What makes Chapel Hill volleyball so good?

The Tigers have won back-to-back 3A Eastern Regional Championships under third-year head coach Ross Fields. This year, they’ve won their first five Big 8 Conference matches while dropping only one set.

For starters, there’s the front line. Junior middle hitter Courtney Zwikker (the daughter of former UNC center Serge Zwikker, who played one season with the Houston Rockets and overseas in Spain and Italy) is 6-foor-3. Her younger sister, Ellen, is 6-foor-1. Junior Kaya Merkler, who leads the team with 110 kills, is also 6-3.

There’s no other lineup like that in the Big 8. It’s why the Tigers have won 22 consecutive conference matches. Its last Big 8 loss came against Cedar Ridge on October 6, 2016.

On Tuesday night, the Tigers rolled past Orange 3-0 in Hillsborough on scores of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-22. The Lady Panthers led the last set 22-20 until the Tigers captured the five of the final six points off the serve of junior Caroline Wright.

Orange fell to 6-4, 2-3 in the Big 8 Conference. Junior Emma Clements led Orange with nine kills, 19 digs and one ace. Seniors Liz LaNier had four kills. Kaitlyn Werden led the team with 14 assists, along with 12 digs and two aces.

Lady Panthers coach Kelly Young, who said she was aiming to eventually beat Chapel Hill last month, believes her team has a different mindset in conference games.

“Our girls want it,” said Young. “But I think we’re playing harder in against nonconference (teams) because you have nothing to lose. When we play conference (games), there’s a little bit more on the line. I think that gets in our heads a little bit and we play a little bit more robotic. A little bit more tense versus their typical play, when they just have fun and relax.”

Merkler led the Tigers (11-3) with 17 kills, eleven digs and one block. Junior setter Sam Breschi, the daughter of UNC men’s lacrosse coach Joe Breschi, finished with 37 assists, eight digs and one kill. Ellen Zwikker and Courtney Zwikker each had nine kills.

“The girls were pumped up,” said Young. “They were excited. We had a great practice yesterday (Monday). It’s great to have good teams in the conference. It only makes us better.”

Chapel Hill remains tied for first in the Big 8 with crosstown rival East Chapel Hill at 5-0. The two teams have a long-awaited showdown next Tuesday at East.

Young believes the race for first in the Big 8 may have another competitor.

“Honestly, I think Northwood has a really strong team,” said Young. “I don’t think anyone really counted out yet. This conference is almost been notorious for an underdog coming up at the last minute. I think there’s a lot of teams fighting for that top position. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a tie at the top.”

As for Young’s team right now?

“We’re at the middle of the pack,” said Young. “We should be near the top, honestly. We just have a mental block. If we get through that mental block that we have in conference games, then we’ll be fine.”

Orange running back Hunter Pettiford hopes the month of September will bring new life to the Panthers’ season. Orange is 0-2 after starting the season with losses to Northern Nash and Wilmington Hoggard. Pettiford plays running back and linebacker for the Panthers. Against Nash, Pettiford recovered a fumble. This Friday night at Auman Stadium, Orange will host Rolesville in just the 2nd-ever meeting between the two teams. Last season, Orange defeated the Rams 28-21. Pettiford made 14 tackles for the Panthers in last year’s win over Rolesville.

Orange Running Back Hunter Pettiford Discusses Friday’s Hame Against Rolesville

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This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior midfielder Drew Jagentenfl. Orange is on a three-game winning streak after defeating Eastern Alamance 4-2 on Tuesday, then whitewashing Person 4-0 on Thursday. Against the Eagles, Jagentenfl scored a goal. Against the Rockets, Jagentenfl had a goal and two assists. Six games into the season, Jagentenfl leads Orange with four goals and four assists. On August 22nd, he had a goal and two assists against Person. Orange continues its season on Wednesday night at home against Riverside. 

