By David Rogers. HICKORY, N.C. — Losing the opening volleyball match of the 2024 season to longtime rival Hickory (16-25, 19-25, 14-25) may not have been the goal — but for Watauga head coach Kim Pryor there is a silver lining.
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After losing seven seniors on last year’s Northwestern Conference championship team to graduation, the 2024 edition of the Pioneers is young, including three freshmen student athletes on varsity.
“Any time you lose,” said Pryor after the match, “it is an opportunity to learn and grow. So we have some things we can work on in the gym. A lot of it is mentality: playing the same way in a game that we do in practice, all out.”
With the next match hosted on Aug. 14 against perennial 2A state power Fred T. Foard in Lentz Eggers Gym, Watauga will need to be a quick study.
The Pioneers list five seniors on this year’s roster, led by middle blocker Grace Tillery, defensive specialist Kaitlyn Darner, right side hitter Hadleigh Windish, defensive specialist and opposite hitter Katie Matheson and middle blocker/outside hitter Addison Parker.
Seven juniors return to the 2024 squad, including middle blocker Kora Knight, defensive specialist and setter Lilli Combs, right side hitter Sophia Wade, opposite hitter and defensive specialist Anna Koontz, outside hitter Emma Pastusic (currently on injured list), defensive specialist Bella Wade, and right side hitter/outside hitter Athena Elliott.
The Pioneer sophomores are headlined by setter Lainey Gragg, as well as outside hitter and right side hitter Ashlyn Smith.
Four freshmen complete the Watauga roster, according to the information listed on MaxPreps, in setter and outside hitter Quinn Haines, libero and defensive specialist Caroline Childers, middle blocker Addie Stough and outside hitter Gracyn Phelps.
“All in all, we have a lot of positives that we can take from today as well as some things we need to work on, such as serve receive. We have the opportunity to grow from this experience,” said Pryor.
On the other side of the net, the winning Hickory head coach Jason Stephens was all smiles about the performance of his upperclassman-laden team’s performance.
“I was particularly pleased with our blocking,” said Stephens. “We got lots of touches and made things difficult for Watauga’s hitters. I was impressed with our serve game and did a lot of good things there. We have some setter-hitter timing things to work out. We can run things a lot faster, quicker and better. Overall, it was a nice start. It is always good to beat a good, well-coached team like Watauga.”
Stephens was quick to acknowledge that regardless of Watauga’s youth this season, he expects them to grow quickly.
“When you are young like that, they won’t be down long. Coach Pryor knows what she is doing. By the end of the year, they will be surprising some people,” said Stephens.
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