)

PASSING: WESTERN ALAMANCE (Oakley 15-23 233 TD) ORANGE (Devore 8-19 147, TD INT)

RECEIVING: WESTERN ALAMANCE (Newton 4-61 TD, Hamilton Plunkett 4-52, Will Clinkscales 3-46, Colten Hill 2-56, E. Slade 2-15)

ORANGE: (Phillips 2-92 TD, Brown 2-34, Kingston Purefoy Farrington 2-11, Hunter Albert 1-6, Jayden Medley 1-4)

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is men’s cross country runner Myles Jermyn. On September 10, Orange won its first meet of the season against Cedar Ridge and Western Alamance at Orange High School. Jermyn finished first at 17:32.00. Last season, Jermyn was a part of the Orange men’s cross country team that finished at Mideast Regional champions. In the 3A State Championships, they came in second place, only behind Croatan. Jermyn, a junior, has run on two Central Conference championship teams. In the Mideast Regionals last October, Jermyn finished eighth in the region as the Panthers won the team championship by 22 points over Northern Nash. Jermyn finished second in the conference championship last year at Lake Cammack Course in Burlington. Myles’ father, Kevin, is the men’s and women’s cross country coach at Duke University. His younger sister, Reilly, has started running for the Orange women’s team and finished 2nd in the opening conference meet two weeks ago. Last spring, Myles finished third in the 1,600 meters during the Mideast Regional Outdoor Track & Field championships at UNC Pembroke. He finished second in the region at 3,200 meters. During the 3A State Championships at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, Jermyn finished 10th in both the 1,600 and 3,200 meters.

Orange Panther of the Week: Myles Jermyn

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is men’s cross country runner Myles Jermyn. On September 10, Orange won its first meet of the season against Cedar Ridge and Western Alamance at Orange High School. Jermyn finished first at 17:32.00. Last season, Jermyn was a part of the Orange men’s cross country team that finished at Mideast Regional champions.

The Orange men’s soccer team is off to its best start in 17 years. On Monday, the Panthers defeated Walter Williams 3-2 in Burlington. Junior Yurim Tapia Mendez scored a hat trick for Orange, who defeated the Bulldogs for the second time in two years. Instrumental in Orange’s success has been an experienced back line that includes Eben Petrides. On August 28, the Panthers defeated Eno River Academy in the first-ever meeting between the two teams at Orange Soccer Field. Joseph Lopez assisted on a goal for Orange. Issac Gallegos scored a goal in Orange’s 5-3 win over Durham School of the Arts on August 19. Lopez also assisted in Orange’s win over Williams. The Panthers are in pursuit of making the 3A State Playoffs for the third straight year. It would be the first time ever that Orange has made the state playoffs three straight years. This week, Orange’s game against Cedar Ridge was rained out. The opening leg of the Hillsborough Derby will be rescheduled for another date. In the meantime, Orange will hit the road to face Person in Roxboro on Monday. The Panthers will return home to face Southern Alamance on Wednesday night in Hillsborough. Orange is 6-3 overall, 1-1 in the Central Conference.

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The Orange men’s soccer team is off to its best start in 17 years. On Monday, the Panthers defeated Walter Williams 3-2 in Burlington. Junior Yurim Tapia Mendez scored a hat trick for Orange, who defeated the Bulldogs for the second time in two years.