Orange Panther of the Week: Drew Jagentenfl

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For the 2nd week in a row, our Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week hails from Chris Walker’s men’s soccer team. Gavin Hughes scored five goals last week as the Red Wolves won both its games. Hughes scored twice in the second half of Cedar Ridge’s 6-1 win over Bartlett Yancey on Tuesday in Yanceyville. On Wednesday, Hughes scored a hat trick as Cedar Ridge defeated Southern Alamance 3-1. Hughes, a senior, takes many of his classes at Durham Technical Community College for early college credit. Cedar Ridge has won three in a row and travels to Northwood on Wednesday night for its Big 8 Conference opener.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Gavin Hughes

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by Jon Franklin

As the new public address announcer at Cedar Ridge, I was introduced to the rivalry between Cedar Ridge and Orange High in last Tuesday’s volleyball match. While it didn’t seem like much of a contested rivalry, especially, after a very lopsided 3-0 sweep by the Lady Panthers – I can assure the rivalry is as hot and contested as any I’ve seen.

I grew up in the small foothills town of Marion in McDowell County. In a populated county of approximately 45,000, our rival has and will always be Freedom High of neighboring Morganton and Burke County (population give or take – 90,000). The rivalry between the McDowell Titans and Freedom Patriots have been contested in all sports, most notably in football and basketball.

Year after year and sport after sport, the Titans and Patriots would duke it out for Northwestern Conference supremacy in both regular-season play and in the conference tournament. Many times, the rivalry continued into the state playoffs on the sectional level, and in one case, the 2002 women’s basketball 4A Western Regional championship game. On that day, Freedom defeated McDowell to advance to the 4A State Finals, en route to winning the Patriots’ fourth state championship.

No matter of the combatants, the location, the records, or the circumstances, all a rivalry needs is HEAT.

From what I saw inside Cedar Ridge Arena last Tuesday, the rivalry between the Panthers and Red Wolves have it.

From the beginning, I noticed the fuel in the players’ eagerness. For Cedar Ridge, I saw smiles and saw determined game faces. I was asked, if not closed to being ordered, by many members of the Lady Wolves to make sure I go all in on the mic for this game. On the Orange side, I saw a workmanlike attitude. I didn’t see much conversation, but could tell they came focused and ready to play. They too wanted to claim Hillsborough for their own.

Second, I observed the spark from students’ energy. As they congregated in their respective sections (Cedar Ridge on the home side, and Orange behind Cedar Ridge’s bench), they were loud and proud for their home base. Given my position at the scoring table, I couldn’t make out what the Cedar Ridge students were saying, but I saw them get amped up for their Red Wolves with each dig, kill, and point. I did hear the student section for Orange as they purposely stood behind the Cedar Ridge bench for the first and third sets. During those sets, every time the Panther student section roared to get into the heads of their adversary, the Red Wolf bench howled back at them. Even during the second set when the benches switched areas, the student sections jawed back and forth across the court with each other.

Finally, I witnessed the accelerant of the seating sections filled with fans. For a high school volleyball game in the first week of classes, you might not necessarily get a big crowd. At best, you would a marginal amount of local fans (primarily family and friends of players) with a dusting of guests. Don’t tell that to fans of this rivalry. Normally during volleyball at Cedar Ridge Arena, the visitors’ side of the stands are not extended and open for seating. But in last Tuesday night’s affair, a complimentary crowd of approximately 400, dispersed on both sides of the gym, came to watch another game between these rivals.

Before I came to Cedar Ridge, I was the voice of the Duke Blue Devils in Baseball, Soccer, and Wrestling. I also announced Volleyball and Lacrosse in a fill-in capacity. No matter the sport, when the North Carolina Tar Heels came to Durham, all three factors I previously mentioned – happened. The natural heat between the Blue Devils and Tar Heels and the eight-mile distance between the two schools allowed for the rivalry to burn white hot.

