Taylin Jean: The former Cedar Ridge goalkeeper posted her 3rd shutout of the season for the Limestone women’s soccer team on Wednesday night. Division II Limestone defeated North Greenville 3-0 at Saints Field in Gaffney, SC on Wednesday night. Jean made four saves in her sixth start of the season. She is now 3-3. After not playing last season, Jean also had clean sheets against Chowan and Lander earlier this month. Limestone improved to 2-1 in Conference Carolinas. On Saturday, Limestone will face Barton College in Wilson. 

Jordan Rogers: Division III William Peace University scored a resounding 7-0 win over Sweet Briar in Sweet Briar, VA on Wednesday night. Former Orange star Jordan Rogers made her eighth start of the season as a wingback. Rogers has started every game for the Pacers this year. With Wednesday night‘s win, Peace has already exceeded its win total from 2018. They’re now 3-4-1 overall. They will open play in the USA South Athletic Conference against Mary Baldwin College at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on Saturday. 

Brittany Daley: On Sunday, Division III Greensboro College fell to Eastern Mennonite 1-0 at EMU Turf Field in Harrisonburg, VA. Daley, a 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate, made her eighth start of the season at centerback. Daley had played 642 minutes for the Pride this season after making 15 starts in her freshman season. Greensboro is 5-3. They host Ferrum College on Thursday night at Pride Field in Greensboro.

Lionel Reid-Shaw: The Division III Dickinson men’s soccer team shutout Neumann University 3-0 on Tuesday night in Aston, PA. The Red Devils are now 4-4. Reid-Shaw started the game at centerback and was credited with one shot off a corner kick. Reid-Shaw has played in all eight of Dickinson’s games this year. The Red Devils return to action in the Centennial Conference on Saturday against McDaniel College.

Bryse Wilson: Though he hasn’t pitched since Game 4 of the Governor’s Cup Semifinal series for the Gwinnett Stripers of the International League, Wilson is still on the 40-man roster for the Atlanta Braves. For the second year in a row, the Braves clinched the National League Eastern Division Championship on Friday, beating San Francisco 6-0 in SunTrust Park. The Braves will wrap up the regular season this weekend with a three-game series against the New York Mets at Citi Field in New York. Last season, Wilson finished the regular season with Atlanta but wasn’t on the 25-man postseason roster.

Rodney Brooks: As mentioned in Sunday’s update, the Division II Livingstone Blue Bears defeated Allen University 21-7 at Alumni Memorial Football Stadium in Salisbury on Saturday. Brooks, who spent last season with Fort Union Military Academy, had a fumble recovery for Livingstone, one of two turnovers forced by the Blue Bears’ defense. Brooks has played in all three games this season. Livingstone is 2-1 and will face Lincoln University in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Lili Henry: Division III Salem College defeated Methodist University in volleyball 3-1 on Wednesday night at the Riddle Center in Fayetteville. The Spirits defeated the Monarchs on scores of 25-21, 25-21, 24-26 and 25-21. It was the USA South Athletic Conference opener for Methodist. Monarchs junior Lili Henry, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2017, finished with 15 assists and one ace. Henry leads the team 167 assists this season. The Monarchs are 1-8 overall and will host Averett University in Fayetteville on Saturday. 

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team is learning on the job what it’s like to be the hunted. Especially for a team that starts three freshmen.

On Tuesday night, the Red Wolves retained its share of first place in the Big 8 Conference with a 3-2 win over Vance County at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The Red Wolves prevailed on scores of 25-14, 16-25, 25-15, 20-25, 15-3. It was the second five set match of the year for Cedar Ridge. Two weeks ago, the Red Wolves stunned Chapel Hill in five set in front of a rowdy crowd in Hillsborough.

With the win, Cedar Ridge is 11-2, 5-1 in the Big 8 Conference. Cedar Ridge will host Southern Durham on Thursday night. With one more win, the Red Wolves will clinch its first winning season since 2016, when they reached the Eastern Regional Championship match.

The Red Wolves remain tied with Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill for first place in the Big 8. East Chapel Hill, who lost to Orange on Monday, rebounded with a 3-1 victory over Northwood in Pittsboro on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Chapel Hill swept Northern Durham 25-11, 25-16, and 25-8. Since losing to Cedar Ridge, the Tigers have won five in a row, dropping just one set in the process.

