Since she was a freshman, Katie Silcott has defined versatility for Orange volleyball.
As a freshman, she was the backup setter behind senior Caitlin Carden. By her sophomore year, she was a starter playing in Reynolds Coliseum for the 3A State Championship.
On Thursday afternoon, Silcott surpassed 2,000 career assists when she set up a kill by Aubrey Jordan to put Orange ahead 3-0 in the second set against J.F. Webb in Oxford. Silcott, who has alternated between setter and outside hitter with Sawyer White since the end of 2023, finished the match with 14 assists and a career-high ten aces. six kills in the Lady Panthers fourth straight win.
In her final year at Orange, Silcott has racked up one triple-double and narrowly missed out on another. She had eleven kills, 24 assists and 17 digs in a 3-1 win over Person on August 21. Against South Granville on September 4, she finished with ten kills, 15 assists and nine digs.
Orange (6-5, 4-1 in the Big 7 Conference) earned its third straight sweep behind an incredible 25 aces. Jordan had three consecutive aces in the opening set to put Orange ahead 7-2. Silcott closed out the frame with four straight aces. Silcott also had four kills in the first frame, which Orange won 25-10.
Orange scored the first six points of the second set, a run that included two more aces from Silcott, which also included her milestone assist. Orange reeled off nine consecutive points, including consecutive aces from White to increase the Panther lead to 16-4. Jordan had another kill on Orange’s 24th point and the Lady Panthers closed out the frame when an attack by the Warriors went into the net.
Orange opened the third set with the first five points, with Silcott adding two more aces. The Lady Panthers pulled ahead 16-4 following nine straight points that started with a kill from White.
Senior Milleka Purcell and junior Kaleeya Fearrington came in during the second and third set. Fearrington had a kill late.
Webb falls to 6-7 overall, 0-5 in the Big 7.
Cedar Ridge 3, Durham School of the Arts 0:
Even without senior outside hitter Claire Hargett, Cedar Ridge tied the best start in team history with an easy victory over the Bulldogs at Sykes Gymnasium.
Cedar Ridge served up 20 aces in improving to 11-0, tying the 2021 3A State Championship team for the best start in school history.
Senior middle blocker Kayla Stoll finished with seven aces and four kills. Freshman Dani Solomon came away with six kills, seven digs and five aces as the Red Wolves maintained first place in the Big 7 Conference with a 5-0 mark, one game ahead of Seaforth and Orange.
Two kills from Addilyn Jackson and another from Stoll triggered five straight Cedar Ridge points in the opening set to take a 5-2 lead. Stoll delivered her first ace during a 6-0 Red Wolf run. Setter Mia Marty made three digs during the longest rally of the match, which ended with a kill by Solomon set up by Stoll to put the Red Wolves ahead 11-4. Marty finished with seven digs on the night. Cedar Ridge won the opening set 25-7.
The Red Wolves had ten aces in the second set, six of them from Stoll. Marty had another ace at the tail end of a 5-0 run to put the Red Wolves ahead 5-1. Cedar Ridge went on a 10-0 run to take control of the second set. Stoll had all six of her aces during the run, which also included a block from Solomon and a quick kill from Marty. A kill by Calla Lundberg assisted by freshman Kaitlyn Dixon ended the second set 25-9.
Cedar Ridge didn’t trail in the third set, bolting out to a 9-1 lead. Junior Anna Musser had an ace during the run. Cedar Ridge wrapped up the sweep, its seventh of the year, 25-11.
Durham School of the Arts falls to 6-7 overall, 2-4 in the Big 7.
