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There’s a new dimension of winning for the Orange volleyball program.

They’ve been successful, with winning seasons each of the last four years and state playoff victories in 2021 and 2022.

Now, it’s a whole new level. The Lady Panthers are ranked #1 in the current 3A East RPI rankings, a first in school history. They’re also in first place in the Central Carolina Conference. For years, Cardinal Gibbons stood in the way of the Lady Panthers for a league title in the 2A ranks. For the past three years, the Lady Panthers have played second fiddle to Cedar Ridge in the CCC.

That’s not the case in 2023, at least at the moment. Orange is 5-0 in the CCC with the second half of the conference slate set to start on Thursday night. On Wednesday, Orange stepped outside of conference play to face the top-ranked team in the 1A East RPI rankings. While Falls Lake ended Orange’s streak of 32 consecutive victorious sets, the Firebirds didn’t end the Lady Panther winning streak.

After Falls Lake (9-3) captured the first set, Orange responded with wins in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th to clinch its 12th straight win inside Panther Gymnasium. The Lady Panthers (14-3), who defeated Falls Lake in Creedmoor on August 24, prevailed on scores of 18-25, 25-19, 25-21 and 25-18.

Senior Ella Wimsatt finished with 16 kills and 18 digs. Sophomore Katie Silcott finished with 34 assists and eight digs. Another sophomore, Aubrey Jordan, had ten kills and two blocks.

There were four lead changes in the opening set. Orange started on an 9-6 run after an ace by Josie Crawford, which led to a Firebird time out. Falls Lake went on an 9-1 run to take a 22-16 lead, which included two kills by senior co-Captain Anna Holcombe, as well as points by junior Jenae Mason and sophomore Tess DeZurik. Mason had back-to-back kills assisted by Gemma Ines, leading to set point which was sent long on an attack attempt by Orange.

The Firebirds started strong in the second set, building an 8-1 lead behind three straight kills by Holcombe, which led to a timeout by Orange coach Hope Heverly. The Lady Panthers responded with a 14-2 run to take a 20-13 lead. Wimsatt took control of the set, which he racked up eight kills, six digs and two aces. At one point, Wimsatt had three straight kills to give Orange a 15-12 lead. Jordan notched consecutive points assisted by Silcott to increase the Lady Panther advantage to 20-13. Wimsatt evened the match when she spiked home a point on set point.

In the third set, Orange built a 14-5 lead following an ace by Abby Silinski and consecutive kills by Wimsatt and Mariah Poole. It appeared would blow out the Firebirds after an ace by Silcott put Orange ahead 22-11, but the Firebirds scored ten straight points. Kelcey Peterson’s kill and a return by Orange that went wide narrowed the Lady Panther lead to 22-21. Orange sophomore Ava Wilkerson, who finished with nine kills, scored a crucial point that led to an Orange side out. Wilkerson ended the set with a kill on set point assisted by Silcott at the net.

Orange led 8-7 when they went on a 7-3 spurt to take control of the fourth set. Jordan and sophomore Mariah Poole had back-to-back blocks to give Orange a 15-9 lead. Wimsatt had a wild dig off an attack from Holcombe that led to a kill from Jordan, which led to a Falls Lake timeout. Orange took its largest advantage of the set at 22-14 off an ace by Silcott. Wimatt’s fifth kill of the frame came on match point.

Orange will conclude a three-match homestead when they face Western Alamance on Thursday night (tonight) in Hillsborough. The Lady Panthers swept the Warriors in Elon on August 29.

While they’re only two games into their conference slate, the Orange volleyball team has established itself as the team to beat in the Central Carolina Conference. The Lady Panthers defeated crosstown rival Cedar Ridge 3-0 on scores of 25-18, 25-21 and 25-14. Orange ended Cedar Ridge’s 44-game conference winning streak, as well as the Red Wolves’ 31-game home court winning streak. Senior Ella Wimsatt made her final game inside Red Wolves Gymnasium a memorable one. She had 19 kills, tying her second-highest total of the year. She also had 12 digs. Sophomore Aubrey Jordan had 15 kills, her second-highest total of the year. Orange ended an eight-game losing streak to the Red Wolves. While conference play just started, Orange is already the only undefeated team in CCC play and stand alone in first place with a 2-0 league mark. On Thursday, Orange will start a string of two games in two days, both against teams from Roxboro. The Panthers will face Person on Thursday night in Hillsborough. It will be their first home game since August 15. On Friday night, the Lady Panthers will travel to Roxboro Community School, currently the #5 team in the 1A East RPI rankings. Orange is 8-3 overall.

Orange volleyball’s Ella Wimsatt and Aubrey Jordan discuss win at Cedar Ridge

While they’re only two games into their conference slate, the Orange volleyball team has established itself as the team to beat in the Central Carolina Conference. The Lady Panthers defeated crosstown rival Cedar Ridge 3-0 on scores of 25-18, 25-21 and 25-14.

One final time, Issac Marsh rode away from Auman Stadium a winner.

He wasn’t supposed to be on the sidelines to coach his Chapel Hill Tigers on Friday night. After undergoing shoulder surgery on Wednesday, Marsh could have simply stayed home and listened to the game while acting head coach Ryan Horton, a 2004 Chapel Hill High graduate and former quarterback, filled in as acting head coach.

