Cedar Ridge Volleyball

GRAHAM–There’s a classic throwback feel once you enter Southern Alamance’s gymnasium.

There’s no air conditioning. The fans from the ventilation system above the bleachers squeak. The only thing keeping the floor from getting soaked with players’s sweat, even on a mild day like last Thursday, are fans placed on opposite ends of the end zones. Long rallies are tougher because of a low roof, where no less than four balls clanked off the rafters for Cedar Ridge’s volleyball match against the Patriots on Thursday.

“The Battleground,” as is it described on Southern Alamance’s scoreboard, makes visiting teams earn victories, regardless of the opposition’s quality. Despite early setbacks, Cedar Ridge emerged victorious in its first conference matchup against the Patriots.

Sophomore Claire Hargett finished with 13 kills and 19 digs as the Red Wolves swept Southern Alamance 3-0 on scores of 27-25, 25-14 and 25-10. Senior Addie Reid added nine kills and two blocks, while Graylinn Serge had eight kills and 16 digs.

It was Cedar Ridge’s 42nd consecutive conference win. The Red Wolves (4-3, 2-0 in the Central Carolina Conference) will host Orange on Tuesday in a showdown for first place in the CCC at Red Wolves Gymnasium.

“It took us a while to settle in tonight,” said Cedar Ridge volleyball coach Latcha De Oliveira. “We were a little antsy tonight. The defense was better in the second set. I think we settled in at that point. We were a little frazzled the first set.”

There were six lead changes in the opening set, which saw Cedar Ridge spring out to a 10-6 lead. Southern Alamance (2-4, 0-1) come back with a 7-2 run to take a 16-13 lead. Cedar Ridge responded with seven of the next eight points, included three consecutive kills by Reid. The Patriots were on the verge of taking the set after an ace by Autumn Jones, which put them ahead 25-24. On set point, an attack by junior Ava Duggins was dug by Serge and went off the net. Hargett went to her knees to keep the ball alive and passed it over to Kayla Still, who wound up with the kill to send it to overtime.

Reid factored in on the final two points, assisting on a kill by Hargett. On match point, Reid got the kill off a feed from Hargett.

Reid scored seven points in the second set, tallying five kills and two blocks. Cedar Ridge jumped out to an 8-2 lead and were never challenged. The Red Wolves closed the third set on an 8-1 run, ending with a kill by Ellamarie Perel. Rachel Alverson finished with 31 assists, while sophomore Mia Marty added seven assists.

Cedar Ridge will go into the crosstown matchup against Orange having beaten the Panthers eight straight times.

“It’s gonna be down to the wire every game in this conference,” De Oliveira said. “We have a big game coming up against Orange. I think everybody is gunning for that top spot this year.”

Orange 3, Western Alamance 0:

Things were considerably less dramatic for Orange in its latest trip to Elon. Last year, Western Alamance extended the Lady Panthers to five sets. This year, Orange swept the Warriors to open their CCC slate.

Senior Ella Wimsatt, sophomores Ava Wilkerson and Aubrey Jordan each had double-digit kills for Orange, who won 25-16, 25-22 and 25-21. Wimsatt finished with 13 kills, while Wilkerson had eleven and Jordan ten. Sophomore Katie Silcott finished with 33 aces and seven digs. Senior libero Sadye Porter had 13 digs as Orange won in its ninth straight road game.

In the nine road games, Orange has gone 6-3. The Panthers trailed only twice in the entire match and never in the third set. Wimsatt had seven kills in the opening set, while Wilkerson added six.

After its contest against Cedar Ridge, Orange (7-3, 1-0) will finally have a home game against Person on Thursday.

Random thoughts regarding high school sports as we enter September.

–This Tuesday will mark the first big conference volleyball match of the season between Cedar Ridge and Orange inside Red Wolves Gymnasium. Watching 90,000 fans fill Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE on Wednesday night to see Nebraska face Omaha led to me quipping on Facebook “I hope no one yells when Omaha serves or else someone from J.H. Rose will complain.” It was a joke from last year when they was a controversy regarding fans yelling during serves during the 3A Eastern Regional Final match between Cedar Ridge and Rose. That post led to a lengthy thread where local referee Chris Andrews weighed in saying “It’s up to the opposing coach to come to the official to complain. The official can judge whether or not proceed and have the Game Day Admin handle the situation. But the official can’t tell the fans to be quiet.” This will most likely become an issue at various matches over the next two months, so please keep that in mind.

