WENDELL - Cedar Ridge and Chapel Hill both earned grudge re-matches with Carolina Conference opponents this weekend with their respective wins in the N.C. High School Athletics Association playoffs Thursday.

Cedar Ridge eliminated upstart Corinth Holders, which had ousted Carrboro one round before, with a win Thursday in straight sets, 25-14, 25-16, 25-19. That set up the (24-8) Red Wolves’ match Saturday at Carolina 2A rival South Granville (21-5) in the 2A eastern regional volleyball semifinals. The two teams split their regular-season meetings.

Chapel Hill (24-5) swept Mid-State Conference champion Burlington Williams 25-21, 25-20, 25-16 on the road Thursday. Williams finished its year 18-4.

Perry Ramsey led Chapel Hill’s scoring with 16 kills and two blocks, while Megan Blunden scored on 13 kills and Catherine Romaine on 11 kills with one block. Hannah Blackburn once again led in assists with 23, along with eight digs and three kills. Madison Gunning made a team high 13 digs. Fiona Cunningham contributed 18 assists and seven digs; Katherine Esterley had seven kills, three blocks.

Chapel Hill’s win set up a rematch with its Carolina 3A co-champion Cardinal Gibbons (17-3), which won the conference’s top seed by winning a playoff game against Chapel Hill after the two rivals split their regular-season matches.

Both the 3A and 2A state quarterfinal matches were played Saturday, too late for today’s edition of the Chapel Hill News. See www.newsobserver.com/sports or today’s edition of the News & Observer for results.

To get to the NCHSAA’s fourth round, Cedar Ridge used a varied but consistent attack to end the longest team sports season in the short history of Corinth Holders High School. The Pirates, who finished the season 20-7 and won the Northern Carolina Conference title, won their first volleyball playoff match just last Saturday.

Cedar Ridge pulled away in the first set, breaking a 7-all tie on solid service runs from Jordyn Rivenbark and Alexis Barnes, helping to turn the tie into an 18-10 advantage. Bailey Freeman later helped close out the set with a kill and a well-timed tip over a Corinth Holders double block attempt at set point.

The Red Wolves limited the offense of the Pirates throughout the match, keeping the third-year program off balance.

“They’re faster than any team we’ve seen so far this season,” Corinth Holders coach Charles Riley said of the Red Wolves. “They can come at you from pin-to-pin. You have to cover all 30 feet of the net every time. It’s tough to get there and get in front of them.”

Cedar Ridge coach Charlie Oakley was impressed by his team’s ability to adjust on the road.

“We try to run a very quick attack and are used to teams that come at us the same way,” Oakley said. “We had to adjust the way we reacted to their blocks and slow our tempo down. Every team you see this late in the playoffs is good. You just have to adjust to different styles.

“Corinth Holders played a great game. They don’t give you anything. They get to a whole lot of balls.”

Alexis Barnes, a senior setter, carried the Red Wolves’ offense, totaling 38 assists on the night. Fellow seniors Callie Thomas and Rivenbark picked up nine kills each. Thomas added 11 digs.

“Alexis did a great job of keeping us going, giving us the opportunity to put balls away,” Oakley said.