Women’s Tennis: Cedar Ridge 9, Person 0: While Walter Williams has established itself as the team to beat in the Central Carolina Conference, the race is on for the league’s second automatic spot in the 3A State Playoffs.
Cedar Ridge made itself into a contender this week with three strong victories, starting with its conference opener on Monday. The Red Wolves swept Person in Roxboro 9-0. Adeline Cummings, who was elevated to #1 singles, won her match 6-2, 6-0. Junior Cameron Mayhew, the younger sister of Central Carolina Conference Men’s Player of the Year Josh Mayhew, won her match 6-2, 6-0. Sophomore Ella Caltabiano (#3), junior Catherine Ballenger (#4), junior Annabeth Lundberg, (#5) and junior Rowan Mowes-Aring (#6) all won their singles matches.
Lundberg and Mowes-Aring were the only Red Wolves to win two matches on the day. They teamed together to win at #1 doubles 8-1. Molly Alversson and Addie Payne, a pair of sophomores, captured the #2 doubles match 8-1. The tightest match of the day was at #3 doubles where Chloe Pankratz and Lila Rhoades were extended to a tiebreaker after battling Cassidy Swank & Jessica Williams to an 8-8 tie. Pankratz & Rhoades won the tiebreaker 7-1.
Cedar Ridge 7, Southern Alamance 2: On Tuesday, the Red Wolves defeated the Patriots for the second time this season. Cedar Ridge won all six of its singles matches. Cummings, again starting at #1 singles, won the most competitive match of the day against Southern’s Faith Moore. Cummings prevailed 7-6 in the opening set, winning the tiebreaker 8-6. Cummings sewed up her fifth singles victory of the season winning the second set 6-2.
Mayhew captured her match at #2 singles 6-2, 6-2, her third victory of the year. Caltabiano (#3) won 6-1, 6-0 for her fifth victory of 2022. Catherine Ballenger won 6-1, 6-0. Annabeth Lundberg (#5) won 6-0, 6-2 to wrap up the Red Wolves’ third dual win of the season. Mowes-Aring finished the singles sweep 6-1, 6-1.
Caltabiano and Ballenger teamed together to win at #1 doubles 8-0, the only doubles win of the day for the Red Wolves.
Cedar Ridge 6, Northwood 3: In a dual matches that featured three singles matches going to 10-point, third-set tiebreakers, Cedar Ridge prevailed in its third match in three days on Wednesday.
Cummings had the longest match of the year in the CCC against Northwood’s Destyn Roder 2-6, 6-4, 15-13 in the 10-point tiebreaker. Later in the day, Cummings and Mayhew claimed a forfeit win at #1 doubles after a Northwood player had to retire due to a foot injury. For the week, Cummings won five matches overall.
Cedar Ridge won five out of six singles matches to take the dual match win. Ella Caltabiano (#3) prevailed 6-2, 6-4; Ballenger, who won four matches this week, prevailed 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 at #4 singles. Lundberg won at #5 6-3, 2-6 11-9.
Mowles-Airing completed the dual match win with a 6-2, 6-0 victory at #6.
Cedar Ridge is now 4-3 overall, 2-0 in the Central Carolina Conference. They travel to Orange on Tuesday.
Orange 8, Western Alamance 1: After winning three of its first four in the opening weeks of the season, the Orange women’s tennis team defeated Western Alamance in its CCC opener in Hillsborough on Tuesday.
#1 singles player Erin Sollars wound up in a three-set match for the second time this year. Sollars defeated Amelia Weaver 2-6, 6-3, 10-5 to improve to 4-1 on the season. Sollars would go on to team with her younger sister, Shannon Sollars, to win at #1 doubles 8-0.
Shannon Sollars won her #2 singles match 6-2, 6-2. Seniors Isabel Jones (#4 singles) and Madelyn Horn (who has now won seven overall matches this year) also won their singles matches to secure the dual match win.
In the only other doubles match, Jones and Makayla Davis won at #2 doubles 8-1.
Walter Williams 8, Orange 1: It a battle for first place in the CCC, Williams easily prevailed over Orange in Burlington on Wednesday. Sydney Rogers, who is also the starting kicker for the Orange football team, earned Orange’s only victory on the day. Rogers defeated Williams Gracie Hartle 6-3, 6-4. Orange is now 4-2 overall, 1-1 in the CCC. They will travel to Voyager on Thursday. The Lady Panthers defeated the Vikings in its season-opener on August 16 in Hillsborough.