Cedar Ridge volleyball hands Orange second 3-0 loss
In case anyone missed it during the first half of the season, Cedar Ridge made it clear Tuesday night that it’s the team to beat for the Big 8 Conference’s volleyball title in 2015.
Playing front of a raucous, full house Tuesday on its home court, Cedar Ridge started off its second leg of the Big 8 Conference schedule by blanking Orange 3-0: 25-14, 25-16, 25-10.
Tuesday’s win put Cedar Ridge (13-3, 7-0) two full games up on second-place Orange (15-6, 5-2) in the Big 8 Conference standings. It also marked the second time this year that Cedar Ridge defeated its crosstown rival 3-0. The Red Wolves won 3-0 at Orange on Sept. 3.
Cedar Ridge never trailed in the match, starting off each set with successively bigger leads: 3-0 in the first, 4-1 in the second and a comfortable 9-0 in the third.
Alexa Pagnanelli served for the Red Wolves’ last two points in the match, the final one hitting the tape at the top of the net and dropping over the other side, just out of reach of the frustrated Panthers.
Turning point
Orange was still within 9-4 in the second set before Cedar Ridge’s Lindsay Thompson served the Red Wolves to a 13-4 lead, with Orange failing to return four straight serves. The Panthers would never again get any closer than 21-16 the rest of the night.
Three who mattered
“It’s not fair to pick just three,” Cedar Ridge coach Charlie Oakley said, with good reason. “Everyone played really well tonight. This was a true team effort.”
But Asha Barnes stood first among equals with her seven solo kills without an error and three blocks, both of those being team highs for Cedar Ridge.
Cedar Ridge libero Karsen Lee was everywhere on defense (with 11 digs) and was one of three Red Wolf players to successfully handle 10 Panther serves.
Courtney Eckmann matched Barnes’s seven solo kills and drew Orange’s attention at the net with her 18 attack attempts.
By the numbers
13: digs for Cedar Ridge’s Meg Anderson, a team high.
8: serving aces for Cedar Ridge, with sophomore Alexis Dumain making four of those. Orange failed to get a return over the net on at least four other occasions.
11: assists for Dumain, a team high, one better than the 10 for Lily Henry.
3: service errors by Cedar Ridge.
5: straight wins for Cedar Ridge – four in Big 8 play – since a 3-1, non-conference loss at Carrboro on Sept. 14.
1: game lost by Cedar Ridge, total, in seven conference matches. That came in a 3-1 win against Chapel Hill.
They said it
“We finally played well after about a two-week lull when we just weren’t playing our best volleyball,” Oakley said. “If you can’t get up to play against your cross-town rival, you don’t deserve to win. I’m proud of the way the whole team stepped up and got back on track.”
Dig Pink
Cedar Ridge will wear special jerseys and host N.C. Science and Math on Wednesday for the Red Wolves’ sixth annual “Dig Pink Night” to help breast cancer research. Their goal is to raise $4,000 this year through concession sales (with special items like home-baked sugar cakes) and a silent auction.
The evening starts at 4:30 p.m. with a round of Hillsborough middle school games. Cedar Ridge, donning pink jerseys, will start its varsity match around 7 p.m.
This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 10:37 PM with the headline "Cedar Ridge volleyball hands Orange second 3-0 loss."