In the Bull City on Tuesday night, Orange rolled past Southern Durham 3-0 for its third win in four matches. The Lady Panthers cruised on scores of 25-4, 25-15 and 25-10.

Sophomore Avery Miller led Orange with eleven kills. It’s the fourth time this year that Miller has finished in double-digits in kills. Her career-high of 13 kills came in the 3-2 loss to Cedar Ridge on September 12.

Senior Kaitlyn Werden had ten aces, three digs and 23 assists. Freshman Erin Jordan-Cornell had six kills.

Orange is now 9-5 overall, 4-2 in the Big 8. After its win over East Chapel Hill on Monday, the Lady Panthers’ MaxPreps ranking went up to #21 among 3A teams. Chapel Hill is #2, Cedar Ridge is #11, East Chapel Hill is #18. Person, who Orange split the season series with, is #12.

Orange will host Northern Durham on Thursday. The Knights defeated Orange three times last season, including in the opening round of the Big 8 Conference Tournament last October.

Men’s Soccer: Orange opened the week with back-to-back matches. Northwood held off Orange 2-1 in Pittsboro, despite the Panthers having many chances that they failed to convert. The Chargers earned a penalty kick with nine minutes remaining, which they converted. Tyler Werden scored the Panthers’ only goal.

On Tuesday night, the defending 3A State Champion Chapel Hill defeated Orange 2-0 in a match that was scoreless at halftime. The Panthers are 4-6, 1-4 in the Big 8 Conference. Orange will travel to Carrboro on Friday.

On Monday, Northern Durham defeated Cedar Ridge 5-0 at Jack Armstrong Stadium in Durham. The Red Wolves are 3-6-1, 1-3 in the Big 8 Conference. Cedar Ridge hosts East Chapel Hill at Red Wolves Stadium on Wednesday night (tonight).

Cedar Ridge had its second five-set match on Tuesday night, holding off Vance County 3-2. The Red Wolves won on scores of 25-14, 16-25, 25-15, 20-25, 15-3 in the first-ever match against the Vipers. With the win, Cedar Ridge is 11-2, 5-1 in the Big 8 Conference. The Red Wolves also maintain its share of first place in the Big 8 Conference, remaining tied with East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill with one loss each. Cedar Ridge will wrap up the week against Southern Durham in Hillsborough. With a win against the Spartans, the Red Wolves will clinch its first winning season since 2016. Thanks to Jon Franklin, the public address voice of the Red Wolves, for conducting this interview with Coach Seethaler and Altieri.  

Four Cedar Ridge women’s tennis seniors celebrated senior night on Monday, but this was no ordinary group. Olivia Ward, Nora Sauers, Brianna Cellini and Karen Alvarez represent the final group of players who are connected to Cedar Ridge’s 2016 Big 8 Championship team. Ward, Cellini and Sauers were regular players on that squad, which was the most successful tennis team in school history. They reached the 3A State Quarterfinals after dual match wins over Swansboro and Burlington Williams. The 2016 Red Wolves finished 19-2, including a perfect 12-0 in the Big 8. Ward, Sauers, Cellini and Alvarez will depart Cedar Ridge as more than a winning class. They’re a championship class. They will also continue their season on Wednesday afternoon at Northern Durham. 

Wild West wisdom dictates there isn’t a horse that can’t be rode and there never was a rider that couldn’t be thrown.

The Big 8 Conference volleyball season isn’t even halfway over, and four of its teams are ranked in the MaxPreps top 25. Not one of them is undefeated in conference play.

Not after Monday night when Orange defeated East Chapel Hill 3-1 in surprisingly convincing fashion at Panther Gymnasium. The Wildcats took a nip-and-tuck opening set 25-27, staving off two set points. Orange took the final three frames 25-19, 25-12 and 25-20.

The irony is both teams ended last week with polar opposite results. On Friday, East Chapel Hill polished off Cedar Ridge 3-0 in front of a raucous crowd at Wildcat Gymnasium that was a showdown for first place in the Big 8 Conference.

On Thursday, Orange had its flattest performance of the season. Chapel Hill swept the Panthers 3-0 in a match that barely took an hour.

Afterwards, Orange coach Kelly Young squatted in front of her team for 15 minutes in an impassioned speech as the fans filtered out of the gym.

In short, Young wanted her team to loosen up. A day after the Chapel Hill loss, there were no wind sprints or meticulous review of fundamentals.

The practice consisted of simply playing volleyball.