The Orange – Cedar Ridge rivalry is very similar to their ACC counterparts. The distance between the two schools is only 4.5 miles, and the students are well acquainted with each other. Both want localbragging rights, an increased status in conference play; and no matter the sport, they want wins against their rival.

With my first interaction with “Hillsborough HEAT” in the books, I have to say that I am really looking forwards to future installments. There’s not enough water in the Eno River to extinguish the flames between these two schools, and I’m hoping fans of this rivalry will keep fanning it to keep burning.

Every September 1st, each Major League Baseball roster expands to 40 players. On Saturday, Bryse Wilson returned to the show.

Wilson was promoted by the Atlanta Braves to the parent club, one of seven players added to the active roster. The move came 12 days after Wilson made his Major League debut with Atlanta in a start against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

Wilson threw five shutout innings against the Pirates, striking out five while yielding just three hits with three walks.

Wilson is just one of a corps of young guns that the Braves franchise is building on for the future. Also on Saturday, Atlanta called up 20-year-old Touki Toussaint from the Gwinnett Stripers of the International League. They also recalled outfielder Michael Reed from Gwinnett.

The day after the Pittsburgh start, the Braves sent him back down to Gwinnett, where he remained until being called up on Saturday. Wilson hasn’t started a game since the Pirates victory. He has made two appearances out of the bullpen for Gwinnett since returning to AAA, throwing one inning against Charlotte on August 26th. On Wednesday, he made his final appearance for the Stripers in relief against the Norfolk Tides, giving up three hits and two runs in one inning of work.

Overall, Wilson went 3-0 at Gwinnett with a 5.32 ERA. He struck out 28 batters with three walks.

Wilson watched Atlanta’s 5-3 victory over the Pirates from the bullpen at SunTrust Park in a Braves uniform.

Wilson has played for four different teams since April. He started with the Florida Fire Frogs of the Single-A Florida State League in Kissimmee, Florida in April. He started five games with the Fire Frogs, where he went 2-0 with a 0.34 ERA. In 26.2 innings, he gave up just one earned run, striking out 26 while walking seven.

Less than a month after starting the season with Florida, Wilson was promoted to the Mississippi Braves of the Southern League. Wilson had a lack of run support in his initial starts at the AA level. He compiled a 3-5 record with a 3.97 ERA in 15 starts. In Wilson’s last eight starts in Mississippi, the Braves failed to score more than three runs.

Wilson improved as time went on, leading all of minor league baseball in the month of July with 42 strikeouts, despite being the youngest pitcher at the AA level at 20 years old.

In his 3rd AAA start with the Gwinnett Braves, Wilson set the franchise record with 13 strikeouts against the Louisville Bats. On the very day he was named the International League Pitcher of the Week, he was called up to Atlanta.

Wilson’s return to Atlanta came with a quirk of fate. It was the same day that Wilson’s brother, Payton, was supposed to make his debut with the N.C. State football team in its season-opener against James Madison. However, Payton tore the ACL in his right knee last spring, leading to a likely redshirt this season. Payton originally injured his right knee on the opening kickoff last October’s Orange-Cedar Ridge game, ending his accomplished high school career.

Jordan Lloyd: The Brevard College volleyball team, which plays in the Division III USA South Atlantic Conference, opened its season on Friday in Memphis with the Rhodes College Tournament at Mallory Gymnasium in Memphis, TN. In the season-opening loss to Rhodes College, Lloyd led Brevard with six kills and tied for the team-lead with 12 digs. In the second match of Friday’s doubleheader against the Sewanee Tigers, Lloyd again led Brevard with seven kills. Brevard will play another doubleheader on Saturday morning, starting with Dubuque at 11AM followed by Birmingham-Southern at 1 PM.

Morgan Sellers: In Fayetteville State’s volleyball team opened the season last week against St. Andrews, where they lost 3-0. Sellers, a Cedar RIdge graduate who graduated in June, played in all three sets for the Broncos. She had an ace. Fayetteville State travels to UNC-Pembroke for a doubleheader on Saturday against UNC Pembroke and Lenoir-Rhyne.

