Category: High School

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A myriad of volleyball lessons were learned by Watauga’s young team after the Aug. 13, 3-0 loss at 3A rival, Hickory, but even more remain following a 3-1 setback to 2A power Foard on Aug. 14 in Lentz Eggers Gym.

Ever the pragmatist, Pioneer head coach Kim Pryor is fond of saying that when you lose there are just that many more opportunities to learn and grow as individuals and as a team. No season in recent memory has started with so many lessons to be learned for what is arguably the youngest Watauga roster in several years after losing seven seniors to graduation a year ago.

And yet, the improvement in play from one day to the next was clearly evident, especially in serving (offensively) and serve receive (defensively). The young Pioneers fielded Foard’s serves with much more authority than a day earlier against the Red Tornadoes. Although they lost 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 25-23) to the Tigers, all four sets in this match were proverbial nailbiters with plenty of long, extended rallies.

Besides improvement in serve receive, other bright spots for the Pioneers include middle blocker Grace Tillery’s 25 kills in 45 attempts with just two attack errors. The senior also racked up a total of 11 blocks, six of them of the solo variety.

From behind the service line, Watauga had three players each with a hat trick (3) of aces, including freshman Gracyn Phelps, senior Addison Parker and freshman Carolina Childers. Another freshman, Quinn Haines pocketed a pair of service aces to help keep things close in the decisive fourth set.

Watauga seems to be establishing a reliable dynamic duo in setting up attack opportunities with minimal ball-handling errors. Sophomore Lainey Gragg and Haines are filling in those roles adroitly, recording 29 and 22 assists, respectively, against Foard.

It was another youth movement defensively against the Tigers, as Childers (23 digs), sophomore Ashlyn Smith (15), Gragg (11), Haines (10), senior Kaitlyn Darner (8) and freshman Gracyn Phelps (7) each saw plenty of back row defensive action.

In the aforementioned serve receive category where Pryor put a lot of focus in practice prior to the Foard match, Childers was in the middle of the action with 34 serve receives vs. just a single receive error. Smith recorded 16 serve receives and Phelps, 15, during the four-set match.

Now 0-2 to start the season, Watauga goes back on the road Aug. 17 in search of a first win with matches against 0-2 West Rowan (12 p.m.) and 0-1 North Iredell (2 p.m.). Both are scheduled as varsity only, with both at North Iredell High School.

Watauga’s junior varsity volleyball team remains undefeated after a 2-0 win over Hickory on Aug. 13 and a come-from-behind, 2-1 win over Foard. Statistical leaders for the Pioneer JVs vs. Foard included Julia Rowan (7 kills), Ava Zaragoza (12 assists), Graycie Collins (6 digs) and Gracie Brown (4 service aces).

BONUS PHOTOS

 

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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By David Rogers. ASHEVILLE, N.C. — In terms of the most important takeaways for Watauga from the high school football “jamboree” hosted by Asheville HS on Aug. 10, head coach Ryan Habich said, “We have to get more physical.”

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Whether blocking or tackling — or being blocked or tackled — football is an intentionally physical game and good players cannot shy away from the contact. That is at least part of the message Habich seemed to convey to his players after the competitive sessions were all done against three other high school teams from the region: host Asheville, as well as Swain County (Bryson City, Cherokee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park) and David Crockett High School (Jonesborough, Tenn.).

All three of the other schools shared some similarities with Watauga, even if differently. Asheville and Crockett are similar in terms of enrollment, even if the former draws from a more metropolitan school district and Crockett, as well as Swain have more rural enrollments, like Watauga.

“The jamboree format is not really a scrimmage,” said Habich after more than two hours of roundrobin play in which all schools had a chance to compete against one another at least once. “For each session, we play the other schools 10 plays on offense and 10 plays on defense, then we switch opponents.”

When asked what his coaching goals are for this kind of event, Habich was quick to respond.

“What we are trying to do is get everyone on tape. We want film on as many guys as possible, so we can tell not only where we need to improve but who we have. Our ultimate goal is to create depth at every position. Sometimes that is moving a player laterally, from one position to another. Other times that is having a player step up from the sideline,” said Habich.

