Working a ‘puzzle’, WHS volleyball gets ready for 2023 season

August 12, 2023

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By David Rogers. SALISBURY, N.C. — It was a scrimmage-style, high school volleyball tournament hosted by Catawba College on Aug. 12, but it wasn’t really about the scores, which weren’t kept or reported, officially. Instead, the timed, 30-minute (varsity) and 20-minute (JV) scrimmages gave the coaches some idea of their respective teams’ readiness for the soon-to-start regular season.

BONUS PHOTOS AT BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE

Watauga faced West Wilkes, Davie County, Mallard Creek and West Cabarrus in the packed Catawba College gyms — two of them — with family, friends, teammates and coaches lining the walls around the courts. If nothing else, it was a festive atmosphere celebrating high school women’s volleyball.

The Pioneers had the event’s largest contingent, with a varsity team and not one, but two junior varsity entries, the only school so represented.

EVERY YEAR PRESENTS A NEW PUZZLE. WE HAVE SOME REALLY GOOD PIECES THIS YEAR.

“Our hope was to get in here and play against some high level teams,” the Pioneers’ head coach Kim Pryor explained after her charges’ first matches against West Wilkes. “We have been hitting against each other for so long, it is nice to play someone different. That said, we get a lot out of our intrasquad scrimmages. Part of being a part of Watauga volleyball is being able to play against high level competition in every practice. Our talent level coming in is pretty good every year. To play against other teams, though, gives you a true feel for the game, putting different lineups in and checking things out.”

One of the stark realities of high school sports is turnover. Student athletes graduate and move on with their lives. A few go to play at the next level but every year the coaches are replacing at least some of their previous season’s stars.

Case in point: the Pioneers lost a couple of big hitters the last few seasons in Caroline Farthing and Brooke Scheffler, as well as the Northwestern Conference defensive player of the year, Kenzie Baldwin and multi-talented Faith Watson.

Replacing two hitters going on to play at Division I schools, Farthing at App State and Scheffler to Furman, is no easy task, but the Pioneers have a lot of potential in outside hitters Emma Pastusic (sophomore) and Brooklyn Stanbery (senior), as well as middle hitters Kate McCullough (senior), Sara Marlowe (senior), Grace Tillery (junior) and Kora Knight (sophomore). Marlowe and McCullough all-Northwestern Conference honorable mention selections last season.

A STARK REALITY OF HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS IS TURNOVER. STUDENT ATHLETES GRADUATE AND MOVE ON WITH THEIR LIVES, INCLUDING SOME WHO WILL PLAY AT THE NEXT LEVEL.

“We have a lot of depth with our blocking and hitting this year,” said Pryor.

Other varsity returnees from 2022 include Evie Robbins (senior libero, designated setter), Olivia Kop (senior, designated setter), Madie Combs (senior setter/designated setter) and Kasey Gragg (senior, setter).

The strength of the Watauga program may well be its numbers and roster depth, as reflected in the school’s entering a varsity team and two JV teams.

“Every year you have a new puzzle and you are challenged to fit all the pieces together. The pieces that we have this year bring a special set of skills in the area of blocking. When seniors move on, it creates opportunities for the girls coming up to fill those spots. It is always fun to put the new puzzle together. We have some great pieces to play with,” said Pryor.

“We have 50+ student athletes out for volleyball this year,” Pryor added, in referencing Watauga’s three tournament entries. “Especially at this time of year, we wanted to see them all play. Each one of them has been working hard.”

Pryor indicated the tournament’s scrimmage competition offered exactly what she and her coaches valued at this point in the 2023 season.

“For the preseason, we want to play strong opponents,” said Pryor, “even the best and you will see that in our early schedule as we prepare for another Northwestern Conference championship run. Our conference has gotten stronger in each of the last few years, so preparing for conference play has gotten more demanding. Ashe County is already strong, Hibriten is coming up, Alexander Central and South Caldwell are always scrappy and good tests now. We get ready for conference play this year with early opponents like Cox Mill, Southwestern Randolph, Hickory, and Foard, which are all very strong programs.”

Pryor’s optimism for the new season is shared by her players.

“I am very excited for the new season,” said Pastusic. “We lost a couple of players who graduated and went off to college, but I think we are adapting well. This scrimmage will really help us with timing and all. We are really working hard in practice and there are some girls who played JV last year coming up to varsity this year and they are very, very good.”

Pastusic, who also represented the Pioneers last spring in track and field, said her multi-sport experience is a positive.

“Being able to play more than one sport helps you achieve a sort of balance in your conditioning and preparation,” she said. “By being in track, I also stay in shape for playing volleyball in the summer and fall.”

Standing at 6-feet tall, Tillery enjoys a height advantage and one of those student athletes moving up from the JV squad where she competed in 2022.

“Moving up from JV to varsity is a big change for me,” said Tillery, “but I just want to get in there and live up to the expectations. I have considered trying to play at the next level and a junior year is when a lot of the recruiting is taking place. But while I have some individual goals, helping our team win a conference championship and possibly go deep into the playoffs is the most important thing.”

Watauga gets started on the 2023 season in earnest this week, with three matches. On Tuesday, Aug. 15, the Pioneers host Southwestern Randolph in Lentz Eggers Gym, with the JVs kicking things off at 4:30 p.m. and the varsity match scheduled for 6 p.m. On Wed. (Aug. 16), Watauga travels to West Wilkes (4:30 p.m./6:00 p.m.), and on Saturday (Aug. 19), they’ll get up early to play 4A power Cox Mill in Lentz Eggers Gym (11 a.m./12:30 p.m.).