Cedar Ridge Volleyball

Jackson Schmid: The Division III Wheaton Thunder football team started its season with a 38-0 win over Monmouth (Illinois) at Zorn Stadium in Monmoth, IL on Saturday. Schmid, who was the quarterback for an undefeated Orange team in 2016, is now a safety with the Thunder. He recorded a career high two tackles on Saturday. Schmid, a junior, played three games for the Thunder last season.

Payton Wilson: N.C. State defeated Western Carolina 49-0 at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday. In his second college game, Wilson registered three tackles and a quarterback hit. He had six tackles in the season-opener against East Carolina last week.

Trent Gill: The 2017 Cedar Ridge graduate handled punting duties for N.C. State on Saturday. Gill had three punts for an 49.3 yard average. His longest punt was 58 yards, with two kicks inside the 20-yard line. Gill also had eight kickoffs with three touchbacks. The Wolfpack will take this week off, then return against Ball State on September 21.

Stone Edwards: After missing Vanderbilt’s season-opener against #3 Georgia on August 31st, the 2017 Orange graduate made his season-debut for the Commodores against Purdue at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, IN on Saturday. Edwards, who was listed as second-string defensive end on the Vanderbilt depth chart, wasn’t credited with a tackle. The Boilermakers defeated the Commodores 42-24.

Keshawn Thompson: The FCS Campbell Camels defeated Division II Shaw University 38-14 at Barker-Lane Stadium in Buies Creek on Saturday. Thompson was credited with two tackles. The Camels (1-1) return to action against Davidson on September 21.

Bryse Wilson: The day after making an appearance for the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday, Wilson returned to the Gwinnett Stripers of the AAA International League the next day. On Saturday, Wilson got the start as the Columbus Clippers defeated the Stripers 5-4 in Game 4 of the Governor’s Cup Semifinals at Huntington Park. The Clippers clinched the series three games to one and advanced to face the Durham Bulls in the Governor’s Cup Finals. Wilson went six innings in a no-decision. He surrendered ten hits and three runs. Gwinnett led 4-3 in the middle of the eighth, but couldn’t hold on to the lead. Gwinnett ends the season after a club record 81 wins. Wilson, who could return to Atlanta before the regular season ends, was named the Most Outstanding Pitcher for the Stripers last week. He finished 10-7 with a 3.42 in 21 starts for the Stripers this season. In his final ten starts, Wilson went 7-1 with a 3.12 ERA with 59 strikeouts and 13 walks.

Madison Wardlow: After graduating as Cedar Ridge’s career leading scorer in women’s basketball, Wardlow has enrolled at Guilford Technical Community College, where she plans to continue her basketball career. Wardlow was the first Cedar Ridge player to score over 1,000 points, a mark she eclipsed in February against Southern Durham.

Kayla Hodges: For the fifth time in five games, Hodges started for the Elon women’s soccer team in a 3-1 win over Richmond at President’s Field in Richmond, VA on Thursday. Hodges wasn’t credited with a shot on goal. The Phoenix are now 4-1 after going 3-10-4 in 2018.

Taylin Jean: The 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate made her college debut for Division II Limestone women’s soccer team on Thursday. North Georgia defeated the Saints 4-1 at the UNG Soccer Complex in Dahlonega, GA. Jean got her first college start in net and made three saves. Jean was the Big 8 Goalkeeper of the year her final two seasons at Cedar Ridge.

Brittany Daley: The Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer team won its third straight game over Southern Virginia 4-0 in Buena Vista, VA on Saturday. Daley, a 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate, started at centerback. She has started all four of the Pride’s games this year, playing 90 minutes twice. Greensboro is 3-1.

Jordan Rogers: On Saturday, Rogers started for Division III William Peace University. Agnes Scott defeated the Pacers 1-0 in Decatur, GA. The Pacers are 0-2 and will try to pick up its first win of 2019 against Hollins University at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on Tuesday.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The Division III Dickinson men’s soccer team suffered its first loss against Lebanon Valley 2-0 on Saturday in Annville, PA. Reid-Shaw entered the game as a reserve and has played in all three of Dickinson’s games so far this season. The Red Devils are 2-1.

