Another week goes by and the Orange volleyball team remains in first place in the Central Carolina Conference.
Not only that, but the three top contenders to stop Orange from its first conference championship in over 15 years have been turned back by the Lady Panthers in the opening three matches of league play.
On Thursday night, Orange made its long-awaited return home with a 3-0 sweep of Person. The Lady Panthers, who had played its past nine matches on the road, remain the only undefeated teaming the CCC at 3-0.
It was the Lady Panthers first home match since August 15.
Sophomore Aubrey Jordan finished with a career-high 17 kills while sophomore setter Katie Silcott had 31 assists. Senior Ella Wimsatt registered 12 kills and 15 digs as Orange won its seventh straight match. Sophomore Ava Wilkerson added nine kills, two aces and two blocks.
Person (4-5, 1-2) dropped its third straight match to Orange.
Orange dominated the opening set 25-8, reeling off an 8-2 run behind three kills from Wimsatt. Jordan had a block and a kill for the final points of the set.
It appeared the second stanza would follow a similar path. Orange jumped out to an 11-3 lead behind an ace from Wilkerson and consecutive kills from Wimsatt. Person roared back with a 9-1 run to seven the match at 12-12, the tying point coming from sophomore Abby Sharlow off a pass from Miriam Clayton. The Rockets increased its lead to 21-18 following a block from Clayton, but Orange rallied to even the set 23-23 after the Rockets were called for a net violation. Person had a set point after a return from Orange went wide, but the subsequent serve went into the net. Even 25-25, Jordan notched a kill. On set point, Jordan’s attack was returned wide by the Rockets, giving Orange a 2-sets-to-nothing lead.
Orange got off to another strong start in the third set, leading 7-3 following a point by Wilkerson. Once again, Person rallied off strong plays by Kaylie Parker and Clayton, narrowing Orange’s lead to 13-12 until Wilkerson scored off a block. That spawned a 5-1 Panther run which included an ace by Abby Silinski and two kills by Wimsatt. Jordan racked up kills on the final two points of the match, which sent the Orange student section into jubilation, many of them adorned in neon yellow safety vets who traded taunts with Person students at the other end of the gym throughout the night.
On Friday night (tonight), Orange will travel up Highway 57 to face Roxboro Community School. Last week, Person defeated their crosstown rival in five sets.
Men’s cross country: Orange 19, Williams 43, Person 62, Eastern Alamance n/a: Two months from the 3A State Cross Country state championships and Orange’s Gabriel Schmid appears in midseason form.
Schmid, the 2022 3A State Cross County Champion, earned his second victory of the season during Orange’s meet at Walter Williams high School in Burlington on Wednesday. Schmid finished at 18:34.0, beating Williams Easton Freeman by five seconds.
Orange had five of the top six runners. Alden Cathey finished third (18:50.1), while Myles Jermyn came in fourth (19:02.0), followed by Lucas Van Mater (19:17.6), and Peter Musser in sixth place (19:28.6).
Cyrus Neal (8th), Nolan Hufner (9th) and Aidan Viola (10th) had top ten finishes for Orange. It was Orange’s second win in a conference meet in as many weeks. Last week, the Orange men finished first at Person.
Women’s cross country: Williams 18, Orange 31, Person 70, Eastern Alamance n/a: Caroline Cathey was the top finisher for the Orange women’s cross country meet at the Williams meet. Cathey finished fifth at 28:00.2, a split second behind Williams Sofia Anaya, who came in a 28:00.0. Grace Pell came in sixth for the Lady Panthers (28:43.2), while Kassi Scarantino came in seventh, one-tenth of a second behind Pell. Orange’s Channing Mahaney finished in ninth place. Orange’s Mia Blake finished 11th, while Harper Trust finished 14th (32.56.9).
Williams won the meet with the top four finishers. Lucy Lowe was at the head of the pack at 26:50.9, while Avery LaPlante was runner-up at 26:58.8.