By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Make it plural. Instead of “This girl…”, it is “These girls are on fire!”
BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article (click any image for Slide Show Mode)
With apologies to Alicia Keys for borrowing the title phrase of her iconic, 2012 song (“Girl on Fire”), there is no better way to describe Watauga’s varsity volleyball performance on Oct. 17, in a nailbiter of a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 26-24, 25-23) of the heavily favored Ashe County Huskies in Lentz Eggers Gym.
“Those Watauga girls were on fire tonight,” said Ashe County head coach Dalton Lewis after the match. “When a team comes to play like that, you have to match it. Tonight, we weren’t quite there.”
Maybe because it was Senior Night. Maybe it was because the Pioneers had lost, 3-0, to the Huskies in West Jefferson on Sept. 25. Maybe it was finally having all of the team together for a couple of full, mandatory practices after the destruction and disruption of Hurricane Helene. Maybe it was all of those things, and more,
“This is the team that I knew we had in us, all season,” said a beaming Watauga head coach Kim Pryor. “You could see it in their eyes. They wanted it. Especially after everything they and the community have been through, I am so proud of these young women.”
Right from the opening serve by Ashe County when junior defensive specialist Lilli Combs dove forward for a saving serve receive to keep the ball in play, there was a fierce determination — and confidence — in Watauga’s style of play. The young roster that features only four seniors (Kaitlyn Darner, Grace Twillery, Addison Parker and Hadleigh Windish) also includes four freshmen, two sophomores, and seven juniors. They spent the early part of the season growing together, then the almost three weeks of post-Hurricane Helene disruption undid a lot of that. Two less than perfect performances together early in the week (one win, one loss) with little in the way of preparation and one full practice together later… well, at least for this night, they were “clicking.”
Watauga did it in all phases of the game. Sophomore setter Lainey Gragg’s 34 assists provided kill opportunities for six different Pioneers on the front line, including Emma Pastusic (14 kills), Ashlyn Smith (9), Grace Twillery (8), Kora Knight (6), Hadleigh Windish (3) and Gragg (2). Addi Parker, Lilli Combs and Carolina Childers were also credited with assists.
Pastusic’s kill shots often elicited calls of “Boom!” from a student section led by many members of the football team. The junior outside hitter’s powerful timing seemed to have returned.
“A full, mandatory practice with everyone together really helped,” Pastusic said later. “I was able to focus on timing and accuracy.”
Defensively, on both sides, the Oct. 17 contest was a “dig” affair as both the Huskies and the Pioneers kept the ball in play off powerful kill shots by their adversaries. For Watauga, three players were credited with double digit digs, including Darner (12 digs), Combs (12) and Childers (11). With eight digs each, Parker and Gragg were right behind the other three.
A quartet of Pioneers each recorded a stuff block, including Pastusic, Twillery, Knight and Gragg. Service aces on this night seemed more rare in sending the ball over the net to a well-skilled Husky team, but Childers (with 2), Pastusic (1), Gragg (1) and Bella Wade (1) all made their mark at critical times to extend leads and establish offensive momentum.
With the win and a conference record of 6-2, Watauga secures the top 4A seed from the Northwestern Conference, followed by Alexander Central (6-3) and South Caldwell (5-4). Being the No. 1 seed from the conference, Watauga is guaranteed a berth, but all three NWC member have a chance at a berth.
As the No. 1 NWC finisher, Watauga is likely to be seeded in the top 16 of a 32-team, North Carolina 4A West bracket and be guaranteed at least one home game during the playoffs. According to MaxPreps, Watauga’s 4A West ranking is No. 17 (up one spot from No. 18 after the Oct. 15 loss to Alexander Central). Through games of Oct. 17, Alexander Central remains No. 24 and South Caldwell at No. 32, but several factors, including conference standings and strength of schedule among other factors go into the playoffs’ bracketing.
The state playoffs brackets should be announced over the weekend, with Round 1 matches scheduled for Oct. 22 and Round 2 for Oct. 24.
SELECTED WATAUGA INDIVIDUAL STATS VS. ASHE COUNTY
- Lainey Gragg – 34 assists, 2 kills, 1 stuff block, 1 service ace, 8 digs
- Emma Pastusic – 14 kills, 1 stuff block, 1 service ace, 4 digs
- Hadleigh Windish – 3 kills, 2 digs
- Lilli Combs – 12 digs, 1 assist
- Kaitlyn Darner – 12 digs
- Caroline Childers – 11 digs, 2 service aces, 1 assist
- Addi Parker – 8 digs, 1 assist
- Grace Twillery – 8 kills, 1 stuff block, 3 digs
- Ashlyn Smith – 9 kills, 3 digs
- Kora Knight – 6 kills, 1 stuff block, 1 dig
- Bella Wade – 1 service ace, 2 digs
BONUS PHOTOS
