It was camouflage night inside Red Wolves Gymnasium on Wednesday, which is typical this time of year for Cedar Ridge volleyball.
While Cedar Ridge’s students were dressed like they were set to go deer hunting, the volleyball team has another chase in progress. They hunt championships in October.
For the fifth year in a row, they’re in a conference tournament final.
It’s common for Cedar Ridge and Orange to face each other in October. On Tuesday night, they met in the postseason for the sixth time in four years, this time in the Big 7 Conference Tournament semifinals. The Lady Panthers, playing its most inspired volleyball of the season, managed to capture a set against the Red Wolves before Cedar Ridge’s depth overwhelmed yet another opponent.
Senior Claire Hargett, who broke the school record for kills last week, finished with 18 kills while senior setter Mia Marty came away with six kills, 44 assists and eleven digs to push the Red Wolves past Orange 3-1 on scores of 25-20, 25-27, 25-17, 25-20.
Cedar Ridge (21-1) will face Seaforth for the Big 7 Tournament Championship on Wednesday night in Hillsborough. Seaforth made quick work of Carrboro in Pittsboro in the other semifinal.
Orange (11-11) junior Sawyer White registered her fifth triple-double of the season with ten kills, eleven digs and 12 assists. Senior outside hitter Aubrey Jordan, who surpassed 1,000 career kills in Monday’s win over South Granville, led the Lady Panthers with 16 kills and added 24 digs.
It was easily the most competitive of the three matchups between the two crosstown rivals this year. Orange lost senior outside hitter Ava Wilkerson for the season on September 2, at which point the Lady Panthers became a different team from the one that played the opening month of the year against some of the best teams in the state like Green Level, D.H. Conley and J.H. Rose.
Orange got valuable contributions from Kaleeya Fearrington, Daphne Tyll and Violent Tyll to keep the score tight in the opening set on Monday. A block from White reduced Cedar Ridge’s lead to 17-16, but the Red Wolves went on a 5-2 run following consecutive kills from Hargett and Addilyn Jackson to take a 22-18 lead. Aubry Hodges got a block to get Orange within 22-20, but Hargett ended the set with a kill assisted by Marty.
Orange fought off four set points to force overtime in the second set. Jordan, looking as confident as ever, had eight kills in the frame. Hodges delivered another block to even the score at 24-24. In overtime, Dani Solomon delivered a kill to put the Red Wolves ahead 25-24, but Orange fought back to get a side out. Katie Silcott served up an ace to put Orange ahead, and a return by Cedar Ridge went wide on set point to tie the match at one-set apiece.
Cedar Ridge scored the opening four points of the third set, which they never trailed. Kayla Stoll took control with three consecutive kills to trigger a 5-1 Red Wolf run, sending Cedar Ridge to a 13-8 lead. Marty used several quick dumps over the net to score three kills, including one assisted by liberty Sydnee Tapper. Following an ace by Hargett, Marty scored on set point off a block of an Orange attack.
The fourth set included a lengthy rally where the ball went over the net 17 times and ended with yet another block by Stoll, which set the tone for the rest of the night. With Cedar Ridge leading 7-5, an attack by Orange senior Mariah Poole bounced off Solomon’s shoulder directly to Marty, who returned it to Solomon leading to a kill. Stoll had three more blocks in the final set. Solomon ended the match with a kill on match point.
Seaforth will make its second trip to Cedar Ridge on Wednesday night. On August 28, the Red Wolves defeated the Hawks 3-1 in a match where Solomon finished with 26 kills.
