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For the first time since 2016, the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team is headed to the 3A State Playoffs. The Red Wolves celebrated a special season with a 3-1 victory over Eastern Alamance at Red Wolves Stadium. Junior Dominic McNerney scored the game-winning goal. Senior Iliah Babchenko scored on a penalty as the Red Wolves completed the regular season 12-4-5. Last year, the Red Wolves finished 5-15-1 in 2022. Cedar Ridge will likely host a game in the state playoffs on Monday night. It will be the first state playoff game of any sort contested inside Red Wolves Stadium in May 2022. Babchenko, Jonam Juarez, Jackson Baker and Abazar Babiker were all honored on Senior Night as the Red Wolves swept the season series from the Eagles. Cedar Ridge finished in 2nd place in the Central Carolina Conference, its best-ever showing as a 3A team. Cedar Ridge will venture into the field of 64 in the state playoffs, which has been the goal from the beginning of the year.

Cedar Ridge seniors Iliah Babchenko, Jonam Juarez, Abazar Babiker & Jackson Baker talk win vs. EA.

For the first time since 2016, the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team is headed to the 3A State Playoffs. The Red Wolves celebrated a special season with a 3-1 victory over Eastern Alamance at Red Wolves Stadium. Junior Dominic McNerney scored the game-winning goal.

For the first time since 2015, the Orange volleyball team has reached the third round of the 3A State Playoffs. On Tuesday night, the Lady Panthers defeated Northern Nash 3-0 on scores of 25-14, 25-10, 25-10. Orange’s young but imposing front line provided a size advantage, once again, that overwhelmed the opposition. Sophomore middle blocker Ava Wilkerson finished with eleven kills. Freshman Sawyer White rotated between setter and right outside hitter. She registered five kills, two aces, seven digs, 16 assists and one block. Wilkerson, with her 6-foot-3 frame, leads Orange with 57 blocks. She also has 234 kills, which is second on the team. White has worked her way into the regular rotation for 1st-year head coach Hope Heverly. It was a long wait for Orange to finally reach the 3rd round of the state playoffs for Orange. The Lady Panthers had been eliminated in the second round each of the past two years. Now, Orange has not only reached the third round, but they will host Union Pines on Thursday night in Hillsborough. Orange hasn’t reached the state quarterfinals since 2007, when they were a 2A team. They will get their opportunity when they host Union Pines on Thursday night at 6PM in Hillsborough. The 2007 Orange squad finished with 25 wins. The current Lady Panthers are 24-4.

Orange volleyball’s Ava Wilkerson & Sawyer White discuss playoff win over Northern Nash

For the first time since 2015, the Orange volleyball team has reached the third round of the 3A State Playoffs. On Tuesday night, the Lady Panthers defeated Northern Nash 3-0 on scores of 25-14, 25-10, 25-10. Orange’s young but imposing front line provided a size advantage, once again, that overwhelmed the opposition.

Men’s Soccer: Orange 2, Eastern Alamance 0: It’s all but certain that the Orange men’s soccer team will do something unprecedented in the 35-year history of the program later this week.

They will make the state playoffs in back-to-back years.

On Monday night, the Panthers got two goals from Traver Bruhns to defeat Eastern Alamance 2-0 at the John Kirby Sports Complex in Mebane. With the win, the Panthers ensured a winning regular season at 8-7-3. They end the Central Carolina Conference slate at 6-4-2, good enough for fourth place.

In his final regular season game, Bruhns, a senior, had his first career brace. Angel Chavez and Daniel Romero assisted on the goals.

Orange goalkeeper Finn Kelly made six saves to earn his fourth clean sheet of the season.

As of Wednesday night, Orange was ranked #26 in the 3A East RPI rankings, which would comfortably put them in the field of 64. The state tournament begins on Monday.

Women’s Tennis: Rocky Mount 5, Cedar Ridge 1: In the second round of the 3A State Dual Team Playoffs, Rocky Mount ended Cedar Ridge’s season on Monday afternoon.

The Gryphons, the champions of The Big East, improved to 15-0. In her final match, Cedar Ridge’s Annabeth Lundberg defeated Jillian Schrimper 7-5, 6-3, the only win of the day for the Red Wolves.

Cedar Ridge ends the season 14-6. It was the final match for head coach Steve Mayhew, who is stepping down after four years. Under his direction, the Red Wolves won the first men’s tennis conference championship in school history in 2022. Mayhew, a former player at Orange, coached the women’s team to its first victory in the 3A State Team playoffs since 2016 last week when they defeated crosstown rival Orange.