Overall, Watauga’s first and second team units played well on both offense and defense, showing a lot of promise for the upcoming 2024 campaign, although each of their opponents were able to move the ball at times, even scoring, as did the Pioneers.

Except for being much warmer conditions than what Watauga has more often practiced in, in Boone, the weather was clear and sunny. For all of the players, adequate hydration was a critical part of the practice instructions.

Editor’s Note: For all of the teams, any printed roster did not match the names and numbers of the players, so so obtaining accurate player IDs was problematic.

BONUS PHOTOS

All photographic images by David Rogers for High Country Sports

By David Rogers. RALEIGH, N.C. — Not surprising given the number of athletes on a team and the popularity of the sport, Football headed the list of high school sports for the number of participants in North Carolina’s 2023-24 academic year, according to data obtained from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

The NCHSAA reported that 29,075 student athletes competed in football during the most recently completed academic year, up from 27,809 in 2022-23, an 0.26% increase. The participants were spread among 383 high schools in 2023-24, one more than in the previous year.

Men’s Track (15,932 participants/409 schools), Men’s Soccer (12,916/407), Men’s Basketball (11,409/434) and Women’s Track (11,409/409) rounded out the top five high school sports in North Carolina with the highest participation.

New to the lineup of athletic opportunities in North Carolina high schools in 2023-24 was Women’s Wrestling, offered in its first year by 248 schools with 1,432 participants.

The highest rate of growth for the number of students participating in a sport was in the Spirit squads, cheerleaders and dance teams, which saw a 20.15 percent increase as the number of schools offering the opportunities increased from 354 to 414.

Women’s Indoor Track (5,912/306) realized a 16.47 percent increase, followed by Men’s Indoor Track (7,331/304) with a 12.82 percent increase, Women’s Golf (1,573/282) at 12.04 percent growth, Men’s Cross Country (5,821/395) with 9.60 percent growth, and Men’s Soccer (12,916/407) at 9.31 percent.

Of the 26 athletic endeavors offered by North Carolina high schools, only Baseball saw a decline in participants, -1.43 percent, while Men’s Track and Women’s Lacrosse were almost flat for the year.

In addition to general population growth as well as social and cultural trends promoting physical fitness, the participation numbers are largely influenced by the number of schools offering a particular sport.

The largest number of schools offering an individual sport was in Men’s Basketball, offered by 434 North Carolina high schools, closely followed by (Women’s) Volleyball (432). Rounding out the top five in terms of the number of schools offering a sport were Women’s Basketball (429), Spirit squads (414) and Baseball (414).

In total, North Carolina high schools saw 208,722 students participating in NCHSAA sanctioned athletics during the 2023-24 academic year, a 5.40 percent increase over the prior academic year. Winter sports experienced the highest growth rate, at 9.30 percent.

 

By David Rogers. GREENSBORO, N.C. — Watauga High School alum Kyle Painter recorded six saves as goalkeeper for the West in the North Carolina Coaches Association (NCAA) East-West All-Star Soccer Game, but it was not quite enough to overcome a barrage of close-range shots by the East, who prevailed with a 3-2 win on July 16.

Meanwhile, another Watauga alum, Katie Durham, helped lead the West All-Stars to a 1-0 victory over the East in the curtain-raiser, with both matches hosted by the NCCA at Grimsley High School.

With temperatures nearing 90 degrees and a thunderstorm brewing on the western horizon, the women’s game looked to be electrifying when the West’s Kylee Thompson (Hough HS) drove down the left wing, deftly turned the ball inward, then skipped it past a lunging East goalkeeper, Lauren Hollis ((Millbrook HS), for what turned out to be the game’s only score just two minutes after the opening whistle to start play.

For much of the match, the East seemed to dominate possession in their offensive half of the field, but each time the West defenders successfully turned their adversaries away. The starting West goalkeeper Rees DeJong (Cox Mill HS) made one save in the first half, then when the East turned up their offensive attack a notch or two in the second half, the West’s second goalkeeper, Elizabeth Navola (Christ the King HS), helped salvage the shutout with four more saves.