Bailey Lucas: The Division III Meredith College volleyball team went 1-2 in the Washington & Lee Invite at the Duchossois Center in Lexington, VA on Friday and Saturday. The Avenging Angels defeated Southern Virginia 3-2 on Friday. Lucas had one kill, 17 assists and two digs against the Knights. On Saturday, Gettysburg defeated Meredith 3-2. Lucas finished with 19 assists and six digs. Washington & Lee also knocked off Meredith 3-2. Lucas had three kills, 18 assists, and four digs. The Avenging Angels are now 4-2.

As a new feature on Hillsboroughsports.com, we’ll honor the seven best performances from the previous week in fall sports. Last week was a solid one for Cedar Ridge and Orange volleyball. Cedar Ridge women’s tennis defeated Orange for the 11th straight time.

1. Olivia Ward: Won three matches for the Cedar Ridge women’s tennis team last week. She started with a thrilling three-set victory over Chapel Hill’s top singles player, Lauren Bolzan, 4-6, 6-4, and won 10-8 in a ten-point tiebreaker. The following day, Ward defeated Orange’s Jera Hargraves 6-1, 6-4, then teamed with Nora Sauers to win at #1 doubles and capture the dual match for the Red Wolves. The following day, Cedar Ridge edged Bartlett Yancey 5-4 at Red Wolves Tennis Courts. Ward captured her third win in four days, winning a match shortened to one set 8-5.
2. Cameron Lloyd The Cedar Ridge volleyball team won three road matches last week. On Wednesday, they defeated Durham School of the Arts 3-1 at Sykes Gymnasium in Durham. Lloyd, a freshman, finished with 18 kills and 18 digs. The previous week against the Durham School of the Arts in a 3-1 Cedar Ridge win, Lloyd had 15 kills, 18 digs and two aces.
3. Jose Beltran: On Wednesday, the Orange men’s soccer team scored three goals in a 13-minute span during the second half to rally and defeat Eastern Alamance 5-3. Beltran scored the first hat trick of his career, including the game-tying goal in the 62nd minute. Beltran also scored the opener for the Panthers in the 6th minute, and added another tally later in the 1st half as Orange won its home opener. The Panthers are 2-1 going into Tuesday night’s match at Hillside.
4. Kaitlyn Werden: In Orange’s stunning 3-1 volleyball victory over previously unbeaten Person, Werden had ten kills, ten digs two aces, two blocks and 21 assists. On Monday, night, Werden had five kills, two aces, three blocks, and ten digs in a 3-0 win over South Granville in Creedmoor. Orange defeated the Vikings again on Thursday night in Hillsborough.
5. Machai Holt: Though the Orange football team lost to R.J. Reynolds 47-24 in its season opener at Auman Stadium on Friday night, Holt was tremendous in the season-opener. He made an interception on the first play from scrimmage of the season. Holt finished the drive with a five-yard touchdown run. Holt also blocked an extra point, blocked a field goal, and led Orange players with 83 yards from scrimmage.
6. and #7 Anne Morrell and Zoe Wade: The Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team started its season at the Grizzly Grade-Level Growler at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex on Kernersville on August 24. It was the first of what could be a series of strong performances from the Cedar Ridge women. The event was divided into grade classes for each runner. Morrell won the race featuring exclusively juniors with a time of 13:02.00. She beat her nearest competitor by 27 seconds. Wade won the sophomore race, crossing the finish line at 13:20. Her teammate, Ruby Lapham, finished second in the sophomore race at 13:29. An honorable mention goes to Cedar Ridge freshman Sarah Fenwick, who won the two-mile freshman race at 13:20.

Photo by Kelly Snow

In the southern part of Orange County, Carrboro volleyball has won 134 matches since 2014, taking a pair of 2A state championships and reaching the Eastern Regional Finals four times. They lost to South Granville twice with a berth to the state title match on the line.

Across the way is Chapel Hill, which has captured three consecutive Big 8 Championships since Ross Fields arrived as head coach in 2016 from Indianapolis. In his first two years, the Tigers won the Eastern Regional Championship. They lost to Cox Mill 3-0 in the 2016 3A State Championship match. The following year, they fell to North Iredell in five sets.

Across Weaver Diary Road, East Chapel Hill ended Chapel Hill’s 30-match conference winning streak last season, finishing 24-5 under first-year head coach Rachel Kline.

If you shift up north, residents in Person County like to think of Roxboro as Volleyball Town, perhaps justifiably. The Person Rockets went 24-1 in 2017, falling to Chapel Hill in the 3A Eastern Regional Championship match. Matchups with Person and crosstown rival Roxboro Community School are carried on the town’s local radio station and play to a crowd filled to the brim in bandbox gymnasiums.

