There’s always an aura of the unknown when any team ventures into the state playoffs. In most cases, they’re facing opponents they’ve never played before.<\/p>\n
For this postseason, the Orange volleyball team’s situation is unique. It turns out among the best teams they’ve faced have been in their own conference all along.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, they’ll be facing their crosstown rival for a spot in the state quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
Junior Ava WIlkerson registered 17 kills while junior Katie Silcott came away with eight kills, 16 digs and 23 assists to lift Orange over South Central 3-1 in Panther Gymnasium on Thursday night in the 2nd round of the 3A State Playoffs. Orange improved to 17-8 on scores of 27-25, 25-16, 17-25, 25-20.<\/p>\n
South Central, who defeated top-seeded J.H.Rose last week, ends the year 14-9.<\/p>\n
Though South Central lacked Orange’s size, the Falcons kept the match close with 12 blocks, including six from middle blocker Hannah Ebeling. Freshman Taryn Wilson-Ruffin finished with 16 kills.<\/p>\n
In tight moments, Orange rode Wilkerson to victory. South Central led 23-20 in the opening set after a kill by Wilson-Ruffin, leading to a Panther timeout. Wilkerson scored back-to-back kills, including a light tap off a set by Addison Guentensberger to reduce the Falcon lead to 23-22. An attack by Wilson-Ruffin went long, tying the set at 23-23. Ebeling hammered a hanging ball over the net and hard off the floor to set up the Falcons’ first set point. Once again, Wilkerson came through with a kill. Orange sophomore Sawyer White delivered an ace for Orange’s first set point at 25-24, which was promptly canceled out off another attack by Wilson-Ruffin.<\/p>\n
White took a feed from Abby Silinski for a kill in overtime. Wilkerson delivered an ace to end the tight set of the match, which had five lead changes and eleven ties.<\/p>\n
“We changed our defense midway through the first game,” said Orange coach Hope Heverly. “We talked about being a little more efficient with our first ball contact. The girls were able to make that adjustment like they normally do and we were able to come out on top.”<\/p>\n
Orange reeled off ten consecutive points to take control of the second set, starting with a kill from Aubry Hodges assisted by White to increase Orange’s lead to 11-9. From there, Wilkerson served up nine straight winners, which included a quick attack by Silcott to push the Panther advantage to 14-9. Wilkerson spike down set point off a feed from Silcott.<\/p>\n
“Hodges had a really great game at the net,” Heverly said. “It was nice seeing her involved in our offense and getting some big kills. She’s always been a brick wall at the net. So it’s nice to see her developing.”<\/p>\n
South Central’s Brook Evans, who entered the game with a team-high 264 kills, served up an ace to start the third set. The Falcons got points from Ruffin-Wilson and Blaire Adee to go ahead 4-0 and never trailed the entire game. Aubrey Jordan, who finished with eight kills, laid down a block to trim the Lady Panther deficit to 12-7. But the Falcons immediately put the Panthers in its rear view mirror with four straight points, including three straight aces from Ebeling. Junior Riley Brooks ended a dominant frame with a kill on set point.<\/p>\n
Evans dealt another ace as the Falcons jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the fourth. White banged down a spike off a feed from Silcott that stated a string of nine straight Orange points. White delivered an ace to put Orange ahead for good 7-6. Hodges scored a kill at the net, then rejected an attack from Evans to vault the Panthers ahead 12-6. After Silcott’s kill off a feed from Silinski, Orange led 14-6.<\/p>\n
The Falcons fought back with an 8-2 run, narrowing Orange’s lead to 22-20. Hodges delivered a gritty play with another big kill where South Central setter Somer Davenport dove for the ball on the floor, but the officials ruled the ball hit the hardwood despite play continuing on for several more seconds. After White laid down an ace, Silcott slammed match point off the hands off Eberling and into the bleachers.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Orange will face crosstown rival Cedar Ridge for the fourth time this year. It will be their 13th matchup since 2021 with Cedar Ridge leading the series 8-4. The winner will face either J.H. Rose or Cape Fear in the state quarterfinals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There’s always an aura of the unknown when any team ventures into the state playoffs….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,76],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-45123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-orangehs","category-orange-volleyball","tag-slider"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n