But Marsh showed up at a game the day his father, L.C., was laid to rest 19 years ago. A mere shoulder injury wasn’t going to keep him from watching his last Chapel Hill team play against a cross-county rival, even if it meant staying in the press box as opposed to the sidelines.

Besides, Auman Stadium holds a special place for Marsh. It was the site of his first victory, a 49-0 victory over Orange in 2004. Less than six weeks before his debut, March was teaching summer school when he learned the previous head coach, Joe Wolfe, had resigned due to health reasons. Marsh was appointed interim head coach, and he’s been at the helm ever since.

Now, he’s the winningest football coach in school history. There have been extreme highs and amazing lows in between, but his final Chapel Hill team looks ready to send him out the right way.

The Tigers defeated Orange 42-7 on Friday night, Chapel Hill’s most lopsided victory over the Panthers since Marsh’s debut way back when. Senior quarterback Joshua Kelley, the younger brother of former Tigers signal caller Caleb Kelley, threw for two touchdowns and ran for a 33-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Tigers (2-0) have beaten Orange four straight times.

It was a night to forget for the Panthers (1-1), who had three turnovers and two first downs in the first half. Only Nate Sorrells five-yard touchdown run with :32 remaining in the fourth quarter kept Orange from being shutout against the Tigers for the first time in 19 years.

“Honestly, we made too many mistakes,” said Orange coach DeVante Pettiford. “You can’t beat a team throwing three interceptions in the first half. We made a lot of dumb mistakes tonight. Sometimes, we were in man-t0-man and blitzing, we didn’t cover some of our guys up. We left the running back free. What we have to do is lock back in and pay attention to details. The small things got us tonight.”

Orange was held to 120 yards total offense. Of that, 78 yards came on the final drive. By that point, a running clock was already in effect after Kelley’s rushing score put the Tigers ahead 42-0.

Junior linebacker Nicholas Spremberg picked off a pass on Orange’s first drive. The Tigers converted three third-downs on its first touchdown drive. Kelley threw to Nik Demas on a 3rd-and-7 for a 13-yard pickup to penetrate the Orange red zone. On 3rd-and-7 from the Orange 17-yard line, Kelley hit Ethan Smith in the right corner of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown.

On the final play of the first quarter, Orange quarterback Hank Nunnery found Kayden Bradsher for a 8-yard gain on second-and-five for a first down. The Panthers wouldn’t have another first down until early in the fourth quarter.

It appeared that Smith would score on defense after he picked off a Nunnery pass and returned it into the end zone on the first play of the second quarter, but a block in the back penalty called it back. But the touchdown wasn’t eliminated as much as it was delayed. Josh Roberson skirted around right end for an 18-yard touchdown with 10:33 remaining in the first half for his only touchdown of the night.

After the Panthers went three-and-out on its next drive, Chapel Hill faced a 3rd-and-8 from its own 44-yard line. The Panthers blitzed and got burned when Kelley threw a screen pass to Tyler Jackson, who won a footrace against the Orange secondary for a 56-yard touchdown catch-and-run. The extra point by Owen Kornstein put the Tigers ahead 21-0.

With 42 seconds remaining in the first half, Chapel Hill sophomore linebacker Prosper Miaigon scored on a 38-yard interception return.

The Tigers started the second half with a punishing drive of 9 minutes and 26 seconds where they overcame two penalties to score. It ended when James Lunsford punched in the ball from two-yards out on 4th-and-goal.

Pettiford learned after the game that this season would be Marsh’s final one.

“Coach Marsh is a great coach,” Pettiford said. “He’s put together a great team at Chapel Hill. I know in my entire time spent in coaching, they went from having a good varsity and a good junior varsity team. Then they went JV only (Chapel Hill didn’t field a varsity team in 2019). He’s built that thing back to the program you see now.”

CHAPEL HILL 42, ORANGE 7

CH–7    21    7     7 -42

OR–0     0    0     7-7

CH–Ethan Smith 17 pass from Joshua Kelley (Owen Kornstein kick)

CH–Josh Roberson 18 run (Kornstein kick)

CH–Tyler Jackson 56 pass from Kelley (Kornstein kick)

CH–Prosper Mbaigon 38 interception return (Kornstein kick)

CH–James Lunsford 2 run (Kornstein kick)

CH–Kelley 33 run (Kornstein kick)

OR-Nate Sorrells 5 run (Tyler Narold kick)

RUSHING– 29–144 3 TD (Roberson 13-81 TD, Kelley 5-28 TD, Smith 4-18, Jackson 5-13, Lunsford 2-4 TD). ORANGE: 19-41 TD (Sorrells 14-51 TD, Kayden Bradsher 1-5, Jaylen Starks 2-2, Daylin Ford 1-(-3), Hank Nunnery 1-(-13))

PASSING–CHAPEL HILL (Kelley 10-16 2 TD 159 yards) ORANGE (Nunnery (9-16 78 yards 3 INT)

RECEIVING–CHAPEL HILL (Jeffrey Sims 5-37, Smith 2-25 TD, Jackson 1-56 TD, Nate Kenan 1-25, Roberson 1-16)

ORANGE–(Crawford Farmer 7-50, Brandon Cummings 1-20, Bradsher 1-8)