PITTSBORO–The marathon that will be the Big 7 Conference volleyball regular season race is underway. And Seaforth is a stride ahead.
Senior middle blocker Clarke Hollier scored four of the Hawks final seven points as Seaforth defeated Cedar Ridge 3-1 on scores of 25-13, 25-19, 16-23, 25-22 at Hawks Gymnasium on Tuesday night. It was the first meeting between the two teams since Seaforth stunned Cedar Ridge in the 5A State Quarterfinals in Hillsborough last October, which came after the Red Wolves defeated the Hawks three times in the regular season.
Since then, both teams have had to deal with losses both anticipated and unexpected. The Red Wolves lost four starters, including Claire Hargett, the school’s all-time leader in kills.
Seaforth (5-2, 1-0 in the Big 7 Conference) was expected to return Naomi Stevenson, a rising sophomore who had 19 kills and five aces in last year’s victory over the Red Wolves. But Stevenson isn’t playing this year.
Yet the Hawks still have four returning starters, including setter Abigail Valgus, who was honored before Tuesday’s match for surpassing 1,000 assists against D.H. Conley on Saturday.
Cedar Ridge (5-1, 0-1) head coach Kouhry May has six sophomores and a freshman in her regular rotation with two seniors.
“Our players worked really hard,” May said. “We have some seniors, but we’re mostly sophomores. They stepped up in big moments, ran the court really well which helped us a lot.”
Seaforth didn’t trail in the first set. Junior Sarah Beth Smith, who transferred from Texas over the summer, introduced herself to Cedar Ridge by getting the opening two kills. The only momentum for Cedar Ridge came when sophomore Dani Solomon served, scoring consecutive aces to reduce the Hawks lead to 10-8. Senior Ally Forbes notched kills to trigger six straight Seaforth points. Seaforth’s Stella Bailey had three straight aces as the Red Wolves suffered its most lopsided set loss of the young season.
It appeared the second set wouldn’t be much more competitive. Forbes and Isabelle Valgus scored consecutive kills to push the Seaforth lead to 10-4. The Red Wolves showed its first sign of life by scoring eight straight points, once again with Solomon serving. Solomon and Avery Owens scored to give Cedar Ridge a 12-11 advantage, its first lead of the match. The Hawks went on an 8-2 run, powered by back-to-back kills from Smith, followed by another from Forbes. With the score 23-19, Forbes got a block, then a kill to go up two sets.
Seaforth led 14-11 in the third set, but the Red Wolves finished the frame on a 14-2 run. It started with an unassisted kill by Owens. Later, Owens would have an ace. The Red Wolves scored the final four points of the set, three of which were kills by Solomon.
“We got better defensively as the match went on,” May said. “We were digging balls left and right. I thought we did a god job adjusting and making adjustments in the middle of the game. I’m proud of defense.”
There were six lead changes in the fourth set. Cedar Ridge led 7-5 but they couldn’t contain the serve of Abigail Valgus, who delivered three straight aces to spark a 5-0 Seaforth spurt. Forbes added another kill to push the Hawks ahead 15-8, leading to the final Cedar Ridge timeout of the match
Cedar Ridge didn’t quit. Trailing 18-11, the Red Wolves went on a 9-1 run to take a 20-19 lead. Solomon and Owens each had kills.
Hollier, who had been quiet for much of the fourth set, came alive with an unassisted kill to tie the set at 20-20. After a point by Smith, Hollier got another huge block. Hollier earned match point on a free ball over the middle.
It was Cedar Ridge’s first regular season conference loss since September 25, 2024, when they fell to Orange 3-2.
“I’m excited for the growth we’re gonna have this season,” May said. “No matter the outcome of this match, we’re gonna grow as a team. That’s what I’m most excited for. I think this team has a very high ceiling and I think we can reach that ceiling.”