Kayla Hodges: A freshman on the Elon women’s soccer team, Hodges came off the bench on Sunday in a 3-0 loss to #11 Duke at Koskinen Stadium in Durham. Hodges graduated from Orange in May and enrolled with the Phoenix in January. Elon played High Point to a scoreless tie on Friday night. Elon will host Richmond on Sunday night at 6PM at Rudd Field.

Chandler Compton:  Compton, another 2016 Orange graduate, started as a centerback on Monday as the Terriers fell to UNC Asheville 1-0 at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, SC. After redshirting in 2016, Compton played in two games as a freshman logging 36 minutes. Wofford travels to Winthrop for the Big South/Southern Conference Challenge on Sunday.

Rachel Shinnick: Shinnick, a 2015 Orange graduate, came off the bench for the Wofford Women’s Soccer team on Friday night in a 4-0 victory over Alabama A&M. The Terriers fired eleven shots in winning its first game of the season. Wofford is now 1-3-2. On Sunday, they host Clemson.

Jordan Rogers: Barely three months after playing her final game at Orange, Rogers was in the starting lineup on Friday night for the William Peace University women’s soccer team in its season debut against Southern Virginia.  Rogers, a freshman, played wingback in the Pacers 2-0 loss to the Knights at Knight Stadium in Buena Vista, VA. William Peace will continue its season on Sunday with a game against Agnes Scott University at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. Rogers was an All-Big 8 Conference selection for Orange last spring and led the Lady Panthers in scoring.

On Saturday, there will be lots of former Orange and Cedar Ridge products continuing their college football careers. Among them:

Trent Gill: A former kicker for Cedar Ridge, Gill redshirted for the N.C. State Wolfpack last season. He’s listed as a punter. N.C. State opens its season at Carter-Finley Stadium against James Madison on Saturday at noon.

Ryan Sellers: The former Orange defensive end is a walk-on with East Carolina as a freshman. The Pirates open its third season under head coach Scottie Montgomery on Saturday night against North Carolina A&T in Greenville.

Stone Edwards: A 2017 Orange graduate, Edwards redshirted for Vanderbilt last season. He will be in uniform when Vandy opens its season against Middle Tennessee on Saturday in Vanderbilt Stadium.

Adam Chnupa: Elon starts its season at South Florida on Saturday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. Chnupa, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in June after starting in baseball and football, is listed as a defensive back for the Phoenix.

Eryk Brandon-Dean: Brandon-Dean will start his third season as a running back at Guilford College on Saturday against Huntingdon. Last season, Brandon-Dean appeared in six games as a reserve running back and on special teams. He had 106 rushing yards, third-best on the team.

Jackson Schmid: A 2017 Orange graduate, Schmid will suit up for Division III Wheaton College when they face Monmouth. Last season, Schmid appeared in two junior varsity games.

Photo by Will Okun 

The Orange Men’s Soccer team will go into the Labor Day weekend on a three-game winning streak.

Drew Jagentenfl scored a goal and two assists while senior Levi Anderson added a goal and an assist as Orange defeated Person 4-0 on Thursday night at Orange Soccer Park. Jo Sanchez and junior Brandon Guzman also notched goals for the Panthers, who improve to 3-2-1 on the season.

Anderson also had an assist for the Panthers, who will host Riverside on Tuesday night at 6:30. The Panthers fired 23 shots on net in the game and 32 shots overall. Anderson finished with seven shots, while Jagentenfl, sophomore Jason Franklin and Rohan Kasthrui each had four shots.

Goalkeeper Francisco McKinley earned the win in net.