–There will be a larger column on this issue later, but the North Carolina High School Athletic Association will go to seven classifications in 2025. It’s been four months since athletic directors across the state voted to pass a measure to expand classifications, yet many questions remain unanswered by the NCHSAA. One of them is: will there be conferences? I’m waving the banner to keep conferences alive. Not every team is a state championship team, even with more of them being legislated. So there needs to be secondary levels of achievement. Otherwise, the regular season becomes too narrow. To use a pro wrestling term, you need some Interconential Champions and U.S. Heavyweight Champions because there can be only one Roman Reigns or Hulk Hogan. For instance, Orange volleyball hasn’t won a conference title in 18 years. If this current group can win the Central Carolina Conference title this year, it will mean a lot to them.

–There was quietly a landmark occasion on Friday night as the Person Rockets football team defeated Northern Durham. It was the final game between the two teams at Durham County Stadium. In the 1980 and 1990s, Durham County Stadium was the modern-day equivalent to Bryant-Denny Stadium for the Alabama Crimson Tide (The Knights will have an on-campus stadium when they open their new school this week). Northern was every bit the juggernaut back then that Georgia and Alabama are now. They won 17 consecutive PAC-6 Conference championships between 1984-2001 and didn’t lose to another team from Durham County from 1976-2000. Person won there in 1990, then went decades without a victory over the Knights, in Roxboro or Durham. While the modern Northern Knights are hardly similar to the powerhouse teams of the past, winning the final tilt in Durham County had to bring some satisfaction to those in Roxboro, who remain loyal to their high school teams in the stands and in the media. You would think that Northern Durham’s potential final game inside DCS would draw some media attention after they were the center of the high school football universe for decades, but alas, it went largely ignored. I guess Mack Brown losing 60 pounds was more important to the Herald-Sun.

Those are my thoughts. Now on to the Magnificent 7 for week 2 of the season, ranging from August 21-26. Seven great local performances in no particular order.

1. Ella Wimsatt, Orange, Sr. The Orange volleyball team hasn’t had a home game since their season-opener on August 15, but it hasn’t impacted them in the slightest. Against Seaforth on August 21, Wimatt had 18 kills and ten digs. Three days later, Wimsatt had a career-high 24 kills in a 3-1 win at Falls Lake in Creedmoor. Falls Lake entered the match #1 in the 1A East Region RPI rankings.
2. Naomi Dyreng, Cedar Ridge, Jr.: Dyreng finished tenth for the Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team in the Early Bird Challenge on August 19. She finished at 20:58.90. Last year, Dyreng was the top finisher among Hillsborough female runners in the 3A State Cross Country Championships in Kernersville. She also won three regional championships at the Mideast Track and Field Championships last May.
3. Dominic McNerney, Cedar Ridge, Jr.: The Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team is 4-0-1, it’s best start in at least 13 years. McNerney assisted on a goal in the Red Wolves 3-1 win over Vance County on August 21. Against Northwood, McNerney scored the Red Wolves’ only goal in a 1-1 tie in Pittsboro. McNerney is a co-Captain for a Cedar Ridge team aiming to make the state playoffs for the first time since 2016.
4. Ryker Stein, Orange, Sr. : With 54 seconds remaining against Carrboro on August 23, Stein scored the equalizing goal as Orange tied the Jaguars 1-1. For Stein, it was the fifth goal of his career. Last year, he scored three for a Panther team that reached the state playoffs for the first time in five years.
5. Mason Cates, Cedar Ridge, Sr.: Had eight tackles for the Cedar Ridge football team in its loss to Granville Central on August 18. Cates also had 40 yards rushing. A two-sport athlete, Cates also was an All-Conference pitcher for the Cedar Ridge baseball team last spring on a Red Wolves team that made the state playoffs.
6. Makayla Davis, Orange, Sr.: Won both of her matches for the Orange women’s tennis team in a 5-4 loss to the Durham School of the Arts on August 22. Davis teamed with Molly Kruse to defeat Yunah Park and Nina Goffney 6-4. In her singles match, Davis defeated Sadie Miller 6-4, 6-4. This season, Davis has a 9-1 record in singles and doubles matches.
7. Addie Reid, Cedar Ridge, Sr: Reid had nine kills in Cedar Ridge’s 3-1 win over East Chapel Hill on August 21. She also had two blocks and two digs. Reid also had eight kills in a 3-1 loss to Carrboro where the Jaguars won two sets by a score of 25-23. Reid, a member of Cedar Ridge’s 2021 3A State Championship team, also had a block.

