Cedar Ridge Volleyball

It may sound strange to some that Cedar RIdge volleyball pulled a major upset considering the Red Wolves won a state championship just two years ago. But the Red Wolves became the first Central Carolina Conference team to beat Orange this season on Wednesday night, and it happened in the Central Carolina Conference tournament championship game. The Red Wolves defeated Orange 3-1 on scores of 25-18, 18-25, 25-16, 25-20. Sophomore Claire Hargett finished with 23 kills and 14 digs. Senior Rachel Alverson had 46 assists and 15 digs as Cedar Ridge ended Orange’s 20-match winning streak. Graylinn Serge registered 12 kills and 25 digs as the Red Wolves won the CCC Tournament for the third year in a row. It’s the fourth straight year where Cedar Ridge has won a regular season or conference tournament championship and its fourth win at Orange in the last five trips. It brings a great measure of satisfaction to seniors like Alverson, Serge, Addie Reid, Natasha Buschler-Fosado, Eliana Miller, Cecilia Kenna, Caroline Park, Ellie Woodson and Alexandra Hood, who had a true Senior moment against its arch rival on Wednesday. Cedar Ridge will open play in the 3A State Playoffs at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Saturday. Opponent and time will be announced on Thursday.

It was a special night for Cedar Ridge senior volleyball setter Rachel Alverson. On Monday night, Alverson surpassed 1,000 career assists as the Red Wolves defeated Walter Williams 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the Central Carolina Conference tournament. Alverson ended the night with 28 assists to become only the second player in school history with 1,000 assists. Alverson joined her former teammate Julie Altieri, who is now playing at Salisbury University in Maryland. Alverson is in her second year at the varsity level. This season, according to records from MaxPreps.com, Alverson has set the single-season assist record with 721, breaking Altieri’s previous mark of 717 set during the State Championship season of 2021. Alverson is a two-sport athlete at Cedar Ridge. She has also played in women’s soccer with teammate Addie Reid. The Red Wolves have won the two previous CCC Tournaments. On Tuesday night, they will host Person in the CCC Semifinals. Cedar Ridge will likely host a home match in the 3A State Playoffs on Saturday. The pairings will be announced on Friday. Cedar Ridge won both its previous matchups against Person this year.

It’s an emotional week for the Cedar Ridge volleyball team.

In all likelihood, it will be the final home games for the senior class that is the last connection to the 2021 3A State Championship squad. There will be a Central Carolina Conference semifinal match on Tuesday against Person inside Red Wolves Gymnasium with an outside chance of hosting the tournament title tilt.

In all likelihood, there will be one, final, state playoff match on Saturday at Red Wolves Gymnasium.

Together, Graylinn Serge, Rachel Alverson, Addie Reid, Natasha Buchler-Fosado, Ellie Woolson, Caroline Park, Cecilia Kenan, and Alexandra Hood have been a part of championship teams. Serge, Reid and Buchler-Fosado walked together under the spotlight of Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh for the 3A State Championship match against North Iredell, a memory that still clear in their minds.

They have also witnessed milestones. Cameron Lloyd, now at Bucknell College, recorded 1.062 kills, a school record. In her sophomore year, Lloyd became the first Red Wolf in school history with 500 kills.

Her teammate, Cameron Lanier, joined the 500 kill club in the state championship match against Iredell, though no one noticed at the time with a state title on the line and all. Setter Julie Altieri, another member of the Class of 2023, became the first Cedar Ridge player with 1,000 assists.

Now, Altieri has company.

Rachel Alverson, who has been at the varsity level for two years, reached 1,000 career assists in Cedar Ridge’s 3-0 win over Walter Williams in the opening round of the Central Carolina Conference Tournament on Monday night. The Red Wolves (13-8), the 2nd seed out of the CCC, will host Person on Tuesday night in the semifinals. The Rockets defeated Eastern Alamance 3-1 on Monday in Roxboro.

Alverson, who has 721 assists on the season, appears to have broken the single-season ecord, held by Altieri. In 2022, Altieri is registered with 717 assists, according to MaxPreps.com.

