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Four games into the Big 8 season, it’s clear where Orange volleyball stands in the race for a 3-A state playoff birth.

They’re ahead of Cedar Ridge and Hillside, but behind conference favorite Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill and Northwood.

The Chargers defeated the Panthers 3-1 on Tuesday night at Jim King Gymnasium in Hillsborough. Northwood improves to 8-1, 3-1 in the Big 8 on scores of 26-24, 22-25, 25-12 and 26-14.

Orange, which had a three-game winning streak come to an end, falls to 6-2, 2-2 in the Big 8.

The fourth set was a battle with nine ties and four lead changes. Northwood’s middle hitter Emily Nettles had the entire offense centered around her spiking. She had four kills in Northwood’s final six points, including the go-ahead point after Orange evened the fourth set at 24-24. Nettles also nothed the kill on match point.

For Orange, Emma Clements had two aces, eleven kills and 16 digs. Carolina Compton had one ace, one kill, 24 assists and eight digs. Bailey Lucas finished with three aces, three kills, nine assists and seven digs. Senior Avery Riley recorded ten kills.

Orange will have two games in two days starting on Thursday at Chapel Hill. They travel to Roxboro Community School on Friday night.

Cedar Ridge’s 1st conference match against Northern Durham didn’t have their desired result. The Knights defeated the Red Wolves 3-1 in Red Wolves Gymnasium on scores of 25-9, 25-11, 21-25 and 25-21.

Cedar Ridge, now 4-5, 0-4 in the Big 8, travels to East Chapel Hill on Thursday.

Our new feature on Hillsboroughsports.com takes a look at how graduates from Orange and Cedar Ridge High Schools are doing at the college and professional levels. If you have any updates on athletes that slip through the cracks, feel free to contact us at hamlin37@hotmail.com.

Bryse Wilson: The former Orange High right-hander finished his first full professional season on Labor Day with the Rome Braves of the South Atlantic League. He threw three hitless innings against the Columbia Fireflies on Monday, striking out six while walking one before a crowd of 2,077 at State Mutual Stadium in Georgia. The Braves won the game 4-2 as Wilson had a no-decision.

Last week, Wilson was named the South Atlantic League’s Right Handed Pitcher of the Year. He made the South Atlantic League All-Star team, leading Rome with a 2.50 ERA. Wilson completed the year 10-7, striking out 139 while walking just 37 in 26 starts. Statistically, Wilson’s best performance of the season came on July 8th when he threw a five-hit shutout against the West Virginia Power, his only complete game of the season. Wilson struck out seven and walked no one, hurling 69 strikes on 109 pitches.

Lindsay Thompson: After being a member of the Cedar Ridge volleyball team that won 52 games over the course of three years, Thompson is now a defensive specialist with the Cape Fear Community College Sea Devils in Wilmington. CFCC, which plays in the Carolina Junior College Conference of the National Junior College Conference Athletic Association, is 2-0 after victories over Potomac State College of West Virginia and Central Carolina Community College. They also defeated North Carolina Wesleyan (an NCAA Division III team) in an exhibition game. Thompson has played in both of CFCC’s official matches. In her college debut against Potomac State, Thompson had two assists and five digs in a 3-2 victory. Against CCCC, Thompson played two sets as the Sea Devils swept the Cougars

Jordan Lloyd: After leaving White Cross during the summer to move to Transylvania County, Lloyd has played in two of Brevard College’s first three volleyball matches last weekend in the season-opening Pfeiffer Tournament in Richfield, NC. The Tornadoes lost its opening match against West Virginia St 3-0. Lloyd played in one set against the Yellow Jackets. Brevard, a D3 team, defeated Virginia Union and Pfeiffer on Sunday, both 3-0 victories. Against Pfeiffer, Lloyd recorded her first kill as a college player. She finished with two kills as Brevard finished second in the tournament.

Andie McKinnon: The 2015 Big 8 Player of the Year and 2016 Orange High graduate, McKinnon just started her sophomore season playing volleyball at Emory University in Atlanta. The Eagles, who play in Division III, opened the season going 2-1 in the Wittenberg University National Invitational in Springfield, Ohio over the weekend. In the opener, Emory defeated Johns Hopkins 3-1. Wittenberg, ranked #11 in D3, rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Eagles 3-2.  McKinnon saw her first action of the season on Sunday in a 3-2 victory over Illinois Wesleyan. She played all five sets and recorded 12 digs.

The Cedar Ridge boys and girls cross country teams starting their respective seasons at the 2017 Jungle Run at South View High School in Hope Mills on Saturday. Billed as “the Original Night-Time Race,” the Red Wolves had junior Rory Legg-Bell, senior Brian Finch, junior Grant (Alistair) Stewart and senior Josh Goularte record personal best times.

Legg-Bell finished the course at 17:36, coming in 40th overall among 207 runners. Finch recorded a time of 18:39, while Stewart crossed the finish line at 18:46. Goularte came in at 19:04. As a team, Cedar Ridge finished 17th among 26 schools.

