By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A myriad of volleyball lessons were learned by Watauga’s young team after the Aug. 13, 3-0 loss at 3A rival, Hickory, but even more remain following a 3-1 setback to 2A power Foard on Aug. 14 in Lentz Eggers Gym.
Ever the pragmatist, Pioneer head coach Kim Pryor is fond of saying that when you lose there are just that many more opportunities to learn and grow as individuals and as a team. No season in recent memory has started with so many lessons to be learned for what is arguably the youngest Watauga roster in several years after losing seven seniors to graduation a year ago.
And yet, the improvement in play from one day to the next was clearly evident, especially in serving (offensively) and serve receive (defensively). The young Pioneers fielded Foard’s serves with much more authority than a day earlier against the Red Tornadoes. Although they lost 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 25-23) to the Tigers, all four sets in this match were proverbial nailbiters with plenty of long, extended rallies.
Besides improvement in serve receive, other bright spots for the Pioneers include middle blocker Grace Tillery’s 25 kills in 45 attempts with just two attack errors. The senior also racked up a total of 11 blocks, six of them of the solo variety.
From behind the service line, Watauga had three players each with a hat trick (3) of aces, including freshman Gracyn Phelps, senior Addison Parker and freshman Carolina Childers. Another freshman, Quinn Haines pocketed a pair of service aces to help keep things close in the decisive fourth set.
Watauga seems to be establishing a reliable dynamic duo in setting up attack opportunities with minimal ball-handling errors. Sophomore Lainey Gragg and Haines are filling in those roles adroitly, recording 29 and 22 assists, respectively, against Foard.
It was another youth movement defensively against the Tigers, as Childers (23 digs), sophomore Ashlyn Smith (15), Gragg (11), Haines (10), senior Kaitlyn Darner (8) and freshman Gracyn Phelps (7) each saw plenty of back row defensive action.
In the aforementioned serve receive category where Pryor put a lot of focus in practice prior to the Foard match, Childers was in the middle of the action with 34 serve receives vs. just a single receive error. Smith recorded 16 serve receives and Phelps, 15, during the four-set match.
Now 0-2 to start the season, Watauga goes back on the road Aug. 17 in search of a first win with matches against 0-2 West Rowan (12 p.m.) and 0-1 North Iredell (2 p.m.). Both are scheduled as varsity only, with both at North Iredell High School.
Watauga’s junior varsity volleyball team remains undefeated after a 2-0 win over Hickory on Aug. 13 and a come-from-behind, 2-1 win over Foard. Statistical leaders for the Pioneer JVs vs. Foard included Julia Rowan (7 kills), Ava Zaragoza (12 assists), Graycie Collins (6 digs) and Gracie Brown (4 service aces).
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