Author: David

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Volleyball broke new ground in the High Country on Oct. 28. In part, it was because No. 1 seeded Watauga outlasted the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 6A West’s No. 2 seed, Kings Mountain, 3-2, in a sizzling 5-set thriller (20-25, 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 15-9).

Mostly, though, it was because of the records broken. Let’s get the individual records out of the way, first.

Now at 565 kills and counting, the Pioneers’ senior outside hitter Emma Pastusic established a new single season record for kills on Oct. 28. At the same time, setter Lainey Gragg went over the 1,000 mark for assists in the season. She now sits at 1,023, with one more game — the NCHSAA 6A State Championship — to go, in Raleigh on Nov. 1.

Those are great accomplishments and kudos to the Pioneers’ dynamic duo, to be sure. But the “new ground?” Well, that is the opportunity for a record crowd — including opposing student sections whipping themselves into a proverbial frenzy — to watch high school volleyball at its finest.

You might have been able to squeeze a dozen more people into Lentz Eggers Gym. Kings Mountain brought a large contingent of supporters. They are arguably a little more experienced in going far into the playoffs since they previously won three 3A state titles under the old NCHSAA classification system.

Watauga had not only the largest student section in recent memory — augmented to a large degree by football and men’s soccer players — but also the largest number of supporters from the High Country communities.

In fact, it might have been the largest crowd crammed into Lentz Eggers Gym for any athletic competition, including basketball. And they all got to experience the thrills, spills and chills of a women’s volleyball, 5-set “cliffhanger” played at the highest level.

At first, Watauga couldn’t do anything right. Kings Mountain scored the first eight points of the first set, then jumped out to a 13-5 lead before the Pioneers were able to steady the proverbial ship. The visiting Mountaineers had early control and their grandstand supporters smelled an upset in the making.

But the Pioneers became.. well, they became Pioneers, battling back to make the first set a more respectable 20-25 loss. It was a loss, to be sure, after they had dug a hole for themselves with early errors and mishits, but the late rally spoke to what would come.

The second and third sets were both secured by the Pioneers with identical, 25-23 scores. The fourth set was won by Kings Mountain, also by the slimmest of margins, 25-23. All of them were see-saw battles with long rallies, multiple lead changes, hard to imagine digs to keep the ball in play and, of course, slamma jamma kills by both teams, especially some monstrous attacks off arms of Pastusic and junior outside hitter Ashlyn Smith.

If ever there was a set where the Pioneers bordered on comfortable, it was in the decisive fifth set, which they won, 15-9. As Watauga appeared to assert control, the Mountaineers became more mistake-prone.

Next up for Watauga is the penultimate match of the season, the NCHSAA 6A State Women’s Volleyball Championship. The Pioneers will take on the winner of the 6A East Championship match on Oct. 28, J.H. Rose, which defeated No. 2 seeded Gray’s Creek, 3-0, according the Fayetteville Observer. Set scores were unavailable.

SELECTED WATAUGA INDIVIDUAL STATS

Kills: Emma Pastusic (29), Ashlyn Smith (15), Julia Rowan (10), Kora Knight (7), Lainey Gragg (2)

Service Aces: Ember Honeycutt (2), Caroline Childers (2), Emma Pastusic (1), Ashlyn Smith (1)

Blocks: Addie Stough (3), Emma Pastusic (2), Julia Rowan (1), Lainey Gragg (1), Kora Knight (1)

Assists: Lainey Gragg (54), Caroline Childers (5), Ashlyn Smith (1)

Digs: Caroline Childers (33), Emma Pastusic (20), Ashlyn Smith (15), Lilli Combs (12), Gracie Phelps (2), Kora Knight (1), Addie Stough (1), Julia Rowan (1)

BONUS PHOTOS

 

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Making it to the NCHSAA 6A West Women’s Tennis Championship final is one thing. Getting to the NCHSAA 6A State Championship match proved quite another for the Watauga High School women’s tennis team on Oct. 28 when they ran into Charlotte Catholic at the Deer Valley Athletic Center. The Cougars prevailed, 5-2, on the strength of their top singles players.

BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article (Click any image for larger view and Slide Show Mode)

After Charlotte Catholic’s No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 singles players vanquished their Pioneer counterparts in competitive, but relatively dominant fashion, the writing was on the wall: it would take a miracle for Watauga to rally in the lower singles and force the match to be decided in doubles play.

