Month: August 2023

The Cedar Ridge women’s tennis team won its Central Carolina Conference opener on Thursday afternoon in Graham. The Red Wolves won all six of its singles matches to defeat Southern Alamance 8-1. It was a strong day for senior Cameron Mayhew, who defeated Paicey Cameron at #1 singles 6-1, 6-1. Junior Ella Caltabiano won two matches on the day. She won at #2 singles over Madalyn Corbett 6-1, 6-1. Later, Caltabiano teamed with Catherine Ballenger to win at #1 doubles over Cameron and Madalyn Corbett 8-1. Junior Adeline Cummings won at #3 singles over Morgan Isley 6-2, 6-0. Ballenger also won two matches on the day. In addition to her doubles win, Ballenger won at #5 singles over Ava Lynch 6-0, 6-1. Cedar Ridge’s Raven Mowles-Airing and Annabeth Lundberg also won singles matches. Madeline Galindo-Woodring and Terra Proctor teamed to win at #3 doubles 8-4. Cedar Ridge will face Orange on Tuesday at Red Wolves Tennis Courts, then host Eno River on Wednesday.

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team extended some streaks in its conference-opening win on Tuesday night against Person. It was the Red Wolves’ 41st straight win over a conference opponent, counting conference and state tournaments. The Red Wolves have also won 31 consecutive home matches and have beaten Person six straight times. Sophomore Claire Hargett had 14 kills, 15 digs and one ace. Hargett is second on the team with 70 kills through Cedar Ridge’s first seven matches. She also has 78 digs, which is third on the team. Senior Caroline Park has been the Red Wolves libero this season. She is second on the team with 79 digs. The Red Wolves got off to a successful start in the search for their fourth consecutive conference championship. Cedar Ridge also received ten kills from senior Graylinn Serge, who also finished with 17 digs and one ace. Cedar Ridge will travel over to Graham for its first-ever Central Carolina Conference match against Southern Alamance on Thursday night. On Tuesday, the Red Wolves will host crosstown rival Orange, who will go into the showdown with Cedar Ridge undefeated in conference play.

Volleyball: Orange 3, Jordan 0: It’s been two weeks since the Orange volleyball team has had a home game, but they’ve adjusted just fine.

On Monday night, the Lady Panthers claimed its fourth straight road win with a sweep of Jordan in Durham. The Panthers never trailed in any of the sets, winning 25-18, 25-15 and 25-8. It marks the Panthers second win over the Falcons this year.

Sophomore Aubrey Jordan finished with ten kills and four digs. Senior Ella Wimsatt had 14 kills and 13 digs for Orange, who improved to 6-3 with its fourth straight win.

Sophomore setter Katie Silcott finished with 29 assists, three aces and a kill. It’s Orange’s third win over a 4A team.

Orange scored eight of the first nine points to begin the game, the first of several lengthy runs. Jordan started the game with a kill off a ball supplied by Silcott, followed by an ace from senior libero Sadye Porter. Jordan rolled off four out of five points to narrow Orange’s lead to 16-9, but the Panthers pulled out the frame when the Falcons hit the ball four times on set point. ‘Wimsatt and Ava Wilkerson each had three kills in the first set.

Jordan’s Taylor Shumate had a kill to even the second set at 4-4, one of only two times in the entire game there was a deadlock. Wimsatt followed with another point off a pass from Silcott, which triggered a 9-4 run that killed any possible drama in the second set. Wimatt had kills on the final two points of the set to put Orange ahead 2-0.

Wilkerson, a 6-4 sophomore, opened the third set with three kills as Orange built a 5-0 lead. The Lady Panthers followed with seven consecutive points, which included two aces by Silcott and two kills by Jordan. Wilkerson ended the match with a block off an attack attempt by Shumate, then notched a kill on match point.

Tonight (Tuesday), Orange will start its Central Carolina Conference slate with a road trip to Western Alamance. Last year, the Warriors extended Orange to five sets before the Lady Panthers won 15-13.

Tuesday’s trip to Elon will be Orange’s ninth straight game away from Hillsborough.

Women’s Tennis: Orange 8, Western Alamance 1: The Orange women’s tennis team opened defense of its 2022 CCC regular season championship with a convincing road win at Western Alamance on Monday night.