Needless to say, it’s a competitive area for volleyball. And in between is Orange and Cedar Ridge.

There have moments of glory in Hillsborough volleyball. In 2015, Cedar Ridge won the Big 8 Championship behind the finishing of middle blocker Asha Barnes, the reliable sets of Lili Henry and the passing of Leah Thompson. They went 12-0 in the Big 8 and even hosted the 3A Eastern Regional Championship match, losing to Asheboro in four sets.

Since then, Cedar Ridge hasn’t won more than eight matches in a season. Orange has reached the state playoffs three straight years, each first round eliminations to Cleveland, Chapel Hill and Franklinton.

Which is exactly why the first two weeks of 2019 are so noteworthy.

Orange stumbled to a three-match losing streak to begin the season, including getting swept by Person in Roxboro on August 20. Last Thursday, the Rockets arrived to Hillsborough 3-0 without losing a set.

They came away with a 3-1 loss to the Lady Panthers in an upset that was surprisingly anti-climatic. Orange won 25-15, 12-25, 25-18 and 25-16. In between the Person win was two victories over traditional 2A power South Granville, including a 3-0 sweep in Creedmoor on August 26.

Seniors Emma Clements and Kaitlyn Werden, along with libero Brooke Fryar excelled in the three wins.

“Our girls have been working very hard,” said Orange coach Kelly Young. “When we played Person, they nit-pick us like crazy. They showed me exactly where we were weak in our defense and our offense. So after playing them, I had a list of things that I wanted to work on. And I’ve been pushing the girls in practice and they proved it on the court tonight.”

At Cedar Ridge, the Red Wolves are off to its best start this decade. After beating Eastern Alamance 3-0 in Mebane on Thursday, they’re 5-0.

Freshmen Cameron Lloyd, the younger sister of former Orange High player Jordan Lloyd, leads the team with 44 kills and 51 digs. Another freshman, Cameron Lanier, is second with 34 kills while rookie Julie Altieri has 23 kills. She also leads the team with 17 aces and 68 assists.

The Red Wolves won three matches on the road last week. In addition to the Eastern win, they defeated the North Carolina School of Science and Math and Durham School of the Arts.

Lloyd finished with 18 kills and 18 digs against the Bulldogs, while Lanier had 17 kills. Junior Marlee Rakouskas finished with 17 digs. Altieri registered 28 assists.

After playing five matches in the span of ten days, Cedar Ridge will play its Big 8 Conference opener against Northwood on Thursday in Pittsboro. The Chargers have beaten the Red Wolves six consecutive times.

Payton Wilson: The former Big 8 Player of the Year made his long-awaited debut for N.C. State in its season-opener against East Carolina at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh on Saturday. Wilson made six tackles, including two tackles for loss, in his first college game as the Wolfpack hammered the Pirates 34-6. Wilson was part of a stout Wolfpack defense that kept the Pirates out of the end zone. ECU was held to 41 rushing yards and 269 yards total offense. East Carolina didn’t cross the 50-yard line for eight consecutive drives. The Pirates didn’t snap the ball in Wolfpack territory at all in the second half until a meaningless final drive that ended with a field goal. Wilson, a redshirt freshman, will return to action against Western Carolina at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

Trent Gill: The 2017 Cedar Ridge graduate also made his college football debut for N.C. State in the victory over East Carolina. Gill delivered the opening kickoff to the Wolfpack’s season, He also had five punts for an average of 41.6 yards. His longest kick was 53 yards. As placekicker, he had two touchbacks. As a punter, he downed two punts inside the 20-yard line.

Keshawn Thompson: A 2017 Orange High graduate, Thompson played extensively in for FCS Campbell in its 43-14 loss to Troy at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, AL on Saturday night. Thompson made five tackles against the Trojans. Thompson, who was placed on scholarship during the summer, was named to the Big South Presidential Honor Roll last year. In 2018, he played in all eleven of Campbell’s games. The Camels will host Division II Shaw in Buies Creek next Saturday.

Kayla Hodges: On Friday night, Hodges notched her first college assist. Not only that, but she assisted on the game-winning goal as Elon defeated Radford 2-1 at Cupp Stadium in Virginia. Off a corner kick, Hodges headed the ball to Taylor Paradoski, who fired it into the net from four yards out in the 67th minute. Elon is 3-0, already equaling its win total from 2018. Hodges has started all three games. Elon travels to Furman on Sunday afternoon.

