If it’s true that revenge is a dish best served cold, it’s irrelevant for Cedar Ridge volleyball.
The dish couldn’t have taster much sweeter on Thursday night.
Seaforth entered into Red Wolf Gymnasium for the first time since last October, possibly the most bitter defeat ever for Cedar Ridge athletics. The Hawks, despite having lost three times to the Red Wolves during the regular season, ended Cedar Ridge’s dream season in the 5A State Quarterfinals in four sets.
It wasn’t a talking point among the current Red Wolves going into a rematch against the Hawks on Thursday night. Neither was its loss to Seaforth in Pittsboro on August 25.
Instead, the Red Wolves emerged with a streamlined rotation, each player more accustomed to their roles, wiser and poised than the wide-eyed group that played at Seaforth three weeks ago.
Cedar Ridge came away with a 3-1 win that turned the Big 7 Conference championship race, along with the chase for the top seed in the 5A East Region, upside down.
It was two nights removed from Cedar Ridge’s sweep of crosstown rival Orange.
The Red Wolves, who won on scores of 29-27, 18-25, 25-18, 25-21, are now tied with Seaforth for first place in the Big 7 with a 6-1 conference record. The Hawks (11-3, 6-1) entered the night 4th in the 5A State RPI rankings, but clearly missed the presence of senior middle blocker Clarke Hollier, who is no longer with the team.
Cedar Ridge sophomore Dani Solomon finished with 23 kills and 13 digs. Often, Solomon found herself with four other sophomores on the court. One of them, Avery Owens, had her best night in a Red Wolf uniform with four kills and two blocks, all of which came in crucial moments. Another sophomore, libero Nora Stoll, had a career-high 30 digs.
“Any time we meet them, it’s going to be competitive,” said Cedar Ridge head coach Khoury May. “After watching us play Orange, I thought this was the team I know. That’s the team we’ve been working hard to be. I was really excited for this match. Obviously, I’m glad it went our way but they’re still a really good team and they’re going to be competitive any time we meet them.”
Senior Ally Forbes had 19 kills and 17 digs for Seaforth. Hawks junior outside hitter Sarah Beth Smith finished with 18 kills and 12 digs. Senior setter Abigail Valgus had 39 assists and 15 digs.
Seaforth had six set points to win the opening frame but couldn’t get it done. The Hawks led 24-21 after a kill by Smith. Cedar Ridge’s Addilyn Jackson, who recorded eleven kills, started a string of three straight Red Wolf points with a kill. Smith’s attack went over the end line to tie the set at 24-24, the first tie since it was 8-8. In overtime, the Hawks had three more chances to win the frame, but Red Wolf freshman Florence Mwanza came up with a block to even it up at 25-25. In a match with dozens of crazy bounces, Cedar Ridge senior Calla Lundberg came up with a crucial dig off a block that led to a Cedar Ridge point when Valgus set a return into the net. With the score at 27-27, Forbes appeared to rack up another kill, but the ball touched the antenna. Lundberg delivered an ace to give Cedar Ridge the set, it’s first lead since it was 4-3.
Cedar Ridge had problems at the service line that led to the Hawks taking the second set. The Red Wolves had five serving errors while the Hawks scored four aces. Forbes had five kills in the second set, including set point off an assist from Abigail Valgus.
In the third set, the Red Wolf defense began to make its presence felt. Stoll had 13 digs in the frame, which Cedar Ridge led almost the whole way. Lundberg triggered a 4-0 Red Wolf run with a spike, which led to consecutive kills from Solomon and another from Owens. After a block by Seaforth’s Arden Kelly to cut Cedar Ridge’s lead to 21-18, the Red Wolves scored the final four points of the frame. Owens delivered an ace. On set point, a return from Forbes went long to put Cedar Ridge ahead two-sets-to-one.
Seaforth jumped out to a 5-1 in the fourth set following an ace from Kelly. Lundberg keyed a 6-2 Red Wolf spurt with an ace. The Red Wolves scored six straight points to take the lead, capped by an ace from Kaitlyn Dixon, who finished with 38 assists and ten digs, to put the Red Wolves ahead 15-11. Points from Forbes and Smith cut the Cedar Ridge lead to 19-18, but Solomon earned a side out after a kill. With Cedar Ridge leading 22-21, Seaforth appeared to be in position to tie when Smith got set up in the middle of the floor. Owens timed her jump at the net perfectly and scored a block that landed in the Hawks backcourt, sending the Cedar Ridge student section into a frenzy.
Seaforth whittled the Red Wolf lead to 22-21 before Jackson poked a ball over the next with her left hand. After an ace from Dixon, Forbes was called for going into the net on match point.