Mayhew’s daughter, Cameron, also played in her final match for the Red Wolves. Cameron Mayhew ended her senior year with a singles record of 14-3. It was also the final matches for Lundberg, Catherine Ballenger, Dupree Sorenson, and Raven Mowles-Airing.

Cedar Ridge finished with the most overall wins since they won the Big 8 Conference championship in 2016. That team, with Lennie Corbett as head coach, reached the 3A State Quarterfinals with an overall record of 19-2.

For a lofty goal that has been denied to the Orange volleyball team the past eight years, reaching the third round of the 3A State Playoffs came easy enough.

The Lady Panthers endured some early hiccups to roll past Northern Nash 3-0 on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. The Lady Panthers (24-4) have now won more game than any Orange team in the 17 years. Records on MaxPreps that date back to 2007 show the winningest team in the last 16 years was the 2008 team, which finished 19-5.

It’s the first time that Orange has reached the 3rd round of the 3A State Playoffs since 2015.

Orange will face Union Pines in Hillsborough on Thursday night at 6PM. The Vikings defeated won a five-set thriller against Western Alamance in Cameron on Tuesday.

Senior Ella Wimsatt finished with 12 kills and seven digs. Sophomore middle blocker Ava Wilkerson finished with eleven kills. Sophomore Aubrey Jordan had seven kills.

While the best may still be ahead for the Orange volleyball team, getting past the second round is no small feat for a senior class that had spent the past two years bumping its head on a glass ceiling. Last year, Cedar Ridge defeated Orange in the second round. In 2021, Hunt edged the Lady Panthers in five sets.

“Starting this season, the seniors had set the goal of getting past the second round,” said Orange coach Hope Heverly. “Coach (Mary Alice) Pike and I quickly told them that wasn’t an OK goal, that we were going to make it more than just  past the second round. But I know that was something important to them was to make it past tonight.”

Northern Nash, coming off its first playoff win in nine years, ends the season 15-6. The Knights found themselves ahead 7-4 in the opening set after Orange had three early serves go long.

“I could tell the girls were just a little bit nervous,” Heverly said. “You could tell it was a mixture of adrenaline and nerves early. I knew they would settle down. Once we settled down, we really showed them who we were.”

Jordan started a 7-2 run with a kill set up by White. Wilkerson followed with an unassisted spike on a low-hanging ball off a serve from junior Abby Silinski. Wilkerson put Orange ahead for good, both for the opening set and the rest of the match, with another kill assisted by White. Orange ended the set on a 9-1 run, ending with a spike by Jordan.

Sophomore Katie Silcott and freshman Sawyer White alternated between setter and right outside hitter. Silcott, who surpassed 1,000 career assists in the regular season finale against Walter Williams, came away with 27 assists, five kills and three digs. White had five kills, 16 assists and seven digs.

“We’re making more of a dynamic front,” Heverly said. “Having Sawyer coming on now and stepping up to run a 6-2 has been really beneficial for us. Sawyer has been training with Katie a lot this season and you can see it’s really coming up big now in the postseason.”

Silinski caused the Knights fits in the second set. She had four aces during a 10-1 Orange run that culminated the second set. After a kill by White set up by Wimsatt, Orange completed the frame after a serve by the Knights went into the nylon, ending at 25-10.

Orange opened the third set with four straight points, including a kill by Wilkerson. The Knights came back to even things at 5-5 after a block by Brooke Rose, but the Lady Panthers came back with six in a row. White and Wimsatt each had blocks to put Orange ahead 11-5. Orange went on an 8-2 run to go ahead 22-9, ending with a kill from sophomore Mariah Poole. Wilkerson had a kill on match point.

The 2023 Cedar Ridge volleyball team lost the school’s all-time leaders in kills, digs, assists and aces from last year’s squad due to graduation.

But they didn’t lose any toughness.

That’s been on full display since last week, when the Red Wolves stunned Orange to capture the Central Carolina Conference Tournament at Panther Gymnasium.

On Tuesday night, in its fifth match in eight days, the Red Wolves fought back from one obstacle after another to defeat Franklinton, champions of The Big East Conference, 3-2 in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs on the Lester Wilder Court. The Red Wolves advanced on scores of 25-21, 20-25, 24-26, 25-12, 15-10.

Cedar Ridge (17-8) will travel to Greenville to face J.H. Rose on Thursday night in the third round. It will be the third straight year that the Rampants and the Red Wolves have faced off in the state playoffs.

Franklinton ends the year 19-6.

