Orange and Cedar Ridge may be shifting its conference roots away from the Triangle and closer to Alamance County.

Under the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s realignment draft released on Thursday morning, Cedar Ridge and Orange would join a new 7-team conference in the fall of 2021. It largely breaks up the current Big 8 Conference, which the two Hillsborough high schools have been a part of since the 2013-2014 academic year.

The only other member of the Big 8 that’s currently slated for the new conference (listed as Conference 25, a more traditional name will follow) is Northwood. As of right now, they’re slated to be joined by Eastern Alamance, Carrboro, Walter Williams and Western Alamance.

The changes go into effect at the start of the 2021-2022 academic year.

The NCHSAA released its final realignment plan on December 4, which largely spelled the beginning of the end of the Big 8 Conference since it was established in 2013. Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill, and Northern Durham will return to the 4A classification. Chapel Hill hasn’t been a 4A team since 2009.

The theme of this year’s conference realignment was split conferences. Of the 61 new conferences across North Carolina, 33 are split leagues that combine teams from two difference classifications.

Conference 25 was one of the exceptions. All seven members will be 3A teams.

The new conferences are not final. Next month, schools can appeal for changes.

If there are no alterations, this will mark the end of the Orange-Southern Durham in-conference rivalry. It was the marquee matchup in local football circles from 2013-2018. In the seven years of the conference’s existence, Orange and Southern Durham won the Big 8 Football Championship six times (Northern Durham captured it in 2018).

Southern Durham is slated to move to Conference 18, a 3A/2A league that includes Person, Durham School of the Arts, Granville Central, South Granville, J.F. Webb and Bartlett Yancey.

Vance County, which joined the Big 8 in 2019, will shift to Conference 17, comprised of Franklinton, Northern Nash, Rocky Mount, Southern Nash, Bunn, Louisburg and Nash Central.

With the pandemic impacting schools economically, the NCHSAA attempted to make conference’s road trips shorter. That’s why the inclusion of Eastern Alamance into Conference 25 was only natural, since it’s only 21 miles from Hillsborough. For years, the Orange football team has faced Eastern Alamance in football during August scrimmages, but not in the regular season.

As far as game action, Orange hasn’t played Eastern Alamance since the 2012 3A State Playoffs. The two school met regularly in football during the 80s and early 90s (current Louisville coach Scott Satterfield tore his ACL playing quarterback for Orange against Eastern Alamance during the 1989 season opener in Mebane). Eastern Alamance officials have always cited playing other county rivals as the reason why a regular series against Orange was eschewed.

Eastern Alamance captured the 2019 3A State Softball Championship, beating Cedar Ridge in the 3rd round.

If Conference 25 stays intact, Orange would have the highest Average Daily Membership in the new league. Currently, Orange’s ADM is 1,306.

During its entire stint in the Big 8 Conference, Cedar Ridge had the lowest Average Daily Membership in the league. That would no longer be the case in Conference 25. Cedar Ridge’s current ADM is 1076. Carrboro, which has been a 2A team since it started in 2007, has an ADM of 876.

Northwood’s ADM, which was 1,433 in the 2019-2020 academic year, is now listed as 899.

Williams, which won the 3A State Championship in men’s soccer in 2019, has an ADM of 1,177. Western Alamance’s ADM is 1,155, while Eastern Alamance is 1,234.

Cedar Ridge and Carrboro were league rivals when they competed in the 2A/1A Carolina 12 Conference, as well as the Mid-State Conference when Carrboro formally opened in 2007-2008.

The Red Wolves have been a 3A team since 2013-14.

This will be the first time that Orange has not a league rival from Durham since they were in the Carolina Conference in 2013. It will be the first time Orange and Chapel Hill haven’t been in the same league since 2008-2009.

When she was named Orange volleyball coach in June 2018, Kelly Young make her goal clear.

“We’re coming for Chapel Hill,” she said.

Back then, there was no way Young could have imagined the circumstances surrounding the Lady Panthers’ first win over Chapel Hill, the defending 3A State Champions, in five years.

On Thursday night, Orange defeated Chapel Hill 3-1 on scores of 26-24, 25-17, 10-25 and 25-19.

It was Orange’s first victory over Chapel Hill since September 17, 2015.

Ordinarily such a result would lead to Orange’s student section, and several adults, rushing the floor. The fact that it came during a pandemic, reducing the crowd to only junior varsity players and assorted Orange staff, didn’t seem to matter.

Neither did the fact that it was the Lady Panthers’ first game of the year. While the Big 8 Conference’s other teams had played at least four contests, Orange had only a forfeit victory over Vance County on its record.

Nor did it seem to matter that the Lady Panthers have barely practiced the past two weeks. Though no one on the team has tested positive for COVID-19, there were potential exposures that caused a match against East Chapel Hill to be delayed twice. One Lady Panther had shingles.

“COVID is rough to plan around, for sure,” Young said. “I know a lot of people are really pushing other sports to get playing, but when you start doing it it’s really hard. They are so many moving pieces. There are so many different circumstances and situations for you athletes to work around. You have to be super flexible this year. You might miss two weeks of practice, have to reschedule and then play three games in one week. Like this week.”