On Tuesday night, Orange defeated Eastern Alamance 4-2. Jagentenfl, Sanchez, Anderson and R.J. Pherribo all scored for Orange, while sophomore Leif Mahaney, Luke Phillips, Sebastian Rios and Kasthrui all had assists.

Orange will play its Big 8 Conference opener against East Chapel Hill at Orange on Wednesday night.

VOLLEYBALL

In other events from Thursday night, the Orange volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to Northwood in Pittsboro. The Panthers are now 6-3 overall, 2-2 in the Big 8 Conference. Next week, Orange will have two home matches, starting with power Chapel Hill on Tuesday. The Tigers are tied for 1st in the Big 8 with East Chapel Hill at 4-0. On Thursday, Orange hosts Southern Durham.

Meanwhile, the Northern Durham volleyball team defeated Cedar Ridge 3-1 at Poe Gymtorium in Durham. The Red Wolves, who have dropped five straight, are now 2-6 overall, 0-4 in the Big 8 Conference.

Cedar Ridge got off to a good start in winning the first set 25-23. Northern captured the final three sets 25-15, 25-18 and 25-15. Senior Sarah McCuiston led the Red Wolves with 12 kills, two assists and five digs. Junior Emma Downing had eight kills and one block. Senior Juliann De Jesus had six kills, two blocks. Senior Macy Henry led Cedar Ridge with 25 assists. Senior libero Rachel Tucker had 12 digs. Junior Celeste Pasley finished with four kills.

The Red Wolves will play three matches next week. They host East Chapel Hill on Tuesday night, followed by a nonconference home match against Jordan of the Triangle 6 Conference on Wednesday. The Red Wolves travel to Hillside on Thursday.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Coming off a disappointing loss to Cedar Ridge on Wednesday, the Orange Women’s Tennis team bounced back to finish the week with a 5-4 victory over South Granville at Panther Tennis Courts. Orange, which doesn’t have a senior on the team, earned wins from freshman Jera Hargove at #1 singles, Natalie Marochak at #3, Sydney Allison at #5 and Gaylaw Eh at #6 singles. Allison and Eh earned Orange’s 3rd team match win of the season with a doubles victory. Orange, which is 1-2 in the Big 8 Conference, ended the week 2-1 after a win on Monday over Hillside. Orange will continue the season on Tuesday at Northwood.

Meanwhile, Cedar Ridge will try to capitalize on the momentum of the Orange victory when they travel to Northern Durham on Tuesday. The Red Wolves will host East Chapel Hill on Thursday.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore wingback Eh Kaw Hso. Just two years ago, Hso started playing soccer in middle school to lose weight. Now, he’s a starter for the Cedar Ridge Men’s Soccer team. This week, Cedar Ridge defeated Bartlett Yancey and Southern Alamance for its third consecutive win. When he isn’t playing soccer, Hso volunteers during the summer at Main Event Staples in Chapel Hill, where he helps with kids and animals. Next week, Cedar Ridge starts Big 8 Conference play against Chapel Hill, the defending NCHSAA 3A State Champions. 

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This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore wingback Eh Kaw Hso. Just two years ago, Hso started playing soccer in middle school to lose weight. Now, he’s a starter for the Cedar Ridge Men’s Soccer team. This week, Cedar Ridge defeated Bartlett Yancey and Southern Alamance for its third consecutive win.

Entering its season opener on Wednesday night, the Orange junior varsity football team hadn’t lost a game in over three years.

The streak is still alive…barely.

Orange defeated Athens Drive 13-12 at Auman Stadium in the first of ten games this season for the Panthers. The Jaguars had a chance to win with just 1:45 remaining after scoring a touchdown. Athens went for a 2-point conversion on the point after, but Orange held them out of the end zone by roughly 18 inches.

Afterwards, Zahmir Watkins, Jared Weaver and Curtis Ward discussed the Panthers 1st win of the season on the gridiron.

Watkins, Weaver and Ward Discuss the Orange JVs 13-12 Win over Athens Drive

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