By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It is almost unheard of, but the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in both of the NCHSAA 6A West and 6A East brackets of the 2025 state playoffs have advanced to the celebrated “Final Four.” Among those playing next Tuesday evening will be Watauga, the No. 1 seed in the West, which advanced on Oct. 25 by defeating a strong North Iredell squad, 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-18).
BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article (Click any image for larger version and Slide Show Mode)
In the bottom half of the 6A West bracket, No. 2 Kings Mountain also advanced with a 3-0 sweep of Northern Guilford. In the 6A East, No. 1-seeded J.H. Rose (Greenville) took care of business with a 3-0 sweep over Union Pines (Cameron) and No. 2-seeded Gray’s Creek (Hope Mills) unsaddled the Middle Creek Mustangs (Apex), 3-0.
Inside Lentz Eggers Gym, Watauga took on a foe they had seen and defeated earlier in the early season. Like Watauga, North Iredell has gotten much better as the 2025 campaign wore on and proved an even more difficult challenge than in the first meeting. As in the Pioneers’ Round 3 match vs. Sun Valley, the the visiting Raiders were adept at keeping the ball in play, defensively, and forcing long rallies against the Pioneers.
In the end, though, the 1-2 power punch of Pioneer outside hitters Emma Pastusic and Ashlyn Smith was just too much for North Iredell in the electric atmosphere that was Lentz Eggers Gym. In addition to a large and vocal Watauga student section comprised mostly football and men’s soccer players, as well as High Country community fans, North Iredell brought a large contingent of supporters, too.
The Watauga team members literally thumped and banged each other after every good play. Their enthusiasm was worthy of the best mosh pit.
The student section was not only vocal, but acted out “skits” of some sort between sets and members of the Pioneer bench threw themselves headlong across the floor after an errant North Iredell shot, then dragged back by teammates pulling them by the legs.
It all made for some animated fun, even if a bit intimidating for the visitors.
On the court, the Pioneers were led, offensively, by Pastusic and Smith with 17 and 12 kills, respectively, while junior outside hitter Julia Rowan has rounded back into form after an early season shoulder injury, contributing a solid 8 kills.
At the center of the offensive attack, of course — and facilitator of the mayhem — was junior setter Lainey Gragg tallying 37 assists on the afternoon.
And lest we forget the impact of service aces in discouraging an opponent, as a team the Pioneer recorded nine of them, four by sophomore libero Caroline Childers.
When asked by High Country Sports about her string of aces in Set No. 2, Childers said she was just trying to exploit gaps in the North Iredell alignments and that it was something the team had focused on in recent practices, to be more aggressive with serves.
Testimony to the offensive prowess of North Iredell, the Pioneers had five players in or near double-digit digs, including Childers (26 digs), Smith (13), Pastusic (11), Gragg (7) and Lilli Combs (7),
The Pioneers also seemed more active at the net in this match, recording four blocks, one each from Pastusic, Rowan, Kora Knight and Addie Stough.
The Pioneers are slated to host Kings Mountain on Tues., Oct. 28. The time has yet to announced.
SELECTED WATAUGA STATS
Kills: Emma Pastusic (17), Ashlyn Smith (12), Julia Rowan (8), Kora Knight (5), Lainey Gragg (2), Lilli Combs (1), Addie Stough (1)
Service Aces: Caroline Childers (4), Emma Pastusic (2), Ashlyn Smith (2), Ember Honeycutt (1)
Assists: Lainey Gragg (37), Lilli Combs (1), Caroline Childers (1)
Blocks: Emma Pastusic (1), Kora Knight (1), Addie Stough (1), Julia Rowan (1)
Digs: Caroline Childers (26), Ashlyn Smith (13), Emma Pastusic (11), Lilli Combs (7), Lainey Gragg (7), Addie Stough (1)
BONUS PHOTOS
