Orange Volleyball

For the first time since 2015, the Orange volleyball team has reached the third round of the 3A State Playoffs. On Tuesday night, the Lady Panthers defeated Northern Nash 3-0 on scores of 25-14, 25-10, 25-10. Orange’s young but imposing front line provided a size advantage, once again, that overwhelmed the opposition. Sophomore middle blocker Ava Wilkerson finished with eleven kills. Freshman Sawyer White rotated between setter and right outside hitter. She registered five kills, two aces, seven digs, 16 assists and one block. Wilkerson, with her 6-foot-3 frame, leads Orange with 57 blocks. She also has 234 kills, which is second on the team. White has worked her way into the regular rotation for 1st-year head coach Hope Heverly. It was a long wait for Orange to finally reach the 3rd round of the state playoffs for Orange. The Lady Panthers had been eliminated in the second round each of the past two years. Now, Orange has not only reached the third round, but they will host Union Pines on Thursday night in Hillsborough. Orange hasn’t reached the state quarterfinals since 2007, when they were a 2A team. They will get their opportunity when they host Union Pines on Thursday night at 6PM in Hillsborough. The 2007 Orange squad finished with 25 wins. The current Lady Panthers are 24-4.

For a lofty goal that has been denied to the Orange volleyball team the past eight years, reaching the third round of the 3A State Playoffs came easy enough.

The Lady Panthers endured some early hiccups to roll past Northern Nash 3-0 on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. The Lady Panthers (24-4) have now won more game than any Orange team in the 17 years. Records on MaxPreps that date back to 2007 show the winningest team in the last 16 years was the 2008 team, which finished 19-5.

It’s the first time that Orange has reached the 3rd round of the 3A State Playoffs since 2015.

Orange will face Union Pines in Hillsborough on Thursday night at 6PM. The Vikings defeated won a five-set thriller against Western Alamance in Cameron on Tuesday.

Senior Ella Wimsatt finished with 12 kills and seven digs. Sophomore middle blocker Ava Wilkerson finished with eleven kills. Sophomore Aubrey Jordan had seven kills.

While the best may still be ahead for the Orange volleyball team, getting past the second round is no small feat for a senior class that had spent the past two years bumping its head on a glass ceiling. Last year, Cedar Ridge defeated Orange in the second round. In 2021, Hunt edged the Lady Panthers in five sets.

“Starting this season, the seniors had set the goal of getting past the second round,” said Orange coach Hope Heverly. “Coach (Mary Alice) Pike and I quickly told them that wasn’t an OK goal, that we were going to make it more than just  past the second round. But I know that was something important to them was to make it past tonight.”

Northern Nash, coming off its first playoff win in nine years, ends the season 15-6. The Knights found themselves ahead 7-4 in the opening set after Orange had three early serves go long.

“I could tell the girls were just a little bit nervous,” Heverly said. “You could tell it was a mixture of adrenaline and nerves early. I knew they would settle down. Once we settled down, we really showed them who we were.”

Jordan started a 7-2 run with a kill set up by White. Wilkerson followed with an unassisted spike on a low-hanging ball off a serve from junior Abby Silinski. Wilkerson put Orange ahead for good, both for the opening set and the rest of the match, with another kill assisted by White. Orange ended the set on a 9-1 run, ending with a spike by Jordan.

Sophomore Katie Silcott and freshman Sawyer White alternated between setter and right outside hitter. Silcott, who surpassed 1,000 career assists in the regular season finale against Walter Williams, came away with 27 assists, five kills and three digs. White had five kills, 16 assists and seven digs.

“We’re making more of a dynamic front,” Heverly said. “Having Sawyer coming on now and stepping up to run a 6-2 has been really beneficial for us. Sawyer has been training with Katie a lot this season and you can see it’s really coming up big now in the postseason.”

Silinski caused the Knights fits in the second set. She had four aces during a 10-1 Orange run that culminated the second set. After a kill by White set up by Wimsatt, Orange completed the frame after a serve by the Knights went into the nylon, ending at 25-10.

Orange opened the third set with four straight points, including a kill by Wilkerson. The Knights came back to even things at 5-5 after a block by Brooke Rose, but the Lady Panthers came back with six in a row. White and Wimsatt each had blocks to put Orange ahead 11-5. Orange went on an 8-2 run to go ahead 22-9, ending with a kill from sophomore Mariah Poole. Wilkerson had a kill on match point.

The small earthquake felt around Hillsborough on Thursday wasn’t directly related to a local volleyball practice. It happened just before noon, hours before volleyball practice started at Orange or Cedar Ridge.

While Ava Wilkerson opening spike in the opening set against Swansboro didn’t put a hole in the brand new floor at Orange High, it could have easily led to more seismic activity.

An Orange team seeded #2 in the 3A East Region roared past Sawnsboro 3-0 on scores of 25-10, 25-1 and 25-13 in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Panthers, the regular season champions of the Central Carolina Conference, advanced to host Northern Nash on Tuesday night in Hillsborough.