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team is used to facing Southern Alamance, but they played the Patriots as a conference opponent for the first time on Thursday. After a tight first set, the Red Wolves dominated the second and third to win 3-0 on scores of 27-25, 25-14 and 25-10. Cedar Ridge had to survive a set point in the opening frame when sophomore Kayla Stoll scored off a feed by Rachel Alverson. With the set tied 25-25, Cedar Ridge Sophomore Claire Hargett had a huge dig off the net to keep a point alive, which led to a kill by Rachel Alverson. Senior Addie Reid scored set point. Reid dominated the second set, scoring seven points off of five kills and two blocks. Reid would add two more blocks in the third set. Still finished with six kills as the Red Wolves won its 42nd consecutive match against a conference opponent, a streak that dates back to 2019. The Red Wolves return home on Tuesday to face crosstown rival Orange. Cedar Ridge has beaten Orange eight straight times, including four times last year. The winner will be in sole possession of first place in the Central Carolina Conference. You can hear the game on Hillsboroughsports.com on Tuesday night at 6:15.

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team extended some streaks in its conference-opening win on Tuesday night against Person. It was the Red Wolves’ 41st straight win over a conference opponent, counting conference and state tournaments. The Red Wolves have also won 31 consecutive home matches and have beaten Person six straight times. Sophomore Claire Hargett had 14 kills, 15 digs and one ace. Hargett is second on the team with 70 kills through Cedar Ridge’s first seven matches. She also has 78 digs, which is third on the team. Senior Caroline Park has been the Red Wolves libero this season. She is second on the team with 79 digs. The Red Wolves got off to a successful start in the search for their fourth consecutive conference championship. Cedar Ridge also received ten kills from senior Graylinn Serge, who also finished with 17 digs and one ace. Cedar Ridge will travel over to Graham for its first-ever Central Carolina Conference match against Southern Alamance on Thursday night. On Tuesday, the Red Wolves will host crosstown rival Orange, who will go into the showdown with Cedar Ridge undefeated in conference play.

Cameron Lloyd: Playing for Bucknell, Lloyd played in all three games of the Liberty Invitational at Liberty Arena in Lynchburg, VA. In her first college game, Stony Brook swept the Bison 3-0 on scores of 25-20, 25-18 and 25-19. Lloyd had three kills and seven digs. On Friday night, Liberty swept Bucknell 3-0 on scores of 25-21, 25-21 and 25-18. Lloyd had three kills, one ace and six digs. Bucknell won its first game on Saturday with a 3-1 victory over Gardner-Webb (27-25, 24-26, 25-15 and 25-19). Lloyd had three aces and five digs. Bucknell will host the Bucknell Invitational starting Friday against William & Mary at Davis Gym in Lewisburg, PA.

Grace Young: It was the first of many matchups where former members of the 2020-2022 Cedar Ridge volleyball team face each other at the college level, UNC Asheville took on North Carolina Central on Saturday afternoon at the Justice Center in Asheville. Young is a freshman with the Bulldogs. Her head coach at Cedar Ridge, Fiona Cunningham, is now an assistant with Central. The Bulldogs was a five-set affair on scores of 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-13. Young played four sets and finished with two aces and three digs. On Friday, Maryland Eastern Shore defeated UNC Asheville 3-2 on scores of 25-23, 18-25, 20-25, 25-19 and 15-9. Young played three sets and finished with two digs.

Cameron Lanier: The Elon volleyball team opened its season in the Charlotte Invitational at Halton Arena. Lanier had eight kills in her first college game, a 3-0 loss to Coastal Carolina. Lanier also had three digs. On Friday night, the Charlotte 49ers swept Elon 3-1. Lanier had six kills and three digs. On Saturday, Charleston Southern defeated the Phoenix 3-1 on scores of 22-25, 25-21, 25-11 and 25-18. Lanier finished with ten kills and five digs. Elon will continue its season against Georgia State in the Wofford Invitational in Spartanburg, SC on Friday.