“You’re worried about your girls being prepared,” Young said. “We lost practices, so I was worried we didn’t get enough time like everyone else. But we’d rather be safe than sorry.”

Young has a different health matter to worry about. She’s nine months pregnant with her first son due next week. Sitting on a chair for most of the game, Young said neither she nor her husband have figured out a name yet.

“We’re waiting to see what he looks like first,” Young said.

The opening set had seven lead changes. Behind several kills from junior Kaya Monrose, the Tigers built a 19-13 lead. Orange mounted a rally behind the serve of junior Avery Miller, who delivered consecutive aces and a kill during an 8-1 run to finish the set. Ella Van Tiem’s slam over the hands of two Tigers, assisted by Erin Jordan-Cornell, earned set point as the Panthers won 26-24.

The second set opened 7-7 before Orange went on a 6-2 run. With senior Chloe Riley serving, Jordan-Cornell had two kills to push Orange ahead 12-9. Junior Lottie Scully served three straight aces. The Lady Panthers finished with a 10-2 spurt that included two blocks from Allie Wilkerson and two aces from Jordan-Cornell. Aubri Wright finished the set with a kill as Orange won 25-17 to go ahead 2-0.

Chapel Hill cruised through the third set 25-10 behind sophomore Carly Sciborski, who had four aces in the frame. Senior Ellen Zwikker, daughter of former UNC basketball star Serge Zwikker, had three kills and one block in the third.

The Tigers had a 7-5 lead in the fourth before Orange reeled off seven consecutive points, which included two aces from libero Sadye Porter. A kill by Jordan-Cornell, assisted by sophomore Caitlin Carden, put Orange ahead 14-11. Carden later recorded an ace.

With Orange leading 23-19, Chapel Hill had a serve go wide. Miller delivered another winner on match point to deliver Orange an elusive victory against a cross-county rival.

It wasn’t lost on the Orange players that they were not the first team from Hillsborough to beat Chapel Hill this unusual season. Cedar Ridge did it two weeks ago. The Red Wolves and the Lady Panthers will meet at Cedar Ridge on Friday.

“Whenever you beat a good team in your conference, it’s always exciting,” Young said. “They’re still a solid team to contend with. We have to play them a second time, but I think this is a year where it’s anyone’s game.”

“We still have some other teams to contend against.”

For the first time since 2015, the Orange volleyball team has defeated Chapel Hill. The Lady Panthers, playing its first game of the season on December 1, topped the Tigers 3-1 on Tuesday night in a Panther Gymnasium limited to only junior varsity players and Orange staff. Sophomore middle blocker Erin Jordan-Cornell had several huge kills during the third set, including back-to-back finishes that evened the sore at 10. From there, Orange never trailed again in the match. Senior outside hitter Chloe Riley, a co-captain, started and had several important kills in the first set, which saw seven lead changes before Orange rallied from a 23-20 deficit to win 26-25. Orange will host Southern Durham on Thursday before traveling to undefeated Cedar Ridge for Hillsborough Heat on Friday night.

As freshmen in 2019, Cedar Ridge’s Cameron Lloyd, Julie Altieri and Cameron Lanier didn’t flinch when they faced Chapel Hill, the three-time defending Big 8 Champions, in the conference opener.

The Red Wolves won 3-2 in Hillsborough. Chapel Hill didn’t lose again. They claimed the 3A State Championship with a 27-1 record.

So why would the Red Wolves be intimidated on Thursday night?

A year wiser and more mature, Cedar Ridge throttled the Tigers 3-0 on scores of 25-23, 25-21 and 25-12 at Smith Middle School in Chapel Hill.

In front of a crowd limited to junior varsity players from both teams due to the pandemic, the Red Wolves dominated the defending 3A state champions to improve to 2-0 in the Big 8 Conference. Cedar Ridge started its season with a 3-0 win over Northwood on Tuesday night in Hillsborough.

It was the second win for new Cedar Ridge coach Fiona Cunningham, a former Chapel Hill assistant who faced her former team for the first time.

“It was a long of fun,” Cunningham said. “It’s always great to come out with a win. It was also fun to just feel that sense of volleyball community again. Players getting to see players again that they know. It brings a sense of normalcy.”

During a year where nothing has been normal, Cedar Ridge’s players have spent the year adjusting to a new routine. While most sports skidded to a halt around the world during the summer, the club volleyball season carried on, albeit to a lesser degree. Some of the Cedar Ridge players were teammates on the beach volleyball court, which allowed them to get used to playing with masks.

“I think we’ve all adapted to it pretty well,” said Altieri. “We’ve had a few struggles, but we’re working as a team to get through it and to get to know each other better.”

There’s no time for slack. Because of the pandemic, a regular season that ordinarily is 23-25 games has been riddled down to 14. It will be exclusively conference games for Cedar Ridge.