Sophomore Claire Hargett finished with 18 kills and 15 digs. Senior Graylinn Serge registereed 14 kills and 20 digs. Setter Rachel Alverson had 46 assists and 13 assists for the Red Wolves, who won its first road state playoff game 2014 when they defeated Northern Guilford in Greensboro, also in five sets.

Every five-set match is a roller coaster ride and Tuesday night was no different. In the final set, Cedar Ridge jumped out to a 4-2 lead following an ace from senior libero Natasha Buchler-Fosado. The Rams came back with five consecutive points, keyed by a kill and an ace from Angelica Turnage. With its season six points from ending, the Red Wolves regrouped after a timeout from head coach Latacha De Oliveira and ended the match on a 9-1 run.

It started when Hargett scored off an assist from Alverson, the first of kills by Hargett during a 5-0 run. Hargett would notch another point to even the set 9-9. After a serve by Cecilia Kenan went long to put Franklinton back in the lead 10-9, the Red Wolves got a side out after a serve by Turnage went long.

Hargett went back to serve and Cedar Ridge never lost possession again. Kenan made two crucial digs off attacks by Franklinton’s Turnage and Ava Shane. Turnage’s next return was out and Cedar Ridge led 11-10. Serge got her only block of the night when she stuffed an attempt by Mikayla Taborn, which led to a Ram timeout. Hargett delivered a knuckleball serve that threw the Rams defense out of sorts. Tierrah Simmons return clipped the antenna. On match point, Hargett served up an ace and the Red Wolves reserves sprang off the bench like they were sitting on ejector seats, mobbing Hargett on a pileup on the Rams home floor.

It was the Red Wolves second five-set win this year, and its first since outlasting East Chapel Hill at Wildcats Gymnasium on September 11.

Cedar Ridge ended Franklinton’s 21-set winning streak in the opening frame, where the Rams scored the first three points. Hargett established herself with six kills in the first set, including one to end a 5-1 run that gave the Red Wolves an 8-5 lead. The Rams responded with a 6-2 run, including an ace from sophomore Kylie Sykes. Cedar Ridge went on a 6-2 spree following a spike from Addie Reid, who had 12 kills on the night, to take a 21-17 lead. On set point, Serge unleashed a swing that sent the ball that hugged the near sideline.

The second set had eight lead changes and seven ties. The Red Wolves were in position to go ahead two-sets-to-nothing after an ace from Buchler-Fosado put them ahead 17-13. Franklinton responded with five straight points, the capper coming off a block from Tabron that evened the set 17-17. The Rams scored the final four points to even the match, with set point coming off a block by Shontalae Evans.

Cedar Ridge was battling from behind the entire third set. An ace from Turnage put the Rams ahead 10-5, but the Red Wolves came back from three straight points, ending with a kill from Reid. Franklinton pushed its lead to 20-12 behind two blocks from Turnage and a kill from Taborn, but the Red Wolves rallied again. Two spikes from sophomore Kayla Stoll and another kill from Serge pulled the Red Wolves within one at 23-22. An ace from Serge evened things at 24-24, but Turnage scored the first point of overtime off a feed from Shane. Taborn got set point off a block.

As dominant as the Red Rams were in the third, Cedar Ridge totally controlled the fourth. Serge started things with an ace on the opening point, which triggered a 9-1 run. Hargett had consecutive aces to put the Red Wolves ahead 22-6. Serge ended the frame with another kill supplied by Alverson.

Cedar Ridge will return to J.H. Rose on Thursday night, which brings back the best of memories from 2021 and dark moments from last year. The Red Wolves won the 3A Eastern Regional championship against the Rampants in Hillsborough two years ago, which led to the crowning moment in women’s sports at Cedar Ridge: the 2021 3A State championship.

Last year, the most successful team senior class in Cedar Ridge history, regardless of sport, had a disappointing end to their careers when the Rampants swept the Red Wolves in a hostile atmosphere in Greenville, once again for the 3A Eastern Regional title. It also turned out to be the final game for Fiona Cunningham, who would later depart the Red Wolves as head coach to become an assistant at North Carolina Central.

The current senior class of Red Wolves won’t go into Greenville with the lofty individual or team numbers that the Class of 2023 did, but they’ll be every bit as gritty.

The small earthquake felt around Hillsborough on Thursday wasn’t directly related to a local volleyball practice. It happened just before noon, hours before volleyball practice started at Orange or Cedar Ridge.

While Ava Wilkerson opening spike in the opening set against Swansboro didn’t put a hole in the brand new floor at Orange High, it could have easily led to more seismic activity.