R.J. Reynolds’ John Tatter finished first overall with a time of 15:27. Chapel Hill’s Ryan Combs was the only runner of the Big 8 finishing in the top ten, coming in eighth.

In the girls’ race, sophomore Laney Nissler was the fastest of the Red Wolves, registering a time of 22:00. Freshman Anne Morrell crossed the finish line at 22:14. Sophomore Allison Musty came in 65th at 22:21 while junior Abby Averette finished at 23:05. The Cedar Ridge girls finished 11th overall as a team.

Chapel Hill captured the girls race with 19 points. CHHS senior Katherine Dokholyan won the individual championship with a time of 18:46, while teammate Madi Marvin finished 3rd. Chapel Hill had four of the top six runners and six of the top nine.

Orange defeated Cedar Ridge in volleyball on Thursday night.

A year ago, those words were enough to send Orange fans rushing to the floor at Jim King Gymnasium, as it should have. It ended Cedar Ridge’s seven-game winning streak against the Panthers, a span of over four years.

On Thursday night, it was different. Of course, the crowd was larger than usual. That’s a given since two teams from Hillsborough are involved. But the circumstances were different this team.

For starters, Cedar Ridge wasn’t coming off a Big 8 conference championship like they were in 2015. That Red Wolves team played for the 3A Eastern Regional Championship.

Plus, there was a sense of finality for Orange last season. Seniors Jordan Lloyd, Mileah Shriner, Macy Hughes, Eva Porter, and Julia Lovingood  had gone their entire careers without beating Cedar Ridge. Last year’s match at Orange was their last chance.

This Orange team may be less experienced than last year, but they be more confident.

“I guess knowing Cedar Ridge’s record already from this season, we came in thinking we were the better team,” said Orange junior Liz LaNier. “They definitely put up a fight. They’ve definitely got some great girls on their team. In the end, I think we fought harder.”

The Panthers captured the match 3-1 on  scores of 23-25, 25-14, 28-26 and 25-20. Orange improves to 6-1, 2-1 in the Big 8. Cedar Ridge falls to 4-4, 0-3 in the Big 8.

It’s the first time since 2012 that Orange has claimed consecutive victories against their crosstown rivals.

The pivotal set in the match was the third, where Orange stormed out to a 7-1 lead on the strength of two kills by Avery Riley, each assisted by Faith Foushee. Cedar Ridge tied the set at 15-15, then took a 19-15 lead behind seven consecutive points while Kennedy Herold-Rhoe serving. Juliann De Jesus gave the Red Wolves the lead off a gorgeous sliding dig that cleared the net and found a empty spot on the Orange side. De Jesus added another point off a block, then followed with a kill assisted by Macy Henry.

Trailing 21-17, Orange scored seven consecutive points to take a 24-21 advantage. That run included Devyn Norman notching a kill off an assist from Caroline Compton and a spike by Emma Clements. LaNier scored a kill off an assist from Bailey Lucas to claim the set.

“We have a lot of problem rollercoastering,” said LaNier. “We’ll have moments of greatness, but then a few dips where we get down on ourselves. We’re doing a lot better pulling ourselves out of that. At that point in the match, we knew we had to finish it out.”

In the fourth set, Orange jumped to a 10-5 lead behind three aces from Lucas. Orange pushed the advantage out to 24-14 before the Red Wolves fought back with six consecutive points to make the Panthers sweat a little. Compton scored the game-winning hit on match point.

Compton finished with an ace, 29 assists and twelve digs. Emma Clements finished with three aces, nine kills and 21 digs. LaNier came away with an ace, 13 kills, a dig, a block and three digs.

“I guess it’s mostly communication with your setter,” said LaNier. “We have to figure out what play we’re going to run and if it’s different from the originally called play. You just have to go up knowing exactly what you’re going to do with it.”

Orange hosts Northwood next Tuesday in Hillsborough. Cedar Ridge will attempt to rebound when they welcome Northern Durham to Red Wolves Gymnasium. It will be the first-time ever that Northern Durham and Cedar Ridge have competed in a conference matchup in any sport.

Junior Liz LaNier had 13 kills on Thursday night as Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 3-1. The pivotal set was the 3rd, where the Panthers led 12-7 before the Red Wolves fought back and took a 19-15. Orange fought back and went on a 6-1 run and ultimately captured the frame 28-26.

Orange Junior Liz LaNier Discusses Victory over Cedar Ridge

Junior Liz LaNier had 13 kills on Thursday night as Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 3-1. The pivotal set was the 3rd, where the Panthers led 12-7 before the Red Wolves fought back and took a 19-15. Orange fought back and went on a 6-1 run and ultimately captured the frame 28-26.

Editor’s Note: Last week because of scheduling conflicts, we didn’t have a chance to tape an interview with our 1st Orange Panther of the Week. We’ll tape that interview on Thursday and post it tomorrow night, along with our 2nd Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week for the new academic year. 