The Pioneers’ Kennedy Moore (No. 5) and Neave Tuberty (No. 6) did their part, Moore besting Catholic’s Anna Groccia, 7-5, 6-3, and Tuberty getting by CC’s Ariana Valenta, 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3).

Miracle, maybe possible.

But as soon as Charlotte Catholic’s No. 1 (Ella Davis) and No. 3 (Madison McWilliams) singles players teamed up in doubles to take down Watauga’s No. 1 Addison Cohen and No. 3 Poppy Summey, 8-2, the match was over and the Cougars were declared the winners. They will now move on to the NCHSAA 6A State Championship in Burlington, on Friday, Oct. 31. As the 6A West champion, Charlotte Catholic will take on the winner of the 6A East championship match, East Chapel Hill or Terry Sanford HS (Fayetteville).

In the top singles matches, Catholic’s No. 1 Davis, a senior, defeated Watauga junior Addison Cohen, 6-2, 6-1.

CC’s senior No. 2 Carla Perezgrovas got the best of Watauga No. 2, senior Larson Berry, 6-2, 6-2.

At No. 3, the Cougars’ McWilliams, a junior, defeated Watauga’s Poppy Summey, 6-3, 6-2.

Charlotte Catholic freshman Avery Johnson only had a little trouble with Watauga No. 4, Abby Talton, winning 6-4, 6-0.

After the match, Charlotte head coach Jo Cabana described her team’s trip up the mountain as, “… it was a little rainy and cold but we made it, we got some action and we are super happy. With the win, it was a great trip.

“Watauga has a great, great tennis program,” Cabana added, “with strong players. It was a battle. We had a fight on our hands every single match. It really came down to the wire, to be hones.”

Watauga head coach Shay Casey acknowledged Charlotte Catholic’s singles strength, but also saw her team’s potential. That the lower singles matches pushed the match to the brink was not surprising.

“They were fighters, Charlotte Catholic. They definitely had a great game. They always have a strong program. We gave it our all and gave them a good challenge and we wish them well going forward,” said Casey. “We have had a deep roster this year. That (lower part of singles) was what got us through most of the year. I am so proud of them all. They were fighters for every point.

Under Casey, the Pioneers went undefeated in non-conference and league play. After receiving the No. 1 seed in the 6A West bracket and a first round bye, the Pioneers defeated A C Reynolds, 7-0, in Round 2; South Caldwell, 5-1, in Round 3; Northern Guilford, 6-3, in Round 4; before taking on Charlotte Catholic in the 6A West championship match.

SUMMARY SCORES

• CC – Ella Davis def. Addison Cohen, 6-2, 6-1
• CC – Carla Perezgrovas def. Larson Berry, 6-2, 6-2
• CC – Madison McWilliams def. Poppy Summey, 6-3, 6-2
• CC – Avery Johnson def. Abby Talton, 6-4, 6-0
• WAT – Kennedy Moore def. Anna Groccia, 7-5, 6-3
• WAT – Neave Tuberty def. Ariana Valenta, 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3)
• CC – Ella Davis and Madison McWilliams def. Addison Cohen and Poppy Summey, 8-2

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Visiting St. Stephens turned away a number of Watauga assaults on their goal, Oct. 27 — but not all of them. With superb ball control in the rainy conditions, the Pioneers’ men’s soccer team secured their last regular season victory, 2-0, to remain undefeated in Northwestern 6A/7A Conference play.

The overall team defense was outstanding, limiting the Indians to negligible scoring threats of their own. Meanwhile, Watauga came away with a goal in each half:

• 1st Half: 27:35 – Asher Hampton, tapped along the ground into the net after a cross from the left side by Evan Mawhinney.
• Second Half: 26:26 – Evan Mawhinney breaks down the center after a midfield through pass from Asher Hampton. As the goalkeeper comes out, Mawhinney pushes ball out right past a diving goalkeeper, then slams the ball into the net from about 15 yards out.

Now the Pioneers await news of the state playoffs’ seeding for the NCHSAA 6A West bracket.

At 15-3-3, the Pioneers are ranked No. 4 in the 6A classification for all of North Carolina, behind No. 1 Charlotte Catholic, No. 2 Middle Creek (Apex), and No. 3 A.C. Reynolds (Asheville). Seven of the top 10-ranked teams are in the strong 6A West division. Of the top four, only Middle Creek is in the 6A East. The 6A West representative in the ultimate championship game will likely have survived strong challenges from the beginning of Round 1 to the end.

