It’s a place where the Orange volleyball seniors started at bottom of the Orange County totem pole in 2021.
Inside Orange High Gymnasium, the Lady Panthers class of 2025, comprised of Ava Wilkerson, Aubrey Jordan, Katie Silcott, Mariah Poole, Addison Guentensberger, Gianna Negron and Milleka Purcell, would rise to the top. Not just to being the best team in Orange County, but the best in the Eastern Region for one year. And probably a controversial call away from doing it twice.
On Tuesday night, the seniors would gather for its 73rd win since 2021, a sweep of J.F. Webb in Hillsborough in their final regular season home match.
And there was an added surprise.
Wilkerson, who had presumably played her final game with her classmates at Carrboro on September 2 before undergoing a medical procedure, returned in uniform for a brief third set cameo. She entered the match against the Warriors with her back just flexible enough to trigger one final serve, which hit the left antenna. It wasn’t the storybook ending that Wilkerson wanted, but the crowd sensed how special the moment was.
Orange coach Hope Heverly called timeout to replace Wilkerson, but not before she and the rest of the seniors got a standing ovation from the Panther faithful.
They deserved it. Together, they had taken Orange volleyball to new heights.
While there will be a few more home matches this month, this would be the last time that Wilkerson would be with her teammates in uniform.
“This is a special group,” Heverly said. “It starts with how close they are together. They not only have talent, but they truly have a sisterhood. They can get frustrated with each other, then hug it out and be cool again. It goes beyond the court for them, which goes into the success that they’ve had. It also helps the younger girls, seeing that and understanding the importance of relationships.”
When Heverly took over Orange volleyball in 2023, the program was in a different place. They hadn’t won a conference championship in 18 years. Across town, Cedar Ridge had won three straight outright conference crowns, captured the 2021 3A State Championship and played for the 2022 Eastern Regional title.
When Heverly sat down with her first team and outlined their goals, she asked them how far they felt they could go in the state playoffs.
The consensus answer was the second round.
Heverly and her assistants just chuckled.
While Orange hadn’t reached the third round of the state playoffs in eight years, Heverly felt her team had grossly underestimated itself.
“They had no idea how talented they were,” Heverly said. “I told them ‘The second round isn’t our goal. Reynolds Coliseum is our goal.”
By the time Orange defeated Union Pines in the third round and prepared to face J.H. Rose in the state quarterfinals, senior libero Sadye Porter had a newfound confidence.
“Sadye came up to me before that match and said ‘We’re gonna do this,'” Heverly said.
And they did.
They would reach their goal of Reynolds Coliseu during a rowdy Halloween inside Panther Gymnasium on Halloween night, 2023. To a lady, each senior cites the Eastern Regional Championship match against Carrboro as the memorable moment of their career.
The gym was packed as the Lady Panthers defeated the Jaguars in a thrilling five-set epic. Jordan finished with 15 kills while Wilkerson had 13 kills and three blocks. The Lady Panthers would go on to face Kings Mountain for the State Championship.
This year’s team has run into obstacles. The win over the Warriors put its record at 9-10 after facing slew of state championship-caliber teams, including Green Level, Green Hope, D.H. Conley and J.H. Rose.
Despite fighting for a winning season going into next week’s Big 7 Conference Tournament, Heverly still believes the current team has yet to play its best match this year.
“We’ve had a rockier season but I’m still hopeful for them in the playoffs,” Heverly said. “They still have a hopeful drive and we still have the time. They’ve gone through a whole lot of adversity this season. They’ve learned how to come together through it all and grow as a team. In the playoffs, I’ll think we’ll see their best.”