Shannon Sollars maintained her undefeated record with a victory at #2 singles, 6-1, 6-4. Sollars also teamed up with her sister, Erin, for a victory at #1 doubles 8-3.

Shannon Sollars is 4-0 in singles action and 4-0 in doubles play this year. All of Sollars doubles wins have been with her sister, Erin.

Erin Sollars also won two matches on the night. In addition to her doubles win, Erin won at #1 singles 7-5, 6-0.

Senior Makayla Davis earned her eighth overall wins on the season. Davis won her singles match at #3 over Hensley Gasaway 6-0, 6-3. Davis teamed with sophomore Molly Kruse to win at #2 doubles 8-6 over Gasaway and Sarah McLaughlin.

Kruse won her singles match at #5, beating Abigail Simpson 6-1, 6-1. At #6 singles, Orange senior Molly Shaw defeated Mia Sodano 6-2, 6-0.

Molly Kruse, in her first year as a full-time starter for Orange, is 4-1 so far in singles. She and Davis have teamed to win all four of their doubles matches.

McLaughlin won at #4 singles for Western Alamance, beating Ellie Wilson 6-1, 6-0.

Wilson and Shaw completed an Orange sweep at doubles, beating Abigail Stimpson and Sodano 6-3.

Orange is now 4-1 overall, 1-0 in the CCC. On Wednesday night, Orange will face Williams in Hillsborough at Orange Tennis Courts. Last year, Orange upset the Bulldogs in the second dual match between the two teams, which paved the way for the Lady Panthers to tie for first place. It led to Orange winning its first tennis conference championship, men’s or women’s, in school history.

For much of the night, it appeared that Cedar Ridge would suffer its first loss of the season amid the soggy conditions at Seaforth Stadium.

But in a year that has defied expectations thus far, the Red Wolves found a way to win despite trailing by two goals with 28 minutes remaining.

Jonam Juarez scored two goals, including the game-winner, as Cedar Ridge defeated Seaforth 3-2 on Monday night.

The Red Wolves set up the game-winning goal off a corner kick. Iliah Babchenko sent an in-swinging ball that was bobbled by Seaforth goalkeeper Jack Haste. Juarez gained control of the ball inside the six-yard box and kicked into into an empty net to put the Red Wolves ahead with 3:13 remaining.

Sophomore Giovani Yanez tied the game with his first goal of the season. Bazar Babiker and Dominic McNerney also assisted on goals. Goalkeeper Eric Galunas made seven saves to pick up his fourth win of the season.

Cedar Ridge ends a four-game road trip with a 3-0-1 mark. The Red Wolves, who played its only home game of the season against Eno River Academy, will return home to face East Chapel Hill on Wednesday night. It will be Cedar Ridge’s final game before play in the Central Carolina Conference begins. On September 6, the Red Wolves will host Person to start conference play.

Riverside 6, Orange 0: The Orange men’s soccer team dropped a contest against Riverside on Monday night in Hillsborough. Pirates junior Maynor Zambrano scored four goals for Riverside, who improved to 3-1. Gustavo Lagos and Nico Alcala Ruiz also had goals for Riverside.

Ruiz and Lagos also notched assists for the Pirates. Liam Gergen and Michael Salinas Ordonez also had assists.

Orange goalkeeper Finn Kelly had a busy night, making six saves. The Panthers fall to 1-3-1 and will travel to Western Alamance on Wednesday night to kick off CCC play.

Final from Saturday: Pinecrest 4, Orange 0: Orange journeyed to WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary to participate in the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association Kick-Off. The Patriots improved to 5-1 with the win.

Cameron Lloyd: Playing for Bucknell, Lloyd played in all three games of the Liberty Invitational at Liberty Arena in Lynchburg, VA. In her first college game, Stony Brook swept the Bison 3-0 on scores of 25-20, 25-18 and 25-19. Lloyd had three kills and seven digs. On Friday night, Liberty swept Bucknell 3-0 on scores of 25-21, 25-21 and 25-18. Lloyd had three kills, one ace and six digs. Bucknell won its first game on Saturday with a 3-1 victory over Gardner-Webb (27-25, 24-26, 25-15 and 25-19). Lloyd had three aces and five digs. Bucknell will host the Bucknell Invitational starting Friday against William & Mary at Davis Gym in Lewisburg, PA.