There were plenty of near-statistical milestones for Orange against the Pirates (9-13), the #31 overall seed from the Coastal Conference. Sophomore setter Katie Silcott was on pace for a rare triple-double, but never saw the floor in the third set. In the opening two sets, Silcott had 14 assists, six digs and eight aces.

Swansboro simply had no answer for Wilkerson, the 6-foot-3 middle blocker, who wasn’t far from a triple-down of her own. Wilkerson came away with 12 kills, six blocks and two aces. Sophomore Aubrey Jordan had nine kills. On defense, senior libero Sadye Porter had 26 digs.

Swansboro did open with the first three points, but it was all Orange after that. With Porter serving, Orange ran off 16 straight points, kick started by three straight blocks from Wilkerson. Jordan had three kills and a block during the spree. Mariah Poole spiked home set point off an assist from Wilcott.

Freshman Sawyer White took over setter duties in the second set while Silcott moved to outside hitter. Orange scored the first eight points of the second set, which started with back-to-back blocks by Wilkerson. In the second, Wilkerson was responsible for six points. Silcott served eight aces in the second set alone, including set point at 25-1.

Wilkerson, Jordan and senior Ella Wimsatt each had four kills in the third set. White racked up 12 assists in Silcott’s absence. Wilkerson also had two aces. Josie Crawford had a point that led to match point, which Orange won after a Pirate committed a net violation.

Orange will look to clear an elusive hurdle on Tuesday night against Northern Nash, from The Big East Conference. The Lady Panthers have been eliminated in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs each of the last two years.

Cedar Ridge 3, Scotland County 0: Just days after winning the CCC Tournament championship over its archrival, Cedar Ridge played its fourth match in six days with a victory over Scotland County on Saturday.

It may have well been the final home game for nine Cedar Ridge seniors, many of whom won a state championship together two years ago. Over the past four years, Cedar Ridge has a 43-4 record inside of Cedar Ridge Gymnasium.

Cedar Ridge, the #11 seed in the East Region, prevailed on scores of 25-13, 25-13 and 25-11. Sophomore Claire Hargett finished with 19 kills and eight digs. Senior Graylinn Serge had six kills and 21 digs. Setter Rachel Alverson had 34 assists and three digs. Senior libero Natasha Buchler-Fosado had eight digs.

Scotland County, from the 4A/3A Sandhills Conference, ends the season 15-9 overall after finishing 3rd in its league.

The Red Wolves have won a state playoff game for the fourth straight year. On Tuesday night, Cedar Ridge will travel to face Franklinton, the champions of The Big East Conference. The Rams, with an overall record of 19-5, finished 13-0 in conference play this year, winning both The Big East regular season and conference tournament championships. The Rams swept Fayetteville 71st in the opening round on Saturday.

The winner of Cedar Ridge/Franklinton will face either J.H. Rose or Jacksonville in the third round on Thursday.

The seniors on the Orange volleyball team have accomplished something that no team in 18 years has done–win a conference championship. Last week, Orange celebrated senior night with a sweep of Walter Williams. The Lady Panthers have set a school record by winning 20 consecutive matches. Senior Ella Wimsatt has been instrumental in Orange’s most successful season in a generation She leads the team with 340 kills going into the Central Carolina Conference Tournament. She is second on the squad with 279 digs. Libero Sadye Porter returned to the team in August and has been an invaluable defensive presence. She leads the team with 364 digs and also has 38 aces, third on the team. Josie Crawford has been a regular rotation player for new head coach Hope Heverly. Crawford has 128 digs and is another valuable defensive presence. Blessiny Deronette has also played regularly in her first year on the varsity squad. Orange is looking at being a #1 seed for the 3A State Tournament that begins on Saturday. If the Lady Panthers take the top seed, it will be for the first time in school history. Coming up tonight, Orange will face Cedar Ridge for the CCC Tournament championship at Panther Gymnasium.

If it wasn’t clear that Hillsborough is the Volleyball Capital of the Central Carolina Conference, it is now.

For the second straight year, Orange and Cedar Ridge will face off in the CCC Tournament championship game tonight at Orange High.

Orange and Cedar Ridge competed in opposite ends of town on Tuesday night in their respective semifinal matches, both teams sweeping their opposition.

Orange defeated Western Alamance on scores of 25-14, 25-8, 25-15. For the third time this season, Cedar Ridge defeated Person 25-11, 25-22, 25-18.

Orange, the CCC regular season champion, won its 20th consecutive match to improve to 21-3. Senior Ella Wimsatt finished with 12 kills and 31 digs. Sophomore Aubrey Jordan registered 14 kills while middle blocker Ava Wilkerson had 13 kills. Sophomore setter Katie Silcott, who surpassed 1,000 career assists last week in a match against Walter Williams, finished with a double-double of 31 assists and 14 digs.