There also will be no wildcard in the playoffs. Only the top two teams for the Big 8 will see the postseason, which makes Cedar Ridge’s strong opening week all the more important.

After an 18-6 campaign in 2019 under former head coach Anna Seethaler that ended with an opening round playoff loss to Terry Sanford, the Red Wolves lost four seniors. Lloyd, Altieri and Lanier all played over 75 sets last season as freshmen.

On top of that, together they’ve now handed Chapel Hill its last two losses. The Tigers have gone 81-15 since 2017 with two regional championships and our Big 8 titles.

While it would be easy to attach a slogan like “a statement win” or “a changing of the guard” to Cedar Ridge sweeping the defending state champions, Cunningham has her own phrase.

A grain of salt.

“That’s how we’re taking it,” Cunningham said. “We know that Chapel Hill is a great team. But we also know that this year, more than any, will be anybody’s game when it comes to the playoffs. Teams are going to be rapidly changing this season.”

After Thursday night’s win, Cunningham received a congratulatory text from a Chapel Hill assistant about the Red Wolves’ performance. It’s a win over Chapel Hill in volleyball. Ordinarily, that would be something that speaks volumes.

For Cedar Ridge, it will—until Monday, at least. That’s when they host crosstown rival Orange, who defeated the Red Wolves at Cedar Ridge Gymnasium last year.

Cunningham will be new to the Hillsborough rivalry, but she knows what to expect. On Friday morning, she finished up practice with a word to her team about the first matchup with the Lady Panthers.

“We want to make sure that emotionally, it’s a stable game,” Cunningham said. “That’s what we’ve been talking about since the start of the season–not having big ups and downs. Coming off the Chapel Hill win, we don’t want our girls to start to get complacent.”

Orange will start its season on Friday night against East Chapel Hill inside Wildcats Gymnasium. The two teams split the season series in 2019.

Usually, November is around the time that volleyball season ends in North Carolina. But this is 2020, when nothing is normal. Thus, the Cedar Ridge volleyball team started its season on Thursday night in front of a audience comprised solely of junior varsity players, staff and one media member at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The Red Wolves won 3-0 over Northwood. However, sophomore Julie Altieri has been active during the pandemic. She has played beach volleyball with her club team. Altieri started as a freshman in 2019, when the Red Wolves went 18-6 and finished tied for 3rd in the Big 8 Conference with a 10-4 record. Altieri led the Red Wolves in assists on Tuesday night. The third member of her family to play sports at Cedar Ridge, Altieri will look to defeat defending 3A State Champion Chapel Hill on Thursday night at Smith Middle School. Last season, Altieri led the Red Wolves with 80 assists and also registered 178 digs, which was third on the team.

There was finally a sense of normalcy on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. The Cedar Ridge volleyball team became the first squad to return to action since the pandemic started in March. The Red Wolves started its 14-game regular season with a 3-0 win over Northwood. Senior libero Marlee Rakouskas started under new head coach Fiona Cunningham as the Red Wolves won on scores of 25-22, 25-14, 25-23. Rakouskas was named the player of the match. Despite the pandemic, Rakouskas has remained busy on the volleyball court this summer with her club team. Last season, Cedar Ridge finished 3rd in the Big 8 Conference and was the only team to defeat Chapel Hill, who went on to win the 3A State Championship. On Thursday night, Cedar Ridge will travel to face Chapel Hill. The match will be held at Smith Middle School, but fans won’t be permitted due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The Rodcast is back! Our guest is New York Times Bestselling author Jeff Pearlman, the author of the new book “Three Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty.” Jeff spent three years on this project, and just as he was finishing work, Kobe Bryant tragically died in January. In this interview, Jeff discusses what Kobe’s relationship with Shaquille O’Neal, how Phil Jackson handled the big egos to win three consecutive championships from 2001-2003, and how Shaquille related to his teammates. If you’re an NBA fan or a fan of books about complicated relationships among people in the public eye, you’ll want to check out “Three Ring Circus.”

On this edition of the Rodcast, we’re joined by trainer Elton Faulk. Elton runs www.gamma-fitness.com. After graduating from Jordan High School, he joined the Army and was stricken by a respiratory illness that left him barely able to walk. He fought back from adversity to become a kickboxer and start his own gym, which is located at the old location of North Duke Mall. Elton joined us to discuss own he’s operating a gym during COVID-19, as well as trying to stay healthy himself during a pandemic. Plus, plans to return to the kickboxing ring and his own graphic novel. Learn more about Elton here: https://www.thumbtack.com/nc/durham/personal-trainers/elton-e-faulk/service/196977197755942082

On this edition of the Rodcast, we’re joined by new Cedar Ridge football coach Cory Lea. Cory has been successful wherever he’s gone in coaching circles. At Northern Vance, he led them to a winning season in his second year. At Riverside, Lea coached the Pirates to the 2018 Triangle 8 Championship. It was only the second conference title for Riverside in school history. Cory was a walk-on at UNC during Mack Brown’s first stint in Chapel Hill, and is now focused on leading Cedar Ridge to the top of the Big 8 Conference.