By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — After Watauga battled past visiting Mooresville to win the first set of the teams’ Round 1 matchup, the Pioneers fell behind the Blue Devils in the second set. Then, after Watauga earned a side out at 12-14, freshman libero Caroline Childers stepped to the service line.
BONUS PHOTOS AND ROUND 1 SCORES AT BOTTOM OF ARTICLE
Behind nine straight points with Childers serving, Watauga pulled ahead 21-14 and for the first time there was a feeling that the Pioneers owned the night — which they ended up doing, 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-14).
Over the course of the three sets, Childers accounted for six service aces, a match-high, as well as a match-high 15 digs. Defensive specialists Kaitlyn Darner and Lilli Combs recorded seven and eight digs, respectively, to figure prominently in the Pioneers’ ability to defuse the Blue Devils’ offensive attacks.
Up front, on offensive, setter Lainey Gragg crafted 27 assists, most of them to three Watauga hitters: outside hitter Emma Pastusic (15 kills), middle blocker Grace Twillery (7 kills) and outside hitter Ashlyn Smith (6 kills).
Where the first set was a see-saw battle with several lead changes and ties until the Pioneers began to pull ahead at 15-13, Mooresville started to gain separation when leading 12-7 in the second set.
But Watauga battled back, tightening things up at 14-11 in the second set. On a thundering Pastusic kill shot from the left side that skipped just inside the lines in Mooresville’s far corner, the Pioneers earned a side out trailing 12-14. That’s when Childers did her thing.
“Specifically, in the second set,” acknowledged Childers, “I felt like we needed to go on a run because we were a little behind. I knew our team is good, we could get back up. We just needed a little bit more energy. We all worked really hard to get back up and on top of it. Volleyball is a game of skill and power, but it is also a game of mistakes. My mentality was to serve hard. If I made a mistake, I could shake it off. We all served pretty hard tonight.”
Smith, still just a sophomore, said later that it was a good game for her team and that they had prepared for it, studiously.
“This was for the playoffs. We watched a bunch of film, looking for what Mooresville did well and maybe what they didn’t do so well,” said Smith. “Really it was about their strengths and weaknesses and we focused our practices around that. Tonight was a good match. I felt our energy kept us alive and we had a lot of fun.
“One of the things Coach Pryor has emphasized with us is working on the ‘roller coaster’, the highs and lows, emotionally, and trying to keep things more even,” added Smith. “Getting excited about big hits and good plays is awesome, but we are working on keeping a high level of energy and communication on the court, all of the time, without the big highs and big lows.”
After the match, head coach Kim Pryor was pleased that her charges were able to sustain the momentum they established last week when defeating Ashe County, especially after the adversity and distractions caused by Hurricane Helene.
“Whatever it takes, I feel like our team on any given night can beat any other team,” said Pryor. “I hope we can continue to roll like we did tonight.”
Although there were a few anxious moments early in the match with misplays and mistakes, Pryor credited her players for getting things corrected.
“We started getting our passes to the setter and attacking. When we are in attack mode, we are hard to stop. We just needed to get in that groove,” said Pryor.
For Round 2 of the state playoffs on Oct. 24, the No. 7 seeded Pioneers will host No. 10 seeded Lake Norman, with first serve scheduled for 6 p.m. The Wildcats swept Alexander Central in Round 1, 3-0 (25-14, 25-10, 25-10), improving their overall record to 18-3. They were 12-1 in the highly competitive Greater Metro 4A Conference.
While the Wildcats and the Pioneers did not meet during the regular season, they shared some common opponents. Both were swept, 3-0, early in the season by North Iredell. Lake Norman defeated Ashe County in a non-conference match, 3-0, while Watauga split its home-and-home series with the Huskies. Watauga lost a tough match to Lake Norman’s conference rival, Cox Mill, 3-2, while the Wildcats split their two league games.
Watauga is the lone 4A survivor from the Northwestern Conference in Round 1. While Lake Norman was defeating Alexander Central, No. 2-seeded Cox Mill dispatched No. 31-seeded South Caldwell, 3-0.
FULL ROUND 1 SCORES, 4A WEST BRACKET
- No. 1 Marvin Ridge def. No. 32 Porter Ridge, 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-16)
- No. 17 Southwest Guilford def. No. 16 Sun Valley, 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 29-27)
- No. 8 Myers Park vs. No. 25 North Mecklenburg
- No. 9 Butler def. No. 24 East Mecklenburg, 3-0
- No. 5 Hough def. No. 28 Southeast Guilford, 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-20)
- No. 12 Northern Guilford def. No. 21 Northwest Guilford, 3-0
- No. 13 Weddington def. No. 20 Ardrey Kell, 3-0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-23)
- No. 4 Grimsley vs. No. 29 Mallard Creek
- No. 3 Reagan def. No. 30 Asheville, 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-16)
- No. 14 South Iredell vs. No. 19 Hickory Ridge
- No. 6 T C Roberson def. No. 27 East Forsyth, 3-2 (15-25, 20-25, 28-26, 25-17, 15-13)
- No. 3 Cuthbertson def. No. 22 Davie, 3-2
- No. 7 Watauga def. No. 26 Mooresville, 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-14)
- No. 10 Lake Norman def. No. 23 Alexander Central, 3-0 (25-14, 25-10, 25-10)
- No. 15 West Forsyth def. No. 18 Independence, 3-0
- No. 2 Cox Mill def. No. 31 South Caldwell, 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-15)
OTHER SCORES OF INTEREST
- 3A West – No. 12 Hickory def. No. 21 St. Stephens, 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-22)
- 3A West – No. 4 Ashe County def. No. 29 Tuscola, 3-0 (25-13, 25-10, 25-15)
- 3A West – No. 22 Foard def. No. 11 Franklin, 3-2 (16-25, 25-23, 14-25, 25-18, 15-7)
BONUS PHOTOS