 

By David Rogers. MONROE, N.C. — Among the 46 young women competing in the 2025 NCHSAA 6A Women’s Golf State Championship tournament on Oct. 27, Watauga senior Chloe Weigl shot a 6-over 79 to earn a No. 10 finish at Stonebridge Golf Club.

Only six schools had enough entries to qualify for team scoring, led by a powerful Charlotte Catholic squad with five student athletes qualified for the state championship. The winning Cougars included No. 1 Elizabeth Guthrie (70, sophomore), No. 3 Lainey Baursfeld (73, senior), No. 11 Maya Claffey (80, junior), No. 24 Charlotte Cox (86, junior) and No. 37 Claire Walby (92, freshman).

While no Northwestern Conference schools had enough state qualifiers to bid for the state team title, the conference qualifiers included Weigl (No. 10), Kailey Fisher (No. 24, St. Stephens, freshman), Meredith Wike (No. 26, Alexander Central, senior), Caroline Ingle (No. 37, South Caldwell, senior) and Shaylen Boston (WD, Alexander Central, senior).

Watauga @ Regionals

Weigl was among five Pioneers who qualified for the 6A West Regionals where Weigl shot an 80 at Brushy Mountain GC to finish No. 5, which earned her a spot in the state championship tourney. Helping Watauga to a No. 5 team score among the 11 6A West schools competing for the Regionals team title were Theresa Copenhaver (No. 24, senior), Ariall Lewis (No. 31, senior), Kaitlyn Meyer (No. 37, junior) and Sofia McEvoy (No. 41, junior).

The Northwestern Conference schools with team members at Regionals included Alexander Central (No. 4), Watauga (No. 5), South Caldwell (No. 7), and Saint Stephens (No. 10)

Team Scoring:

1. Charlotte Catholic
2. Walter M. Williams (Burlington)
3. Felton Grove (Apex)
4. Southern Alamance (Graham)
5. T C Roberson (Asheville)
6. Northern Guilford (Greensboro)

Individual Scoring

By David Rogers. MILL SPRINGS, N.C. — All seven members of the Watauga men’s cross country team finished in the top 50 of a field featuring 105 of western North Carolina’s best on Oct. 25, all helping to power the Pioneers to a No. 6 team finish in the NCHSAA 6A West Regional Cross Country Championships. The race was staged on the 5K Bridge Course of the Tryon Equestrian Center.

Among the 105 harriers competing there were 14 qualifying teams and a smattering of individual entries (where schools did not have enough entries to make up a full scoring team).

Whit Longhurst of Mount Tabor finished No. 1, his time of 16:02.7 almost 14 second ahead of the No. 2 competitor from Asheville, Asa Mehler (16:16.6).

The Northwestern 6A/7A Conference was well represented in the top 10 with South Caldwell’s Bryce Corpening coming in at No. 7.

Watauga’s Zeke Walker and Grady Gates were the No. 16 and No. 17 finishers with Jonah Pearson at No. 22, Sean Rea at No. 28, Levi Anderson at No. 37, Calvin Zwetsloot at No. 38 and Parker Williams at No. 44.

The Watauga team now looks ahead to the NCHSAA 6A State Cross Country Championships in Kernersville, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2 p.m., at the Redmon Sports Complex.

By David Rogers. MILL SPRINGS, N.C. — Sophomore cross country sensation Cali Townsend of Watauga High School took the individual title for the 2025 6A West Regional XC Championships on Oct. 25, hosted by the Tryon Equestrian Center, leading the Pioneer harriers to the team title. All five of Watauga’s scorers for the team total placed in the top 11 among the 93 women’s XC athletes competing from 13 western N.C. schools with full 5-runner teams and a smattering of teams with fewer than needed to qualify for team title consideration.

Watauga’s 35 team points was far ahead of second place A.C. Reynolds (66 points) and third place Mount Tabor (72).

While Townsend conquered the demanding course in 17:31.1, a little more than 16 seconds ahead of No. 2 Sofi Alexander, a senior from Asheville HS (17:47.2), her Pioneer teammates also had strong finishes, the seven harriers representing Watauga all finishing in the top 25.

Among the most impressive was Pioneer freshman Josie Mayo, who completed the course as the No. 4 finisher (18:59.4). The final trio of Watauga scores crossed the finish line No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11, including Janie Beach-Verhay, Lainey Johnston, and Lilly Kimbrough, respectively. While seven runners could represent each team, only the top five from each school go into the team total calculations. Watauga’s Sophia Stull and Susanna Goff finished No. 18 and No. 24, respectively.