Although she did not score from her attacking midfield position, Durham played a critical role in most of the West’s other offensive assaults. In what she described as her favorite near-goal of the night, the former Pioneer now committed to play for Wingate University received a long pass over the top from a fellow midfielder, then pushed the ball ahead in the left-center part of the field and sprinted in pursuit, racing past two defenders. Only a brilliant play by Hollis (the East goalkeeper) and a third East defender prevented Watauga’s 2024 MVP from scoring on this particular play.

Two other notable runs by Durham, one down the right wing and another down the right-center of the field also threatened, making for some exciting, highlight reel type action.

Thompson was named the game’s MVP.

NC Men’s All-Stars: East 3, West 2

Where the women’s game featured strong defensive efforts, the men’s all-stars traded offensive punches and counterattacks aplenty.

The West’s Aaron Zhu knocked the ball from 14 yards out just 4:07 into the match, a low shot around the East goalkeeper who had stopped the first touch.

From the 25-minute mark until just about the last 10 minutes, the East dominated the scoring, starting with Irvin Guiterrez’s (Lee County HS) unassisted blast from 24 yards out on the left side to clean up a loose ball. At the 43:30 mark, the East’s Adam Trusky (Chapel Hill HS) scored from close range thanks to a deft thru ball from Patrick Dion (Apex Friendship) for the assist. The East finished off their scoring barrage for the night at the 45:04 mark when Finn Peters (Junius H. Rose HS) and Trusky found a 2-on-1 opportunity that allowed Peters to finish it off, Trusky being credited for the all-important assist.

After a long scoring drought in the second half, the West’s Zhu brought the deficit to just a single goal with a successful penalty kick after teammate Justin Ortiz (Hickory HS) was fouled inside the penalty box at the 71:13 mark.

But that is as close as the West could get in front of the almost 700 patrons who attended, even with rain and lightning threatening. The East’s Trusky was named MVP of the men’s all-star match.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — For a soccer match featuring teams with almost identical regular season records, the May 20 match between Watauga and Mooresville in Round 3 of the NCHSAA 4A state playoffs was a fitting celebration of both teams’ accomplishments. Tied at 0-0 at the end of regulation and still tied that way at the end of two overtime periods, a defensive battle that saw only a handful of meaningful attacks on goal was thrust into sudden death OT.

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Incidental contact inside the Watauga-defended penalty box sent players from each team sprawling to the turf, but the referee decided the Watauga defender was overly aggressive on the play, issued a yellow card, and awarded a penalty kick to Mooresville, midway into the first sudden death period. It is not the way you expect a match of this character and magnitude to end — and it almost wasn’t.

The visiting Blue Devils’ junior midfielder Cameron Cline pummeled the PK ball toward the Watauga net, where goalkeeper Rylee Mitchell at first turned away the shot. In the mayhem that followed around the deflected ball in front of the Watauga goal, Cline found it again and pushed what had been an elusive orb toward and into the Pioneers’ goal for what turned out to be the game decider. The Mooresville sideline erupted, rushing in celebration to surround Cline. One by one, with intermixed hugs and sobs, the Pioneers drifted to the Watauga bench, a highlight-reel season’s end.

It was another one of those games where you hated that someone had to lose. Mooresville dominated possession in their attacking half of the field for much of regulation time, repeatedly turned away by a disruptive Watauga defense, including close to a dozen saves by Mitchell. Watauga’s normally dominant offense didn’t have many opportunities this time out, but had arguably some of the most dramatic attacks on goal — saved by the Blue Devils’ goalkeeper, senior Briton Warham.

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Watauga’s ‘almost goal’ sequence during OT. Off a corner kick by Mattie Durham, Katie Durham spots up in front of the Mooresville goal for a header.

Header delivered, aimed for the upper reaches of the net…

Ball strikes the upper crossbar, caroms off and is cleared by a Mooresville defender.

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“Mooresville is a solid team,” said Watauga head coach Chris Tarnowski after the game. “They have had an historic season, winning their conference for the first time in 20-something years.

