By David Rogers. MARION, N.C. — The Watauga High School varsity women’s volleyball team cruised through the semifinals of the Northwestern 6A/7A Conference Championships tournament on Oct. 14, defeating St. Stephens, 3-0 (25-12, 25-7, 25-15).
A familiar trio of Pioneers led the No. 1 seeded and regular season champion Watauga offensive attack, with senior outside hitter Emma Pastusic tallying a game-high 17 kills. Ashlyn Smith (7 kills) and Kora Knight (5 kills) proved an able supporting cast. Setter Lainey Gragg fed the attack with 27 assists.
Sophomore libero Caroline Childers and Smith got things started on the Indians’ serves with 14 and 7 serve receives, respectively.
Defensively, the Pioneers were efficient with team totals of 33 digs and a total of six blocks, led by Childers (12 digs), Lilli Combs (9 digs), Smith (6 digs), Gragg (6 digs), Kora Knight (2 solo blocks, 1 block assist), Addie Stough (1 solo block, 2 block assists), Athena Elliott (1 solo block, 1 block assist) and Pastusic (4 digs, 2 block assists).
The Pioneers continued to rack up service aces, with 12 as a team. Gragg recorded six aces and Smith four.
Next up is a return trip to host venue McDowell High School on Oct. 15 to face Alexander Central in the tournament championship final.