Altieri is now a freshman setter, already starting, for the Division III Salisbury University Seagulls of the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference.

The Red Wolves, who have won the previous two CCC Tournaments, never trailed against Williams in securing its fifth straight conference tournament win stretching back to 2021. Sophomore Claire Hargett finished with 12 kills and five digs. Alverson ended the night with 28 assists, five digs and one kill. Reid finished with six kills and one block. Serge had 13 digs and four kills.

Williams ends the year 3-13.

From the time Alverson set up Kayla Stoll for a kill on the opening point, the Red Wolves were never seriously challenged. Serge had an ace while Hargett notched consecutive kills to send the Red Wolves off to a 8-0 lead in the first set. The Red Wolves reeled off nine consecutive points to take a 19-4 lead, which included four aces from Park and three more kills from Reid. Woolson had a block on set point to conclude the frame 25-12, and that was the most competitive frame of the night.

Cedar Ridge scored the first six points of the second set, with Hargett scoring the first three off a block and two kills. The big run of the second set was eight straight points, three of which came off kills by Hargett, who now leads the team with 253 kills. The Red Wolves scored the final seven points of the set, with Kenan racking up an ace on set point to win 25-5.

Woolson had consecutive kills to open the third set. Woolson also had a block to increase the Red Wolves lead to 7-1, leading to a Bulldogs timeout. Hargett registered two aces during a 6-0 run. Hood ended the match with an ace as Cedar Ridge took the third set 25-9.

There will be volleyball action on both ends of Hillsborough on Tuesday night. In addition to Cedar Ridge’s match against Person, top-seeded Orange will host Western Alamance. The Warriors defeated Southern Alamance on Monday to advance to the semifinals.

The eight seniors on the Cedar Ridge volleyball team will forever be immortalized in school history. Several of the players were members of the 3A State Championship team in 2021, which defeated North Iredell 3-1 at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh. Together, they have won six championships together, including two Central Carolina Conference regular season titles, two CCC Tournament championships, the 2021 3A Eastern Regional title and the state crown. On Tuesday night, seniors Graylinn Serge, Rachel Alverson, Addie Reid, Natasha Buchler-Fosado, Ellie Woolson, Cecilia Kenan, Caroline Park, and Alexandra Hood were honored on Senior night. Also honored were managers Cierra and Cameron Copeland, who are members of Cedar Ridge’s women’s basketball team. Cedar Ridge defeated Walter Williams 3-0. Fittingly, Reid led Cedar Ridge with ten kills. Serge, who leads the team in kills, had a team-high five aces. Kenan had a team-high 18 digs, along with three aces. Alverson, who leads the team in assists, finished with 35 on the night. While it was Senior Night, it won’t be Cedar Ridge’s final home game of the season. The Red Wolves will face Williams again in the opening round of the CCC Tournament on Monday night at Red Wolves Stadium. If Cedar Ridge wins, they will host a semifinal game on Tuesday. Cedar Ridge also stands a strong chance to host an opening round game in the 3A State Playoffs on October 21.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior volleyball outside hitter Graylinn Serge. In 2021 Serge was a member of the first Cedar Ridge women’s sports team in school history to win a state championship when the Red Wolves defeated North Iredell 3-1 at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh. Serge played in all four sets in the match. This season, as a senior, Serge is tied for the team lead with 194 kills. She is also second on the team with 217 digs as the Red Wolves have secured 2nd place in the CCC. Through three years on the varsity, Serge has amassed 240 kills and has been a part of teams that have won a total of six championships, including consecutive Central Carolina Conference regular season and tournament championships. Serge will be one of eight seniors honored tonight for Cedar Ridge when the Red Wolves face Walter Williams to conclude its regular season at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Next Monday, Cedar Ridge and Williams will play once again in the quarterfinals of the CCC Tournament at Red Wolves Gymnasium. During her career at Cedar Ridge, Serge was a regular rotation player of teams that won 42-consecutive conference games and 33 straight home games. The Red Wolves will likely host a game in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs, which begin on October 21.

