By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A scrappy South Caldwell team gave Watauga just about everything they could handle on Oct. 14, but the Pioneers finally prevailed in four sets, 3-1 (25-17, 20-25, 25-23, 25-17).
BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article. Click any image for Slide Show Mode
With a little more than two weeks off because of the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Helene in the High Country and much of western North Carolina, a little “rust” was expected.
Outside hitter Emma Pastusic provided the power for the Pioneers on the night, with 21 kills, but the time off was evident as she was frequently long on her kill shots and credited with an uncharacteristic 11 hitting errors. The junior also tallied a pair of critical service aces, 2 stuff blocks, and 16 digs.
Watauga setter Lainey Gragg served up a whopping 46 assists on the night and was also credited for 5 digs and a kill.
Senior defensive specialist Kaitlyn Darner also enjoyed a big night, with a game high 24 digs and had several serving streaks to get Watauga on top. She was credited with two service aces.
“In the final set, we finally started playing Watauga volleyball,” said Pioneer head coach Kim Pryor after the match, before adding, “There aren’t many times that a team has to stop playing for more than two weeks in the middle of the season. We got a little practice in last week, for voluntary work, but we never had a full team, for many reasons.
“The resilience of our girls…,” Pryor added. “I am just so proud that they were able to take that big long break and come back. Not only did they have to stop playing, they had to watch their community go through (the ravages and destruction of Hurricane Helene). They volunteered. Every single one of them (helped) their friends and their community. I am just so proud of what they had to endure and what they did tonight.”
For Pryor, the team is about more than volleyball.
“I love the family we have on this team and that we can lean on each other during this time. Some of them had houses flooded. We had the road to our house washed out and had to use a neighbor’s driveway to gain access. Several of us have only gotten power restored in the last three or four days,” said Pryor, then pointed out, “On top of it, we were in about the third week of school — but no school.”
Pryor also had an even larger message.
“I am proud that I work in a school system where every single student and every single staff member was accounted for. They did that in a systematic way and to get that email announcement that every single kid, every single teacher and support staff member was safe… That was pretty neat.”
Most of North Carolina was unaffected by the storm and the schedule for the state playoffs for volleyball were not modified. Pryor said that the Northwestern Conference administrators did a really good job in figuring out what matches were important for the state playoffs’ seedings.
Although they could have played as many as eight matches before the playoffs, but the Northwestern Conference concluded that was too many to fit in before the playoffs start on Oct. 22. Watauga will have just two more matches before playoffs, the first on Tuesday, Oct. 15, at home vs. Alexander Central and the second also at home on Thursday, Oct. 17, a much anticipated rematch vs. regional rival, Ashe County.
South Caldwell, Alexander Central and Watauga are the three 4A schools in the Northwestern Conference, so those matches were vital to make up for purposes of seeding. Ashe County is a 3A member of the conference, but swept Watauga, 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-20) on Sept. 25, as Helene was arriving.
Watauga is now 9-8 overall after a rigorous non-conference schedule and 5-1 in Northwestern Conference play. Except for the loss to Ashe County and dropping a set on Oct. 16 to South Caldwell, the Pioneers won by 3-0 sweep against all other conference opponents. At Alexander Central on Sept. 16, Watauga won in straight sets, 25-12, 25-19, 25-19.
SELECTED MATCH STATS FOR OCT. 14 VS. SOUTH CALDWELL
- Lainey Gragg: 46 assists, 5 digs, 1 kill
- Kaitlyn Darner: 24 digs, 2 service aces
- Caroline Childers: 16 digs, 1 service ace, 1 assist, 1 kill
- Emma Pastusic: 21 kills, 2 stuff blocks, 2 service aces, 16 digs
- Grace Tillery: 12 kills, 1 dig
- Kora Knight: 8 kills, 1 dig
- Hadleigh Windish: 6 kills, 1 assist, 6 digs
- Lilli Combs: 10 digs, 3 service aces
- Addison Parker: 2 digs
- Ashlyn Smith: 3 kills, 4 digs
- Bella Wade: 1 service ace
BONUS PHOTOS