Orange used a 6-0 run to pull away in the opening set. After Wilkerson scored off an assist from Silcott to even the set 4-4, junior Abby Silinski served up two aces while Wilkerson scored on a block, leading to a Warrior timeout after Orange increased its lead to 9-4. The Lady Panthers scored nine of the last ten points to close out the frame, ending with Wimsatt’s kill off a set by Silcott on set point.

In the third set, Western Alamance (12-8) jumped out to a 12-5 lead following consecutive kills from Haley Clayton and another from Avery Wilson. After an Orange timeout, the Lady Panthers reeled off eight of the next nine points. Trailing 12-6, Wilmsatt earned a huge point on a kill to conclude a long rally where senior Josie Crawford made three crucial digs. Back-to-back points by Jordan and Wimsatt evened the set at 13-13. Orange finished the match on a 13-2 run, which included three kills each from Wilkerson and Jordan.

It was Orange’s third win over the Warriors this season.

At Red Wolves Gymnasium, Cedar Ridge sophomore Claire Hargett finished with 14 kills and ten digs against the Rockets. Senior Graylinn Serge had 12 kills and 19 digs. Senior Rachel Alverson, who also surpassed 1,000 career assists against Williams on Monday, finished with 35 assists and ten digs.

Leading 10-5 in the opening set, Cedar Ridge pulled away with a 9-0 run. Serge had three straight kills in the spree, while Alverson had a rare kill assisted by Natasha Buchler-Fosado. Hargett scored set point off a feed from Alverson.

The most competitive set was the second, where Person led 11-9 at one point. Cedar Ridge responded with six straight points to take a 15-11 lead, which included an ace from Alverson and two kills each from Serge and sophomore Kayla Stoll. Person (12-9) responded with consecutive kills from senior Summer Moore to trim the Red Wolf lead to 19-16. A return by Cedar Ridge that went wide reduced their lead to 21-20, but Serge scored a big kill followed by an ace from Alverson to increase the lead to 23-20. Hargett scored set point on a strong swing near the far post.

Cedar Ridge started the third set with a 9-3 spurt, starting with a kill from Ellie Woolson. Buchler-Fosado had an ace while Hargett spiked down back-to-back points, leading to a Person timeout. The Rockets got their deficit down to 15-7 after a point by Moore, but never seriously challenged in the final set.

Cedar Ridge and Orange have played in all three CCC Tournaments dating back to 2021. The Red Wolves defeated the Lady Panthers in the semifinals of the 2021 tournament. Last year, Cedar Ridge defeated Orange in the championship match 3-1 on scores of 25-12, 25-10, 17-25 and 25-17. The set that Orange won last year ended Cedar Ridge’s string of 62 consecutive sets won.

Orange has won both matchups against the Red Wolves this season. Orange won its first conference championship in volleyball since 2005.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior volleyball liberto Sadye Porter. After a year away from the Orange volleyball team in 2022, Porter returned to the team for her senior season under new head coach Hope Heverly. Her return has greatly helped the Orange defense with a team-high 342 digs. She also has 35 aces, which is third on the team. Her return has helped Orange to possibly its most successful volleyball season in school history. Last week, Orange secured its first conference championship in 18 years when they defeated Southern Alamance in Hillsborough. After its win over Walter Williams on Wednesday night, Orange has won 18 in a row and secured a 20-win season. In her sophomore season in 2022, Porter led the team with 299 digs. Orange has secured the #1 seed in the CCC Tournament. Orange will receive a bye into the semifinals, where they will face either Western Alamance, Southern Alamance or Eastern Alamance next Tuesday. If Orange wins, they will host the conference tournament championship match next Wednesday. Orange will also host a match in the opening round of the 3A State Tournament on October 21 in Hillsborough. Orange is currently ranked #1 in the 3A East RPI rankings. If the Lady Panthers maintain that ranking, they will have home-court advantage throughout the state playoffs. Orange will try to complete its first undefeated conference season in school history against Eastern Alamance on Thursday in Mebane.

For the first time since 2005, the Orange volleyball team has won a conference championship. And the Lady Panthers have been dominant doing it. The Lady Panthers defeated Southern Alamance 3-1 to clinch the crown in Orange Gymnasium on Thursday night. It was another big night for Orange’s outside hitters Ella Wimsatt and Aubrey Jordan. Once again, Jordan led Orange with 18 kills. Wimsatt came away with her sixth consecutive match with a double-double, finishing with 13 kills and 17 digs. Wimsatt now leads the team with 317 kills on the season and has 436 for her career. Wimsatt has 14 double-doubles this season. Senior libero Sadye Porter led Orange with 22 digs, while sophomore setter Katie Silcott had 46 assists and 17 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Ava Wilkerson had eight kills. Orange has won a school record 17 consecutive matches going into the final week of the regular season. They will host Senior night on Wednesday against Walter Williams. Wimsatt, Porter, Josie Crawford and Blessiny Dernonette will be honored in a pregame ceremony. Orange will finish the regular season at Eastern Alamance on Thursday night in Mebane, then prepare for the Central Carolina Conference Tournament next week. By clinching the top-seed, Orange has received a bye into the semifinals, where they will play next Tuesday.