Bryse Wilson: Last week, Wilson earned two victories pitching in relief for the Milwaukee Brewers. On Sunday, Wilson struck out four in four innings in a 10-6 win over the San Diego Padres at Miller Park. Facing 14 batters, Wilson allowed just one hit and tossed 39 strikes in 53 pitches. Last Tuesday, Wilson earned another win as the Brewers defeated the Minnesota Twins 7-6. Wilson threw two shutout innings with three strikeouts. On August 20, Wilson threw two-thirds of an inning in at 6-2 win over the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Wilson allowed one unearned run and one hit. Going into Tuesday, the Brewers lead the National League Central by five games over the Chicago Cubs.

Mia Davidson: Davidson’s second professional season with Athletes Unlimited wound to a close on Sunday. Davidson played the final weekend of the year for Team Flippen. On Friday, Team Gibson defeated Team Flippen 8-0. Davidson finished 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch. On Saturday, Team Alexander defeated Team Flippen 4-0. Davidson went 0-for-2 with a walk. In her final game of the summer, Davidson went 0-for-3 and was hit by a pitch as Team Denham defeated Team Davidson 6-1. This year, Davidson was a team captain for the third and four weeks after she finished in the top four among point-getters. She ended the year 20th with 1,298 points.

Trenton Gill: The Chicago Bears wrapped up its exhibition slate with a 24-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Saturday at Solider Field. Gill, who has the punting position locked up for the Bears, had five punts for an average of 52.4 yards. He had one punt downed inside the 20-yard line. His longest punt was 60 yards. In Chicago’s second preseason game last week, the Indianapolis Colts edged the Bears 24-17. Once again, Gill was the only player who punted. Gill had four punts for an average of 51 yards. His average was 45.5 yards. Gill and the Bears will start the regular season against the Green Bay Packers on September 10 at Solider Field.

It is now 30 straight home wins for the Cedar Ridge volleyball team. On Monday night, the Red Wolves defeated East Chapel Hill 3-1 on scores of 25-19, 25-19, 22-25 and 25-9. Senior Grayling Serge finished with 15 kills, 12 digs and four aces. Fellow senior Addie Reid had nine kills, nine digs and two blocks as the Red Wolves improved to 2-2. As usual, the Red Wolves are playing a rigorous, unforgiving nonconfernce slate. Last week, Cedar Ridge journeyed to Raleigh to face the defending 4A State Champions, the Millbrook Wildcats. Cedar Ridge led two-sets-to-one before the Wildcats came back to win the match in five sets. On Saturday, Chapel Hill defeated Cedar Ridge 3-0. For a team that lost the most accomplished senior class, in any sport, in school history, the Red Wolves continue to improve with new varsity players like Ellie Woolson and Caroline Park. Against the Wildcats, Cedar Ridge received nine kills from sophomore Claire Hargett, who played as a freshman at the varsity level in 2022. Cedar Ridge will have another stiff nonconference test on Wednesday night when they face Carrboro at Jaguars Gymnasium.  The Red Wolves, who have won three consecutive conference championships, will start its Central Carolina Conference campaign against Person on Tuesday at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Cedar Ridge will travel to Southern Alamance next Thursday.

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team not only started a new season, but a new era on Monday night. The Red Wolves defeated Eno River 3-0 on scores of25-17, 25-13, and 25-18. It was the first game without Cameron Lloyd, Julie Altieri, Cameron Lanier, Grace Young, Melissa Benkowitz and Anaya Carter, a core group of players who graduated after winning a state championships and three conference championships. It was also the first game for new head coach Latacha De Oliveira, who replaced Fiona Cunningham earlier this summer. But there’s plenty of experience returning for Cedar Ridge. Senior Graylinn Serge finished with 15 kills, 23 digs and one ace. Another senior, Rachel Alverson, finished with a team-high 34 assists and five digs. Sophomore Claire Hargett, who had playing time during the regular season and state playoffs last year, finished with eight kills, two aces and ten digs. Cedar Ridge has now won 29 consecutive matches at home. They did it on their new home floor, which was installed in July. The Red Wolves will travel to Raleigh tonight to face Millbrook, the defending 4A State Champions, tonight. Then Cedar Ridge will face Chapel Hill on Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill.   

