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This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is men’s soccer midfielder Yurem Tapia Mendez. Last week, Mendez scored two goals as the Panthers defeated Eno River Academy 6-1 at Panther Soccer Field. It has been a season of game-winning goals for Mendez thus far. On August 12, in the season opener, Orange defeated Carrboro 1-0 in Hillsborough. It was the Panthers first-ever victory over the Jaguars. Mendez scored the only goal in the first half. On August 24, Mendez scored another game-winning goals in the second half as the Panthers defeated West Johnston 2-1 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary during the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association Kickoff Classic. He started this season with six goals in the opening five games. The Panthers, after its win over Northern Durham on Wednesday night, is off to a 5-2 start. It’s the best start for the Panthers since 2016. Mendez is a big fan of FC Barcelona of Spain’s La Liga. He envisions playing soccer professionally in the future. Mendez is in his third year as a member of Orange’s varsity. Last season, he scored two goals across eight games. He added eight assists. Last season, Mendez scored goals against Southern Alamance and Walter Williams, a 2-1 Panthers win. He also had two assists in a win over Person.

Orange Panther of the Week: Yurem Tapia Mendez

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is men’s soccer midfielder Yurem Tapia Mendez. Last week, Mendez scored two goals as the Panthers defeated Eno River Academy 6-1 at Panther Soccer Field. It has been a season of game-winning goals for Mendez thus far.

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team is back on top in the Central Conference after beating crosstown rival Orange in a sweep at Panther Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Junior outside hitter Claire Hargett finished with 14 kills and 12 digs as the Red Wolves defeated the Lady Panthers, the defending 3A Eastern Regional champions, by scores of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-23. Junior Mia Marty, who alternates between setter and outside hitter, finished with 14 assists, eleven digs, three kills and one ace. Cedar Ridge maintained first place in the Central Conference with a 3-0 league record, 5-1 overall. It was Cedar Ridge’s second straight win over Orange inside Panther Gymnasium. Last year, Cedar Ridge defeated Orange in the Central Conference Tournament championship game. Cedar Ridge has beaten Orange in nine of their last eleven meetings. The Red Wolves got an unlikely contribution from senior Leah Pritchard in the fourth set. Pritchard, who had not played at any point in the game, came in cold off the bench and delivered four straight aces to close out a surprising sweep. Cedar Ridge is hunting its fourth regular season championship in the last five years. The Red Wolves will return home to face Eastern Alamance on Thursday night at 6:30 at Red Wolves Gymnasium.

Cedar Ridge’s Claire Hargett & Mia Marty discuss victory over Orange

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team is back on top in the Central Conference after beating crosstown rival Orange in a sweep at Panther Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Junior outside hitter Claire Hargett finished with 14 kills and 12 digs as the Red Wolves defeated the Lady Panthers, the defending 3A Eastern Regional champions, by scores of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-23.

Julie Altieri: The former Cedar Ridge setter finished on the All-Tournament team at the Margie Knight Classic at the Maggs Physical Activities Center in Salisbury, MD last weekend. Salisbury won all three of its matches, starting with a sweep of Catholic on Friday (25-4, 25-9, 25-15). Altieri, the starting setter for the Gulls, had 22 assists, eleven digs, two aces, and five kills. On Saturday, Salisbury defeated Swarthmore 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 25-11, 20-25, 15-12). Altieri had 49 assists, 13 digs, five kills and two aces. The Gulls completed the event with a sweep of Mount Aloysius (25-8, 25-17, 25-18). Altieri finished with 23 assists, six kills, four digs and three aces.

Cameron Lloyd: Bucknell opened the season going 2-1 in the Bearcat Classic at West Gymnasium in Binghamton, NY last weekend. Toledo defeated the Bison 3-1 in the season opener on scores of 25-20, 21-25, 25-15, 25-23. Lloyd is battling an arm injury that limited her striking as an outside hitter, though she played all four sets and finished with an ace and 12 digs. Bucknell swept Merrimack for its first win (25-12, 25-18, 25-18). Lloyd has an ace with three digs and played on all three sets.  The Bison swept Binghamton (25-21, 25-16, 25-14). Lloyd had eight digs. Off the court, Lloyd made the Patriot League Honor Roll for her freshman year.