Grace Young: It was the first of many matchups where former members of the 2020-2022 Cedar Ridge volleyball team face each other at the college level, UNC Asheville took on North Carolina Central on Saturday afternoon at the Justice Center in Asheville. Young is a freshman with the Bulldogs. Her head coach at Cedar Ridge, Fiona Cunningham, is now an assistant with Central. The Bulldogs was a five-set affair on scores of 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-13. Young played four sets and finished with two aces and three digs. On Friday, Maryland Eastern Shore defeated UNC Asheville 3-2 on scores of 25-23, 18-25, 20-25, 25-19 and 15-9. Young played three sets and finished with two digs.

Cameron Lanier: The Elon volleyball team opened its season in the Charlotte Invitational at Halton Arena. Lanier had eight kills in her first college game, a 3-0 loss to Coastal Carolina. Lanier also had three digs. On Friday night, the Charlotte 49ers swept Elon 3-1. Lanier had six kills and three digs. On Saturday, Charleston Southern defeated the Phoenix 3-1 on scores of 22-25, 25-21, 25-11 and 25-18. Lanier finished with ten kills and five digs. Elon will continue its season against Georgia State in the Wofford Invitational in Spartanburg, SC on Friday.

Bryse Wilson: Last week, Wilson earned two victories pitching in relief for the Milwaukee Brewers. On Sunday, Wilson struck out four in four innings in a 10-6 win over the San Diego Padres at Miller Park. Facing 14 batters, Wilson allowed just one hit and tossed 39 strikes in 53 pitches. Last Tuesday, Wilson earned another win as the Brewers defeated the Minnesota Twins 7-6. Wilson threw two shutout innings with three strikeouts. On August 20, Wilson threw two-thirds of an inning in at 6-2 win over the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Wilson allowed one unearned run and one hit. Going into Tuesday, the Brewers lead the National League Central by five games over the Chicago Cubs.

Mia Davidson: Davidson’s second professional season with Athletes Unlimited wound to a close on Sunday. Davidson played the final weekend of the year for Team Flippen. On Friday, Team Gibson defeated Team Flippen 8-0. Davidson finished 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch. On Saturday, Team Alexander defeated Team Flippen 4-0. Davidson went 0-for-2 with a walk. In her final game of the summer, Davidson went 0-for-3 and was hit by a pitch as Team Denham defeated Team Davidson 6-1. This year, Davidson was a team captain for the third and four weeks after she finished in the top four among point-getters. She ended the year 20th with 1,298 points.

Trenton Gill: The Chicago Bears wrapped up its exhibition slate with a 24-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Saturday at Solider Field. Gill, who has the punting position locked up for the Bears, had five punts for an average of 52.4 yards. He had one punt downed inside the 20-yard line. His longest punt was 60 yards. In Chicago’s second preseason game last week, the Indianapolis Colts edged the Bears 24-17. Once again, Gill was the only player who punted. Gill had four punts for an average of 51 yards. His average was 45.5 yards. Gill and the Bears will start the regular season against the Green Bay Packers on September 10 at Solider Field.

One final time, Issac Marsh rode away from Auman Stadium a winner.

He wasn’t supposed to be on the sidelines to coach his Chapel Hill Tigers on Friday night. After undergoing shoulder surgery on Wednesday, Marsh could have simply stayed home and listened to the game while acting head coach Ryan Horton, a 2004 Chapel Hill High graduate and former quarterback, filled in as acting head coach.

But Marsh showed up at a game the day his father, L.C., was laid to rest 19 years ago. A mere shoulder injury wasn’t going to keep him from watching his last Chapel Hill team play against a cross-county rival, even if it meant staying in the press box as opposed to the sidelines.

Besides, Auman Stadium holds a special place for Marsh. It was the site of his first victory, a 49-0 victory over Orange in 2004. Less than six weeks before his debut, March was teaching summer school when he learned the previous head coach, Joe Wolfe, had resigned due to health reasons. Marsh was appointed interim head coach, and he’s been at the helm ever since.

Now, he’s the winningest football coach in school history. There have been extreme highs and amazing lows in between, but his final Chapel Hill team looks ready to send him out the right way.

The Tigers defeated Orange 42-7 on Friday night, Chapel Hill’s most lopsided victory over the Panthers since Marsh’s debut way back when. Senior quarterback Joshua Kelley, the younger brother of former Tigers signal caller Caleb Kelley, threw for two touchdowns and ran for a 33-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Tigers (2-0) have beaten Orange four straight times.