There was a new coat of paint for Cedar Ridge volleyball in its season opener–literally and figuratively.

For starters, there’s a new hardwood at Cedar Ridge gymnasium. The menacing dark gray that symbolized an angry Red Wolves’ menacing glare is gone. In its place is a traditional interlocking “CR” at center court with fresh coats of burgundy paint and a more traditional shiny, brown hardwood with “The Ridge” spelled out on opposite ends of the floor. It took roughly two weeks to install last month.

Of course, there’s the volleyball team itself. Cedar Ridge’s all-time leader in kills, Cameron Lloyd, has graduated and gone to Buckell University. The schools’ second all-time leader in kills, Cameron Lanier, is practicing 30 minutes up I-40/I-85 at Elon University. The all-time assists and aces dddleader was in the gym on Monday night for the Red Wolves’ season opener against Eno River, but Julie Altieri wasn’t in uniform. Instead, she took in her first game as a Cedar Ridge graduate, standing with the rest of the student section as she prepares to leave for Salisbury University in Maryland by week’s end.

While almost all the Cedar Ridge starters from the past four years have moved on, there’s still plenty of players left behind with lots of experience. Senior outside hitter Graylinn Serge, setter Rachel Aversion and sophomore Claire Hargett all registered plenty of sets during Cedar Ridge’s many blowout wins last year. They’re hardly green and it showed in its first-ever matchup against Eno River.

Serge finished with 15 kills and 23 digs, while Hargett had eight kills and ten digs as the Red Wolves swept the season-opener from the Bobcats 3-0 on scores of 25-17, 25-13 and 25-18. The Red Wolves have now won 29 consecutive games at home and 58 consecutive sets in regular season play.

It was the first win for new Cedar Ridge head coach Latacha De Oliveira, who replaced Fiona Cunningham last month.

With Altieri watching from the sidelines, it was Alverson’s responsibility to fill her considerable shoes as setter. Alverson finished with 34 assists, spreading the ball around to five different attackers who registered 37 kills. Averson also had two aces.

“I thought Rachel did a great job,” De Oliveira said. “She ran a great offense and she connected well with all of her hitters.”

Eno River sophomore C’hannah Lawson opened the game with a block of a Hargett attack and finished with five kills and two blocks. Junior libero Zua Vang came away with 12 digs for the Bobcats.

Leading 9-7, Cedar Ridge ran off eight consecutive points with Aversion serving to take control of the opening set. Serge had back-to-back kills to spark the run. Senior Addie Reid slammed home match point off a feed from Serge to put the Red Wolves up a set.

Eno River’s Natalia Rossi started the second set with four straight Bobcats points, ending with an ace. The Red Wolves responded with an 8-0 run, keyed by four aces from Hargett. After the Bobcats reduced its deficit to 14-10, Cedar Ridge reeled off another eight straight points with Hargett serving again. Senior Ellie Woolson, who finished with seven kills, slammed home a point off an pass from Alverson to increase the Red Wolves advantage to 21-10.

Not everything was different in the season opener. As is custom whenever the Red Wolves lead a match 2-sets-to-nothing, Cedar Ridge public address announcer Jon Franklin plays 1990’s one-hit wonder RedNex’s techno-Bluegrass version of “Cotton Eye Joe” between the second and third sets, which always leads to Cedar Ridge players (and occasionally opponents) dancing at the expense of discussing strategy.

Eno River pushed its lead to 7-3 to begin the third set behind kills from Joss Young and Hannah Smith. This time, Cedar Ridge evened the set with a six straight points, including two finishes by Hargett and another by Reid. The Red Wolves used an 8-1 spurt to take a 16-12 lead behind consecutive kills from Serge and an ace by Natasha Buchler-Fosado.

Another thing that hasn’t changed is Cedar Ridge playing tough nonconference schedules. On Tuesday night (tonight), the Red Wolves will travel to Raleigh to face defending 4A State Champion Millbrook. It’s the second straight year the Red Wolves have played the defending 4A State Champions in Wake County. Last year, Cedar Ridge swept Green Level at Garner High School.

“Love to come out and play some good volleyball tomorrow,” De Oliveira said. “I love the atmosphere here at Cedar Ridge. We have the public address announcer and fans getting into the game. It was a lot of fun. Can’t wait for the future.”