Next up for the Pioneers is a trip next week to Kernersville for the state championship meet. According to the NCHSAA website, the 6A and 8A North Carolina State XC Championship races will begin at 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It is almost unheard of, but the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in both of the NCHSAA 6A West and 6A East brackets of the 2025 state playoffs have advanced to the celebrated “Final Four.” Among those playing next Tuesday evening will be Watauga, the No. 1 seed in the West, which advanced on Oct. 25 by defeating a strong North Iredell squad, 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-18).

BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article (Click any image for larger version and Slide Show Mode)

In the bottom half of the 6A West bracket, No. 2 Kings Mountain also advanced with a 3-0 sweep of Northern Guilford. In the 6A East, No. 1-seeded J.H. Rose (Greenville) took care of business with a 3-0 sweep over Union Pines (Cameron) and No. 2-seeded Gray’s Creek (Hope Mills) unsaddled the Middle Creek Mustangs (Apex), 3-0.

Inside Lentz Eggers Gym, Watauga took on a foe they had seen and defeated earlier in the early season. Like Watauga, North Iredell has gotten much better as the 2025 campaign wore on and proved an even more difficult challenge than in the first meeting. As in the Pioneers’ Round 3 match vs. Sun Valley, the the visiting Raiders were adept at keeping the ball in play, defensively, and forcing long rallies against the Pioneers.

In the end, though, the 1-2 power punch of Pioneer outside hitters Emma Pastusic and Ashlyn Smith was just too much for North Iredell in the electric atmosphere that was Lentz Eggers Gym. In addition to a large and vocal Watauga student section comprised mostly football and men’s soccer players, as well as High Country community fans, North Iredell brought a large contingent of supporters, too.

The Watauga team members literally thumped and banged each other after every good play. Their enthusiasm was worthy of the best mosh pit.

The student section was not only vocal, but acted out “skits” of some sort between sets and members of the Pioneer bench threw themselves headlong across the floor after an errant North Iredell shot, then dragged back by teammates pulling them by the legs.

It all made for some animated fun, even if a bit intimidating for the visitors.

On the court, the Pioneers were led, offensively, by Pastusic and Smith with 17 and 12 kills, respectively, while junior outside hitter Julia Rowan has rounded back into form after an early season shoulder injury, contributing a solid 8 kills.

At the center of the offensive attack, of course — and facilitator of the mayhem — was junior setter Lainey Gragg tallying 37 assists on the afternoon.

And lest we forget the impact of service aces in discouraging an opponent, as a team the Pioneer recorded nine of them, four by sophomore libero Caroline Childers.

When asked by High Country Sports about her string of aces in Set No. 2, Childers said she was just trying to exploit gaps in the North Iredell alignments and that it was something the team had focused on in recent practices, to be more aggressive with serves.

Testimony to the offensive prowess of North Iredell, the Pioneers had five players in or near double-digit digs, including Childers (26 digs), Smith (13), Pastusic (11), Gragg (7) and Lilli Combs (7),

The Pioneers also seemed more active at the net in this match, recording four blocks, one each from Pastusic, Rowan, Kora Knight and Addie Stough.

The Pioneers are slated to host Kings Mountain on Tues., Oct. 28. The time has yet to announced.

SELECTED WATAUGA STATS

Kills: Emma Pastusic (17), Ashlyn Smith (12), Julia Rowan (8), Kora Knight (5), Lainey Gragg (2), Lilli Combs (1), Addie Stough (1)

Service Aces: Caroline Childers (4), Emma Pastusic (2), Ashlyn Smith (2), Ember Honeycutt (1)

Assists: Lainey Gragg (37), Lilli Combs (1), Caroline Childers (1)

Blocks: Emma Pastusic (1), Kora Knight (1), Addie Stough (1), Julia Rowan (1)

Digs: Caroline Childers (26), Ashlyn Smith (13), Emma Pastusic (11), Lilli Combs (7), Lainey Gragg (7), Addie Stough (1)

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — As “Senior Nights” go, it doesn’t get much better than for the Watauga High School varsity footballers, who all but shrunk the McDowell Titans on Oct. 24, 55-21.

BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article (Click any image for larger view and Slide Show Mode)

Five senior Pioneers had a hand in the evening’s scoring barrage, most of it in the first half (49-7 at intermission). That triggered another “mercy rule” running clock and gave a legion of non-starters a chance to see meaningful live action in the final two quarters.