Lottie Scully: Binghamton started its season in the Bearcat Classic with a win over Merrimack 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-23). Scully, a junior who is Binghamton’s starting setter, finished with 28 assists, eight digs and two kills. Binghamton was swept in their other two matches in the event. Toledo defeated Binghamton (25-18, 25-12, 25-22). Scully, who played at Orange, finished with 22 assists, seven digs, one kill and one ace. Scully faced Lloyd, a former Cedar Ridge Red Wolf, in the loss to Bucknell. Scully finished with 14 assists, seven digs and one kill.

Allie Wilkerson: The Division III Averett University Cougars went 1-3 in the Cougar Classic at the Stuart James Grant Center in Danville, VA last weekend. Wilkerson opened her sophomore year with a 3-2 loss to Meredith College (23-25, 16-25, 25-21, 26-24, 15-8). Wilkerson had seven kills, six digs and two aces. Later on Friday, Salem College defeated Averett 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 25-21). Wilkerson had six kills, three digs, an assist and an ace. Averett grabbed its first win with a 3-2 victory over Bob Jones University (24-26, 25-12, 23-25, 25-22, 15-7). Wilkerson had 13 kills, two digs and one ace. Methodist University knocked off Averett 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-20). Wilkerson, the older sister of Orange middle blocker Ava Wilkerson, had four kills, three digs and two aces.

Melissa Benkowitz: The Division III Franklin & Marshall Diplomats opened its season with a win over Elizabethtown at the Mayser Center in Lancaster, PA on Friday night (25-17, 25-23, 25-21). Benkowitz finished with eight digs, three aces, and two kills. On Saturday, Franklin & Marshall split two matches in the Battlefield Classic in Gettysburg, PA. Eastern University defeated the Diplomats 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 25-16, 12-25, 15-10) Benkowitz finished with five digs and one ace. F&M swept Messiah (25-19, 27-25, 25-21). Benkowitz finished with four kills, nine digs, one assist and one ace.

Grace Young: Last weekend, Young made her debut for Division III Greensboro College after transferring from UNC Asheville last spring. The Pride went 2-1 in the Emory Invitational at Woodruff Arena in Atlanta. Emory swept Greensboro 3-0 (25-12, 25-21, 25-12) Young finished with two digs and an ace, playing all three sets. Greensboro rebounded to beat Piedmont University 3-1 (25-9, 25-20, 16-25, 25-20). Young had six aces and six digs. The Pride defeated Huntingdon College 3-1 (25-18, 18-25, 25-22, 25-22) Young had 13 digs and two aces. Greensboro will compete in the Maroon Classic in Salem, VA starting Friday with a doubleheader against Ferrum College and Hollins University.

The following players from Division II schools will start their season this weekend.

Anaya Carter: UNC Pembroke will start its season in the Bahama House Classic in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Braves will start against Embry-Riddle on Friday afternoon. Last season, Carter played in 15 matches for a UNC Pembroke team that finished 21-14.

Ella Wimsatt: The leader of Orange’s 3A Eastern Regional championship team, Wimsatt will start play for Lenoir-Rhyne in the Fairmont State Volleyball Classic in Fairmont, WV on Friday. The Bears will open with Bloomsburg, followed by a match with Fairmont State. Wimsatt was the 2023 Central Conference Player of the Year as Orange reached the 3A State Championship match.

Cedar Ridge and Orange have met in volleyball eleven times since 2021.

There have been regional and state champions to emerge from those meetings. No less than six current Division I college players played in those games. With that much star power, regardless of who won, there was never really an unlikely hero in any of those matches.

That’s why Tuesday night at Orange High was different.

Senior Leah Pritchard, who had not played in the previous two sets, was inserted in the midst of a third set that appeared to be Orange’s to lose. The Lady Panthers, trailing two-sets-to-none, had led 15-6 at one point and still led 23-19 after junior Ava Wilkerson notched her fifth block of the set.

Cedar Ridge got a side out following an Orange attacking error. Cedar Ridge coach Latacha De Oliveria put in Pritchard for Mia Marty for serving purposes. The first point ended with the last of Claire Hargett’s 15 kills.