An Orange team seeded #2 in the 3A East Region roared past Sawnsboro 3-0 on scores of 25-10, 25-1 and 25-13 in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Panthers, the regular season champions of the Central Carolina Conference, advanced to host Northern Nash on Tuesday night in Hillsborough.

There were plenty of near-statistical milestones for Orange against the Pirates (9-13), the #31 overall seed from the Coastal Conference. Sophomore setter Katie Silcott was on pace for a rare triple-double, but never saw the floor in the third set. In the opening two sets, Silcott had 14 assists, six digs and eight aces.

Swansboro simply had no answer for Wilkerson, the 6-foot-3 middle blocker, who wasn’t far from a triple-down of her own. Wilkerson came away with 12 kills, six blocks and two aces. Sophomore Aubrey Jordan had nine kills. On defense, senior libero Sadye Porter had 26 digs.

Swansboro did open with the first three points, but it was all Orange after that. With Porter serving, Orange ran off 16 straight points, kick started by three straight blocks from Wilkerson. Jordan had three kills and a block during the spree. Mariah Poole spiked home set point off an assist from Wilcott.

Freshman Sawyer White took over setter duties in the second set while Silcott moved to outside hitter. Orange scored the first eight points of the second set, which started with back-to-back blocks by Wilkerson. In the second, Wilkerson was responsible for six points. Silcott served eight aces in the second set alone, including set point at 25-1.

Wilkerson, Jordan and senior Ella Wimsatt each had four kills in the third set. White racked up 12 assists in Silcott’s absence. Wilkerson also had two aces. Josie Crawford had a point that led to match point, which Orange won after a Pirate committed a net violation.

Orange will look to clear an elusive hurdle on Tuesday night against Northern Nash, from The Big East Conference. The Lady Panthers have been eliminated in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs each of the last two years.

Cedar Ridge 3, Scotland County 0: Just days after winning the CCC Tournament championship over its archrival, Cedar Ridge played its fourth match in six days with a victory over Scotland County on Saturday.

It may have well been the final home game for nine Cedar Ridge seniors, many of whom won a state championship together two years ago. Over the past four years, Cedar Ridge has a 43-4 record inside of Cedar Ridge Gymnasium.

Cedar Ridge, the #11 seed in the East Region, prevailed on scores of 25-13, 25-13 and 25-11. Sophomore Claire Hargett finished with 19 kills and eight digs. Senior Graylinn Serge had six kills and 21 digs. Setter Rachel Alverson had 34 assists and three digs. Senior libero Natasha Buchler-Fosado had eight digs.

Scotland County, from the 4A/3A Sandhills Conference, ends the season 15-9 overall after finishing 3rd in its league.

The Red Wolves have won a state playoff game for the fourth straight year. On Tuesday night, Cedar Ridge will travel to face Franklinton, the champions of The Big East Conference. The Rams, with an overall record of 19-5, finished 13-0 in conference play this year, winning both The Big East regular season and conference tournament championships. The Rams swept Fayetteville 71st in the opening round on Saturday.

The winner of Cedar Ridge/Franklinton will face either J.H. Rose or Jacksonville in the third round on Thursday.

It was likely the final home game for the Cedar Ridge volleyball team of the 2023 season on Saturday when they defeated Scotland County in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. The Red Wolves seniors won their 12th state playoff match in the past four years when they swept the Fighting Scots in Hillsborough. Senior Graylinn Serge finished with six kills and 21 digs as the Red Wolves improved to 43-4 at home since 2020. Senior libero Natasha Buchler-Fosado had eight digs, two aces and one assist against Scotland County. The Red Wolves were coming off winning the Central Carolina Conference Tournament with an upset of Orange on Wednesday night. Against the Lady Panthers, Buchler-Fosado had a career-high 25 digs. It was the fourth straight year that Cedar Ridge won a conference championship. Serge finished with a double-double with 12 kills and 28 digs. Senior Cecilia Kenan had seven digs against Orange. The Red Wolves will look to reach the round of 16 for the fourth straight year on Tuesday night when they journey to Franklinton, the champions of the The Big East Conference. The Rams are 19-5 and have won seven straight matches. The match at Franklinton High will start at 6PM.

Cedar Ridge’s Graylinn Serge, Natasha Buchler-Fosado & Cecilia Kenan talk playoff win vs. Scotland

It was likely the final home game for the Cedar Ridge volleyball team of the 2023 season on Saturday when they defeated Scotland County in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. The Red Wolves seniors won their 12th state playoff match in the past four years when they swept the Fighting Scots in Hillsborough.