Senior quarterback Cade Keller completed 9-of-12 passes for 290 yards and four TDs, three of them to a fellow senior, wide receiver Nyle Peays. Keller’s aerials were on target, but the only three passes to Peays were caught for TDs, piling up 185 yards in the process. Important to note: an estimated 160 of those yards were earned by the speedy and elusive Peays after the catch.

Senior teammate Evan Burroughs had a relatively quiet night, at least by his recent standards. He “only” had four catches for 82 yards and a TD.

Primary running back duties this year have been evenly split between speedster Matthew Leon and the hard-charging Everett Gryder, both seniors. In a game primarily characterized by Watauga’s quick-strike capabilities through the air, Leon rushed just twice but averaged 5.5 yards per carry and hauled in a short pass, turning it into a 15-yard gain. Gryder, rushed four times for 54 yards and a touchdown, outrunning a platoon of Titans to paydirt.

Maybe the Pioneers should enter a football-only, 4×100 or 4×200 relay team for next spring’s track season.

Defense, Too

Coming into the game, McDowell’s senior quarterback Danny Charles Brown was ranked as the No. 1 passer in the Northwestern Conference, with some 1,800 yards through the air. At least through the first half when Watauga had all of its starters on the field, Brown looked unsettled and constantly under pressure. The Pioneers all but contained him.

Senior Bowen Mayo turned in a highlight reel-worthy big play in the first quarter, on defense, when he picked up a fumble forced by sophomore linebacker John Wilson Mills. Bowen ran it back some 40 yards for a “scoop and scoot” TD.

Mills led the defense with eight tackles, the forced fumble, and a quarterback sack. Gryder was in on five tackles, while the versatile senior lineman (offense and defense) Brady Lindenmuth recorded three tackles, including a tackle for loss (TFL).

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The Series: The ‘Tackling Machine’, John Wilson Mills

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Senior tackle Crue Stoddard also had a big night, with four tackles, two TFLs, as well as a pass breakup (PBU).

Peays, who like many of the top Pioneer athletes plays on both sides of the ball, stepped in front of McDowell pass in the second quarter for an interception and 40-yard INT return, while also recording a pair of tackles. The INT occurred on the Watauga side of the field and the Pioneer faithful in the grandstands could see Peays closing in for the “poach” as the play was developing.

Another versatile senior not wanting to be left out of the defensive fun, strong safety Kyle Williams tallied an INT, three PBUs, and another three tackles.

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The Series II: The Nyle Peays (9) Show?

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After the game, head coach Ryan Habich was generally pleased by his team’s play and especially the opportunity to get every senior playing time on Senior Night, but still had reservations about the performance of the mostly non-starters in the fourth quarter, including giving up a turnover (fumble). Whether a starter or not, Habich said the coaching staff’s expectation is for any and every Watauga player to execute, to do their job as they are trained to do.

“I didn’t like the way we finished,” said Habich.

Next up for Watauga is a visit to Hickory, to play St. Stephens in what has evolved as the de facto Northwestern Conference championship game. With the Pioneers at 4-0 in conference (9-0 overall) and St. Stephens at 3-1, the Oct. 31 tilt on the road should be a good one. The Indians’ only loss in conference was to Freedom, 28-21, on Oct. 10, in Hickory.

St. Stephens was a 48-2 winner over South Caldwell on Oct. 24. At halftime, Freedom was poised to move into a tie with the Indians for second place, leading Alexander Central, 35-0 (final score unavailable).

A win next week at St. Stephens, especially with a good showing, puts Watauga in the drivers seat for what should be a high seed in the 6A West playoffs bracket, perhaps even the No. 1 seed. Not counting all of this week’s games because not all scores are yet available, the only other undefeated (overall) team in the 6A West is Ashbrook (Gastonia). MaxPreps has Watauga ranked No. 1 in North Carolina’s 6A classification, 5-3 Sun Valley at No. 2, and Ashbrook No. 3, all in the 6A West. Two more 6A West teams, Charlotte Catholic (No. 4) and Northern Guilford (No. 5) round out the top 5, statewide.

If Watauga loses to St. Stephens, then its seeding and any home field advantage that comes with a high seed will suffer and probably catapult the Indians to a higher seed.

Freedom (8-1) is currently ranked No. 13 and could improve on that ranking after facing McDowell on Oct. 31 to close out the 2025 regular season. At 5-4, St. Stephens is ranked No. 30 in North Carolina’s 6A classification but has had some impressive wins and close losses, so the Pioneers have little room for error next week.

BONUS PHOTOS (Click any image for larger view and Slide Show Mode)