It was a night to forget for the Panthers (1-1), who had three turnovers and two first downs in the first half. Only Nate Sorrells five-yard touchdown run with :32 remaining in the fourth quarter kept Orange from being shutout against the Tigers for the first time in 19 years.

“Honestly, we made too many mistakes,” said Orange coach DeVante Pettiford. “You can’t beat a team throwing three interceptions in the first half. We made a lot of dumb mistakes tonight. Sometimes, we were in man-t0-man and blitzing, we didn’t cover some of our guys up. We left the running back free. What we have to do is lock back in and pay attention to details. The small things got us tonight.”

Orange was held to 120 yards total offense. Of that, 78 yards came on the final drive. By that point, a running clock was already in effect after Kelley’s rushing score put the Tigers ahead 42-0.

Junior linebacker Nicholas Spremberg picked off a pass on Orange’s first drive. The Tigers converted three third-downs on its first touchdown drive. Kelley threw to Nik Demas on a 3rd-and-7 for a 13-yard pickup to penetrate the Orange red zone. On 3rd-and-7 from the Orange 17-yard line, Kelley hit Ethan Smith in the right corner of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown.

On the final play of the first quarter, Orange quarterback Hank Nunnery found Kayden Bradsher for a 8-yard gain on second-and-five for a first down. The Panthers wouldn’t have another first down until early in the fourth quarter.

It appeared that Smith would score on defense after he picked off a Nunnery pass and returned it into the end zone on the first play of the second quarter, but a block in the back penalty called it back. But the touchdown wasn’t eliminated as much as it was delayed. Josh Roberson skirted around right end for an 18-yard touchdown with 10:33 remaining in the first half for his only touchdown of the night.

After the Panthers went three-and-out on its next drive, Chapel Hill faced a 3rd-and-8 from its own 44-yard line. The Panthers blitzed and got burned when Kelley threw a screen pass to Tyler Jackson, who won a footrace against the Orange secondary for a 56-yard touchdown catch-and-run. The extra point by Owen Kornstein put the Tigers ahead 21-0.

With 42 seconds remaining in the first half, Chapel Hill sophomore linebacker Prosper Miaigon scored on a 38-yard interception return.

The Tigers started the second half with a punishing drive of 9 minutes and 26 seconds where they overcame two penalties to score. It ended when James Lunsford punched in the ball from two-yards out on 4th-and-goal.

Pettiford learned after the game that this season would be Marsh’s final one.

“Coach Marsh is a great coach,” Pettiford said. “He’s put together a great team at Chapel Hill. I know in my entire time spent in coaching, they went from having a good varsity and a good junior varsity team. Then they went JV only (Chapel Hill didn’t field a varsity team in 2019). He’s built that thing back to the program you see now.”

CHAPEL HILL 42, ORANGE 7

CH–7    21    7     7 -42

OR–0     0    0     7-7

CH–Ethan Smith 17 pass from Joshua Kelley (Owen Kornstein kick)

CH–Josh Roberson 18 run (Kornstein kick)

CH–Tyler Jackson 56 pass from Kelley (Kornstein kick)

CH–Prosper Mbaigon 38 interception return (Kornstein kick)

CH–James Lunsford 2 run (Kornstein kick)

CH–Kelley 33 run (Kornstein kick)

OR-Nate Sorrells 5 run (Tyler Narold kick)

RUSHING– 29–144 3 TD (Roberson 13-81 TD, Kelley 5-28 TD, Smith 4-18, Jackson 5-13, Lunsford 2-4 TD). ORANGE: 19-41 TD (Sorrells 14-51 TD, Kayden Bradsher 1-5, Jaylen Starks 2-2, Daylin Ford 1-(-3), Hank Nunnery 1-(-13))

PASSING–CHAPEL HILL (Kelley 10-16 2 TD 159 yards) ORANGE (Nunnery (9-16 78 yards 3 INT)

RECEIVING–CHAPEL HILL (Jeffrey Sims 5-37, Smith 2-25 TD, Jackson 1-56 TD, Nate Kenan 1-25, Roberson 1-16)

ORANGE–(Crawford Farmer 7-50, Brandon Cummings 1-20, Bradsher 1-8)