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is Panther soccer midfielde R.J. Pherribo, who racked up four goals and three assists to open the season. Even though Pherribo had a two-goal game against Roxboro Community School last week, perhaps his most impressive performance came on Wednesday night against Wake Forest. Against a previously undefeated Cougars team, Pherribo scored a goal as the Panthers defeated Wake Forest 2-1.

Davis is joined in this interview by Jamar Davis, who notched a hat trick against Roxboro Community last Thursday. Orange is 3-2-2 on the season with a road trip to East Chapel Hill coming up next Wednesday.

Orange Panther of the Week: R.J. Pherribo

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For one year, the power structure of girls tennis in the Big 8 Conference shifted. That was last season, when Cedar Ridge swept Chapel Hill for the first time in school history, claiming its 1st-ever conference championship.

Now, it appears the balance of power is back on the southern end of Orange County.

In a heated match that saw several private discuss between the respective coaching staffs about words being exchanged on the courts, Chapel Hill defeated Cedar Ridge 7-2 in HIllsborough on Wednesday. The Tigers, who missed the state dual playoffs for the first time in recorded history last season, earned five of the six singles matches to end any hope that the Red Wolves would find a way to repeat. Cedar Ridge’s Ivy Gardner claimed the Red Wolves’ only individual match at #1 singles over Chapel Hill’s Hailey Polsky 6-0, 6-1.

Cedar Ridge’s Briana Cellini and Kate Millner team at #3 doubles for the Red Wolves’ only other win, an 8-0 shutout of Lauren Bolzan and Sarah Combs.

Chapel Hill earned wins from Gabby Kmiec, Gracie Kmiec, Lauren Bolzan, Cameron Pehlivanzade and Julia Ziaee. Polsky and Grace Kmiec captured the #1 doubles match, while Gabby Kmiec and Pehlivanzade won at #3 doubles.

The loss ends Cedar Ridge’s 13-match Big 8 winning streak. The Red Wolves went 12-0 in 2016, and hadn’t lost a Big 8 match since October 5, 2015 against Northwood. Cedar Ridge falls to 3-2, 1-1 in the Big 8 with a road trip to Orange coming up next Tuesday.

Chapel Hill improves to 4-0, 2-0 in the Big 8.

After five straight losses to start the season, the Orange Girls Tennis team defeated Hillside 9-0 on Wednesday for its first win of the season. It was the first win as girls tennis coach for Justin Webb, who took over for the retired Andy Brown in August.

Seniors Sara Beth Campbell and Payton Clayton earned victories as the Panthers swept all six singles matches. The Panthers return right back to action on Thursday at Orange High Tennis Courts against Eastern Alamance, who defeated Orange 8-1 to start the season.

Orange’s Sara Beth Campbell & Payton Clayton Discuss Girls Tennis 1st Win of the Season

After five straight losses to start the season, the Orange Girls Tennis team swept Hillside 9-0 on Wednesday for its first win of the season. It was the first win for new Girls Tennis Coach Justin Webb, who took over for the retired Andy Brown in August.

Playing for the 2nd consecutive night, the Orange volleyball team earned its first Big 8 Conference win of the season in Durham.

The Panthers (5-1, 1-1 in the Big 8) hammered Hillside 3-0 at Hornets Gymnasium on scores of 25-12, 25-4 and 25-13. Orange racked up a whopping 21 aces against the Hornets, including junior Meg Gattis finishing with six. Sophomore Emma Clements came away with three.

Senior co-captain Carolina Compton finished with two aces, two kills, 12 assists and three digs. Kaitlyn Werden had two aces, four kills and five assits. In addition to her six aces, Gattis added a kill and five digs. Faith Foushee led Orange with seven digs.

In Hillsborough, the news wasn’t as good for Cedar Ridge. Defending Big 8 Conference champion Chapel HIll defeated the Red Wolves 3-0 on scores of 25-12, 25-17 and 25-16. Tigers sophomore Kaya Merkler came away with an astounding 25 kills as CHHS improved to 5-3, 2-0 in the Big 8.

Cedar Ridge falls to 4-3, 0-2 in the Big 8.

Orange will host Cedar Ridge on Thursday night inside Jim King Gymnasium.

With two Orange County rivals coming up later this week, Cedar Ridge found the right time to end its two-game losing streak.

The Red Wolves swept Jordan 3-0 in Durham on Monday on scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-9. Macy Henry had a complete evening with 24 assists, one solo block, two aces and six digs. Juliann De Jesus finished with six kills. Tori Zielke led the team with seven kills, while senior Alexa Pagnanelli came away with eight digs and six aces.

As a team, Cedar Ridge had four solo blocks, 15 aces and 25 kills to improve to 4-2.

After a 3-0 start, the Red Wolves lost to Bartlett Yancey, then fell to Northwood in its Big 8 Conference opener.

The Red Wolves will face a stiff test against Chapel Hill on Tuesday night in Hillsborough before taking on Orange in Jim King Gymnasium on Thursday.