“I think they want to have a perfect game, which just isn’t going to happen in this league,” Young said. “They’re human beings. They’re teenagers. They put a lot of stress on themselves. On Thursday, it looked like they hated what they were doing. So Friday, we just played. No drills. No corrections. We just played to remind them why they do this.”

Orange’s win also did a big favor to crosstown rival Cedar Ridge. The Red Wolves are now tied with East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill in the loss column for 1st place in the Big 8 Conference. East (8-2, 4-1 in the Big 8), will face Northwood on Tuesday and Chapel Hill on Thursday.

Orange played without sophomore Avery Miller, who was injured. Senior Elizabeth Vosburg and sophomore Lottie Scully tied with a team-high eight kills. Vosburg had a whopping nine blocks. Scully also had 17 assists, nine digs, three blocks and two aces. Junior Chloe Riley finished with seven kills, 15 digs, and one block.

Senior Kaitlyn Werden finished with 18 assists, three kills, eleven digs and one ace.

With the win, Orange is now ranked #24 in the MaxPreps 3A polls. Orange and West Henderson are the only teams in the top 24 with five losses.

The Lady Panthers jumped out to a 8-2 lead in the second set. They pushed the lead to 20-12 before East called timeout.

The third set was even more lopsided. Orange led 19-11 before finishing the sett on a 6-1 run to take a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth set, a kill by Riley pushed Orange’s lead to 23-18.

Orange will play two more matches this week. They travel to Southern Durham on Tuesday, then host Northern Durham on Thursday.

It was one remarkable time for Nicholas Frank to notch his first brace in high school soccer. Frank scored two goals in a span of 49 seconds last Wednesday night to even the first leg of the Hillsborough Derby at 3-3. The Red Wolves eventually won in penalty kicks 4-3. Naturally, Frank had the game-winning score in penalties, and goalkeeper Ty Corbin made the final save against Orange to trigger a wild celebration among the Red Wolves. It was their first home win over Orange since 2015. Frank becomes the latest freshman to win Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week. Of the five Red Wolves who have been awarded this year, three are freshman. Frank has four goals this season, along with ten points. He also scored goals against Carrboro on August 26 and the Durham School of the Arts on September 4. Cedar Ridge hosts East Chapel Hill on Wednesday night. 

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior tennis player Emma Williamson. The Orange women’s tennis team has won four straight matches after its 5-4 victory at Cedar Ridge, its first victory over the Red Wolves since the two teams became conference rivals in 2014. On Monday, Williamson won her match at #4 singles 6-0, 7-6 (7-5). Last Thursday, Williamson won her singles match at #3 singles against Roxboro Community School 6-0, 6-2. Then she teamed with Morgan Gwinn to earn a victory at #2 doubles 8-1. On Wednesday, Orange completed two wins over Vance County, by scores of 9-0 and 6-0. Williamson won her one-set singles match at #4 8-0. Williamson only started playing tennis two years ago, but has become one off the most reliable parts of Coach Justin Webb’s team, which is now in line for its first winning season in at least seven years. 

The Orange volleyball team handed East Chapel Hill its first conference loss of the season on Monday night. The Lady Panthers defeated the Wildcats 3-1 on scores of 25-27, 25-19, 25-12 and 25-20. It was Orange’s first win over East since the Wildcats joined the Big 8 Conference in 2017, ending a streak of four straight Wildcat wins. It also creates a three-way tie for first place in the loss column in the Big 8 Conference among East, Chapel Hill and Cedar Ridge, with Orange only a game back. Elizabeth Vosburg was one of the seniors who came up big after a disappointing loss to Chapel Hill on Thursday. Orange has three matches this week. They will travel to Southern Durham on Tuesday, then host Northern Durham on Thursday to complete the first half of a rigorous conference schedule.

it was quite a time for the Orange women’s tennis team to get its first win over Cedar Ridge since 2012. The Lady Panthers won at Cedar Ridge 5-4 on the Red Wolves’ senior night. Sophomore Jera Hargrove won a thrilling three-set match that ended in a 10-4 tiebreaker at #1 singles. Junior Lindsey Jouannet captured her match at #5 singles, then teamed with Sydney Allison to secure the victory at #3 doubles. Orange has won four in a row and is now 7-6 on the season. Orange hasn’t had a winning season in women’s tennis in at least seven years, but it’s on the verge of clinching it with six dual matches remaining before the Big 8 Conference Tournament. They will face Northwood in Pittsboro on Wednesday. 