Cameron Lloyd: The Bucknell Bison defeated archival Lehigh on the road for the first time since 2010 on Friday night. The Bison rallied to win 3-2 on scores of 21-25, 25-16, 21-25, 27-25, 15-13. Lloyd had five kills and eight digs. The following day, Bucknell defeated Lafayette 3-1 (25-17, 25-23, 21-25, and 25-13) for its second Patriot League win. Lloyd was third on the team with nine kills, along with 14 digs. She also had one ace. Bucknell is 6-7, 2-2 in the Patriot League. They will face Navy later today in Annapolis, MD.

Cameron Lanier:  Last Saturday, UNC Wilmington swept Elon at the Schar Center (25-19, 25-22, 25-20). Lanier paced the Phoenix with eight kills. She also had six digs and one assist. It was the third straight match that Lanier led the Phoenix in kills. On Saturday, the Seahawks defeated the Phoenix 3-2 (14-25, 18-25, 34-32, 25-18 and 15-12). The Phoenix had a match point in the third for a sweep. Lanier finished with ten kills, nine digs and an assist. Elon is 3-10, 0-4 in the CAA. On Friday, they will host Northeastern.

Lottie Scully: Colgate defeated the Binghamton Bearcats 3-0 at West Gym in Binghamton, New York on Wednesday. The Red Raiders won on scores of 25-22, 25-18 and 25-13. Scully had 15 assists, eleven digs, and three kills. Binghamton is 6-8. Later today, they start play in the American East Conference when they face the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Anaya Carter: Last Saturday, Division II UNC Pembroke swept Southern Wesleyan (25-18, 26-24, 25-20) at Tysinger Gymnasium in Central, SC. Carter played in all three sets and had seven digs with two aces. On Tuesday, the Braves defeated Barton College 3-2 (20-25, 25-19, 25-22, 21-25 and 15-7) at Wilson Gymnasium in Wilson. Carter played all five sets and registered nine digs and two aces. UNC Pembroke is 8-7 overall, 2-2 in Conference Carolinas. They will host Converse in Pembroke on Friday, then take on Belmont Abbey on Saturday.

Allie Wilkerson: The Division III Averett Cougars remain undefeated in Old Dominion Athletic Conference play. On Saturday, the Cougars defeated Eastern Mennonite University 3-2 (15-25, 25-17, 14-25, 25-18, 17-15). As a freshman, Wilkerson led the team with ten kills, along with two digs, two aces and one block. On Wednesday, Averett won at Guilford College 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 25-20, 25-22) at Reagan-Brown Field House in Greensboro. Wilkerson had seven kills, four digs, one ace. Averett is 10-4 overall and leads the ODAC with a 5-0 record. They will host Randolph-Macon on Friday at the Stuart James Grant Center in Danville, VA.

Julie Altieri: The Division III Salisbury Seagulls dropped all three matches in the Johns Hopkins Invitational at the Newton White Center in Baltimore last weekend. On Friday, Johns Hopkins defeated the Seagulls 3-1 (25-16, 25-14, 17-15, 25-12). Altieri is now starting as the setter for Salisbury and finished with a team-high 24 assists. She added ten digs, three aces, and one kill. On Saturday, Mount Union defeated Salisbury 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-16). Altieri had 18 assists, six kills (second on the team), five digs and one ace. Later on Saturday, Scranton defeated Salisbury 3-1 (25-23, 25-14, 14-25, 25-23). Altieri had 25 assists, three digs and two aces. Salisbury is 7-5. They will host Mary Washington and Stevens for a tri-match this weekend.

Ashlyn Davis: The University of Lynchburg defeated Ferrum 3-1 (25-23, 27-25, 25-27, 25-19) inside Swartz Gymnasium in Ferrum, VA on Saturday. Davis played one set for Lynchburg. The Hornets are 4-7, 1-4 in the ODAC.