Brittany Daley: After going undefeated during the regular season in 2018, the Division III Greensboro women’s soccer team dropped its opener to Washington & Lee 2-0 in the Washington & Lee Tournament in Lexington, VA on Friday. Daley, a 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate, started for the Pride. On Saturday, Greensboro rebounded with a 2-1 win over Bridgestone College in the consolation game. Daley also started that game at centerback.

Jordan Rogers: A 2018 Orange graduate, Rogers started her sophomore season with Division III William Peace University’s women’s soccer team on Friday night. St. Andrews defeated the Pacers 2-1 in Laurinburg. Rogers started at midfield.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The Division III Dickinson’s men’s soccer team started its season with two wins. Reid-Shaw, a senior who graduated from Orange, started in a 3-0 victory over Rensselaer at Miller Memorial Field in Carlisle, PA on Saturday night. Reid-Shaw started at wingback. He also played in Dickinson’s 6-3 victory over Plattsburgh on Friday.

Lili Henry: The Division III Methodist volleyball team started its season in the Oregon Trail Volleyball Tournament in Newberg, OR. The Monarchs dropped all four of its matches against Linfield College and George Fox University on Friday. On Saturday, Pacific University and Lewis & Clark College defeated Methodist. In the 3-0 loss to Linfield, Henry led Methodist with 18 assists and three aces. She also had three kills. Against George Fox, Henry had 22 assists, four digs and a block. In Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Pacific University, Henry registered 24 assists, three kills, and five digs. The finale against Lewis & Clark, a 3-0 loss, featured Henry with 26 assists and seven digs.

Bailey Lucas: Lucas started her sophomore year as a member of the Division III Meredith Volleyball team with three wins and a loss at the Route 42 Classic this weekend. On Friday, the Avenging Angels defeated Catholic 3-0 and fought back to defeat Eastern Mennonite 3-2 in Yoder Arena in Harrisonburg, VA on Friday. Meredith defeated Lynchburg 3-1 before falling to Bridgewater 3-0 on Saturday.

Lucas didn’t play on Friday, but did see action against Lynchburg. Lucas had two kills, 16 assists and three digs. She also played all three sets against Bridgewater, where she registered one kill, seven digs, one dig and one block.

The first Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the week for the 2019-2020 academic year is freshman setter for the Red Wolves volleyball team Julie Altieri. Last week, Red Wolves started the season with wins over Eastern Alamance and the Durham School of the Arts. Against the Eagles, Altieri had nine kills, five digs, two blocks and 14 assists. In the win over the Bulldogs, Altieri had ten kills, 14 aces, 12 digs, 26 assists and a block. There were several freshmen who stood out for the Red Wolves in the opening week of the season. Cameron Lloyd had 15 kills against Durham School of the Arts, while Cameron Lanier had five kills. Altieri’s older brothers, Andrew and Eddie, both played for the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team. The Red Wolves will play on the road three times this week. They travel to the North Carolina School of Science and Math on Monday, the Durham School of the Arts on Tuesday and Eastern Alamance on Thursday.

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team is 2-0 after beating the Durham School of the Arts 3-1 on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. The Red Wolves dropped the first set, but Layne Foster helped spark a rally with 13 kills. Cameron Lloyd had 15 kills as Cedar Ridge finished with a flourish. Foster transferred from East Chapel Hill during the summer. In Monday night’s season-opening win over Eastern Alamance, Foster had five kills. Cedar Ridge will take the rest of the week off before resuming action next Tuesday at the North Carolina School of Science and Math in Durham. The Red Wolves next four games are on the road. 

Special thanks to Jon Franklin for shooting this video and conducting this interview with Cedar Ridge head volleyball coach Anna Seethaler, Shili Quade and Cameron Lanier.

The first game of the new academic year in Hillsborough prep sports was a successful one for the Cedar Ridge volleyball team. The Red Wolves defeated Eastern Alamance 3-0 on Monday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium on scores of 25-8, 25-14 and 25-14. The Red Wolves received strong performances from junior Shili Quade and freshman Cameron Lanier. The Red Wolves have won three straight season openers. On Tuesday night, the Red Wolves will try to go 2-0 when they face Durham School of the Arts at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The game will start at 6:15.