It won’t feel like it, but this is the first full week of fall. It’s also the start of the 2nd half of volleyball, women’s tennis and men’s soccer seasons.

Cedar Ridge and Orange were both swept by teams from Chapel Hill last week. Against an unforgiving Big 8 Conference schedule, Orange faces East Chapel Hill tonight (Monday) to start a three-game week. After losing its first conference game to East Chapel Hill on Friday, Cedar Ridge will look to bounce back with its first-ever match against Vance County in Hillsborough on Tuesday. The Red Wolves travel to Southern Durham on Thursday.

Also on Monday afternoon, Cedar Ridge will host Orange for its senior night. It will be a special day for the Red Wolves’ Olivia Ward, who was a member of Cedar Ridge’s Big 8 Championship team as a freshman. The Red Wolves haven’t lost to Orange since the two teams became conference rivals in 2014.

On Friday, football will start conference play. Orange will host East Chapel Hill. Cedar Ridge will travel to Northwood in Pittsboro. Both games will kickoff at 7. Our coverage here on Hillsboroughsports.com starts at 6:45 with the C&R Ski Outdoor pregame show.

Without any further ado, here’s the Magnificent 7 from last week. It featured a dramatic first leg of the Hillsborough Derby between Orange and Cedar Ridge in men’s soccer. Despite losing to East Chapel Hill, it was still another strong showing from Cedar Ridge volleyball. And the Orange women’s tennis team won three dual matches.

As always, a reminder that two of these athletes will be named the Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week and the Orange Panther of the Week on Tuesday.

Nicholas Frank: Orange appeared set to win its third straight men’s soccer game at Cedar Ridge on Wednesday night. The Panthers led 3-1 with 19:00 remaining. But Cedar Ridge freshman Nicholas Frank scored two stunning goals within 47 seconds to even the match. Dean Allen found Frank on a through ball with 15:43 remaining, and Frank finished from 18 yards. Moments later, Reese Weaver created a turnover and found Erickson Thole, who hit Frank again for the equalizer. Frank also scored the game-winning goal in penalties as Cedar Ridge defeated Orange 4-3.

Ty Corbin: Cedar Ridge’s goalkeeper earned the victory against Orange with back-to-back saves on Orange’s final two penalty attempts. Corbin also made a huge save in the first overtime session, which was the only major chance by either team to score after regulation ended. Corbin, who is also a lacrosse player, earned his third win of the year.

Cameron Lloyd: Yes, it’s cliche by now. But Lloyd becomes the first three-time inductee into the Hall of Awesome after two stellar games against Bartlett Yancey and Northern Durham. Against the Knights, Lloyd had 17 kills, 12 aces and ten digs as Cedar Ridge defeated Northern for the first time since becoming Big 8 rivals. In Monday’s sweep of Bartlett Yancey, Lloyd had 13 kills, one ace and four digs. Plus, she celebrated her birthday last week.

James McAdoo: The Orange football team fell short against Riverside on Friday night. It was also Orange’s best effort of the season. McAdoo, playing his second game after getting injured in a scrimmage against Person, had a team-high seven tackles. In the 2nd quarter, he stripped the ball away from Riverside quarterback Landon Sledge, and Will Torain dove on the loose ball. It led to a touchdown from Machai Holt. In the third quarter, McAdoo recovered another fumble, again leading to a touchdown from Holt.

Emma Williamson: The Orange women’s tennis team swept Vance County in back-to-back matches on Wednesday, then defeated Roxboro Community School 8-1 on Thursday. Williamson won her lone match at #4 singles against the Vipers 8-0. On Thursday, she won her match against Roxboro Community in straight sets. She also teamed with Morgan Gwinn at #2 doubles to win 8-1.

Lottie Scully: A sophomore enshrined into the Hall of Awesome for the first time, Scully had a team-high nine kills in Orange’s 3-0 win over Northwood on Tuesday night at Panther Gymnasium. Scully also had ten assists, two digs and an ace as the Lady Panthers improved to 7-4 before Thursday’s game against Chapel Hill.

Elliott Sikes: On Monday night, the Orange men’s soccer team defeated Vance County 10-1. Sikes came away with his first hat trick against the Vipers. Sikes also had two goals against Hillside in a 7-1 Panther victory on September 3.