PITTSBORO–To coin a phrase from the late Billy Packer, the race for the Big 7 Conference regular season volleyball championship is ovah.
The Seaforth team that took to its home floor on Tuesday night was healthier than the squad that lost to Cedar Ridge on August 28 in Hillsborough, but it couldn’t stop the Red Wolves’ domination nor its undefeated season.
Claire Hargett became the second player in program history to surpass 1,000 kills and finished with 14 kills and 18 digs as the Red Wolves defeated Seaforth 3-1 on scores of 26-24, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17.
Hargett got her 1,000th kill in the opening set off a feed from Mia Marty to cut Seaforth’s lead to 7-5. She is 2nd on the school’s all-time kills list. Cameron Lloyd, now at Bucknell, registered 1,062 kills during her storied career.
The Red Wolves are now 14-0, 8-0 in the Big 7 Conference, the best start in program history. They have a two game lead over Seaforth and Orange for first place and also hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over both teams after sweeping their respective season series.
Once again, Cedar Ridge’s newcomers provided questions no one had answers for. Freshman outside hitter Dani Solomon registered 13 kills, eight digs and two aces and scored on match point. Junior Addilyn Jackson, a transfer from West Carteret, totalled five kills and four blocks.
“I thought Addilyn’s blocking was great,” said Cedar Ridge head coach Khoury May, who was raised in Pittsboro and was an assistant with Seaforth last season. “We’ve been working a lot on blocking this week and she did a great job blocking.”
Senior setter Mia Marty had 39 assists and nine digs.
Seaforth, the 2024 2A Eastern Regional champions who came up two points shy of the state championship, got junior outside hitter Ally Forbes back in the lineup after she suffered an injury in August. Forbes turned in her strongest performance in a conference match this season, finishing with 13 kills and 19 digs.
The Hawks (10-6, 6-2) had won three consecutive Mid-Carolina Conference championships coming into this season, but will need nothing less than a miracle to even tie Cedar Ridge for first now.
The hotly contested opening set had eight ties and Cedar Ridge was put in the rare position of being in comeback mode. Forbes scored a kill off an assist from Josie Valgus to put the Hawks ahead 22-20. The Red Wolves closed the set on a 6-2 run, starting with a kill by Solomon assisted by Marty. Senior Ellamarie Perel scored a crucial block to even the set. Valgas sent the match into overtime with a kill assisted by her younger sister Abigail, who has committed to TCU. Solomon came up big again with a kill. Off a scramble, Marty showed her veteran leadership when she dumped the ball off the second hit following a service reception by Sydnee Tapper for a kill on set point.
Cedar Ridge led for almost the entire second set. Jackson and Kayla Stoll each had two blocks. Cedar Ridge went on a 5-1 run following a block by Jackson, who wound up falling flat on her back after Perel shoved her down in a jubilant celebration to put the Red Wolves ahead 16-11. The Red Wolves extended the lead to 24-17 after a kill by Stoll. A serve by Forbes that went into the net put Cedar Ridge ahead two-sets-to-nothing.
It appeared Cedar Ridge would get the sweep following a 7-1 run to go ahead 18-11 in the third set. In that span, Jackson had another block and Marty had an ace. But the Hawks went on a 15-9 run to end Cedar Ridge’s 20-set winning streak. Forbes had four kills in the frame, including the final two points as the Hawks rallied to win 25-23.
That merely delayed Cedar Ridge’s celebration instead of canceling it. The Red Wolves sprang out to a 4-1 lead in a fourth set, where they never trailed. Solomon had five kills in the final set, including one on match point. Stoll had a block on the 24th point.
Seaforth freshman Naomi Stevenson finished with 16 kills and 25 digs. Isabella Valgas had 25 digs.
Cedar Ridge will continue a span of three matches over three days when they host Greensboro Grimsley tonight in Red Wolves Gymnasium.