Then Pritchard served up one knuckleball after another that handcuffed Orange almost effortlessly. All told, Pritchard delivered four straight aces, the final one on match point that flailed off the hands of an Orange outside hitter into the front row of bleachers While it was the first match in September, it wasn’t too early for Cedar Ridge to have a dogpile and celebrate on Orange’s home floor for the second straight trip to Panther gymnasium.

Cedar Ridge took over first place in the Central Conference with a surprising sweep of Orange, winning all three sets by the score of 25-23. In addition to her 15 kills, Hargett finished with 13 digs. Cedar Ridge is 5-1 overall, 3-0 in the Central Conference.

Wilkerson had 12 kills and six blocks, but the Panthers fell to 4-5 overall. Orange already has as many losses as they did in all of 2023, when they won the 3A Eastern Regional championship.

“We just needed to give her a chance to serve,” said Cedar Ridge volleyball coach Latacha De Oliveira about Pritchard. “She came in fresh and had a great serve. She’s serving very aggressively in practice. I was trying to make a game changer. She knew what she needed to do, she knew where she needed to be. That’s her strength. She did a great job. It was exactly what we needed.”

Last year, the Red Wolves upset Orange in the Central Conference Tournament championship game, the only league team to beat the Lady Panthers all year. They were also the last team from the Eastern Region to beat Orange in 2023.

“We’ve been focusing in practice on how to prepare for the game,” De Oliveira said. “We studied how to keep them out of tempo. We came in relaxed. We came in ready to fight with everything we had.”

When practice started last month, it appeared on paper that Orange was at an advantage over everyone else locally. They returned four starters from a team that was three points away from winning the 3A State Championship. Hargett is the Red Wolves only returning starter, but De Oliveria believes it’s a group that’s grown together in a short time.

“A lot of them worked hard over the summer,” De Oliveira said. “They came in with the same goal. They put some values together and they really just focused on them. They’ve leaned on each other and have a lot of trust in each other. I think that’s going to make all the difference.”

In each of the three sets, the score was tied at 23-23. Every time, Cedar Ridge found the answers, winning the next two points in each frame.

Wilkerson used her 6-foot-2 frame to score three of Orange’s first four points, but a block from Cedar Ridge middle blocker Charlotte Lowry evened the opening set at 6-6. Red Wolf libero Sydnee Tapper laid down the first of Cedar Ridge’s 13 aces in the match to put the visiting team ahead 12-8. Ellamarie Perel had a kill, followed by another Tapper ace to give the Red Wolves a 21-17 lead. Orange setter Katie Silcott delivered consecutive aces to whittle Orange’s deficit to 22-21. Wilkerson scored consecutive kills to even the first set at 23-23, but the subsequent serve by Orange’s Mariah Poole went long. Orange was called for touching the net while the ball was in the air on the first set point.

“I think the girls played hard,” said Orange coach Hope Heverly. “There are a lot of emotions that go into a crosstown rivalry. I think being in a high emotion game got to us.”

Cedar Ridge continued the momentum in the second set, winning the first five points. Orange ran off four straight points to briefly take an 11-10 lead after kills from Aubrey Jordan and a block from Aubrey Hodges. Cedar Ridge responded with a 6-1 spurt, including an ace from Hargett, to retake the lead 16-12. Jordan found her swing late in the set, laying down three straight kills, followed by an ace from Sawyer to even it up at 23-23. A return by White went long, and Jordan’s attack on set point went wide, putting Cedar Ridge ahead 2-0.

Orange played poised for most of the third set. Wilkerson had four kills and five blocks in the third. A kill by Jordan assisted by Silcott gave Orange at 15-6 lead, but the Red Wolves sawed away at the advantage. Mia Marty, who finished with 11 digs, 14 assists and three kills, fooled Orange with a quick attack, starting a 6-1 Red Wolf run. Emory Williams got her third ace of the set to trip Orange’s lead to 22-19, but Wilkerson turned back an attack from Hargett, which appeared to be all Orange needed to force a fourth set.

Instead, it was their last point.

“I think we’re really young and we’re still growing,” Heverly said. “Some I’m excited to see how they’ll bounce back from this. I feel like their still pretty confident. We’ve been playing some hard teams so they’ll keep growing from here.”