“And you saw it tonight,” he added. “They possessed the ball well. They worked the ball around well. What kept us in the game was heart and character. Even if we’re not getting the ball and not able to play our game, we have players throwing themselves in front of crosses, clearing the ball, making that one last run. (Mooresville) walks away with the win but I walk away really proud of our heart and character, all the way through almost two hours of soccer.”

Watauga’s trademark attacking style includes one- and two-touch short passes, keeping possession and working the ball methodically downfield. Against Mooresville, it was hard to implement.

“I think you have to credit Mooresville,” Tarnowski conceded. “They closed down space far faster than what we are used to seeing. They were nullifying any chances that we were getting to move the ball. They came out with a lot of energy and a good game plan.”

Tarnowski had some additional high praise for his roster depth, particularly Elyse Rea.

“My gosh, we didn’t have any dropoff at all,” said the Pioneers’ chief mentor. “Sammy Morgan came out with some calf cramps and we were basically trading freshman for freshman. Elyse comes off the bench and we don’t skip a beat — and she plays 60 full minutes, blending in with four seniors on defense like she has been there all the time. We lose a really strong senior class but we have some really strong underclassmen, too. As coaches, it may be hard tonight but we are already looking forward to next year!”

Reflecting back on the season, Tarnowski had a lot of praise for his seniors.

“We’ve had great senior classes before, but this may be the most impactful we have ever had. We are going to have young girls coming up through these programs and new players next year and I guarantee they will be saying, ‘Hey, I want to be scoring goals like Katie Durham and Georgia Parker.’ Or, ‘I want to be running through people like Sam Bertrand, Syd Bryant and Lucy Willis.’ Or, ‘I want to be controlling the midfield like Charlotte Cuthbert.’ We have had Olivia Foskey doing the high jump in track one day and blocking shots for us the next. When I look back, it is going to be with a special appreciation for our seniors. They need to know that they will have a (significant) impact on young female athletes in our community.”

Mooresville head coach Susie Hudson was, of course, pleased with her team’s performance on the night, as well as had high praise for Watauga.

“This was a hard, hard-fought match,” said Hudson. “Our girls dug deep. This is something that they have wanted. They played with heart, soul and determination tonight. Watauga plays tough, hard-working soccer up here. They are very tough to beat. They have speed and they have skills. They play really hard.”

With win, No. 8 Mooresville advances to face No. 5-seeded Asheville (a 2-1 winner over No. 13 Charlotte Catholic) on May 23.

In the other 4A West bracket Round 3 games, No. 6 Marvin Ridge defeated No. 3 West Forsyth, 4-2, and No. 26 Myers Park upset No. 2 Hough, 3-1

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By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A flashy goal in the first 90 seconds was all the offense No. 1- seeded Watauga needed at Jack Groce Stadium against No. 17 South Mecklenburg on May 16, thanks to the grittiest defensive performance of the season.

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Driving up the center of the field into the open, Katie Durham poked a pass downfield between two Sabre defenders and in front of a racing Morgan Flynt. The junior forward settled the ball ahead once, then quickly angled the ball across the face of the goal, past a surprised South Meck goalkeeper, and inside the opposite post for the game’s first and only score by either team.

Afterwards, Durham explained,”Morgan is always out there. I knew without looking that she would be there.”

Inasmuch as the Sabres kept possession of the ball for a majority of the rest of the match in their attacking third of the field, Flynt was understandably excited about making good on her opportunity.

“I may have only touched the ball 10 times the entire game,” said Flynt. “That one of those touches was a goal is pretty special.”

To be sure, while the Pioneers were pretty quiet offensively, their defense won the night, headlined by goalkeeper Rylee Mitchell and the core four defensive athletes, Ali Bertrand, Sammy Morgan, Lucy Willis and Sydnee Bryant, along with midfielder Sam Bertrand. Because of Watauga’s frequent dominance in the attacking third of the field in most matches this season, Mitchell was relatively untested until South Meck came along. She came up with 12 saves on the night, including defending against multiple Sabre corner kicks.

“I love our defensive players,” Mitchell said later. “They are so, so good.”

“We knew that South Meck is very good with some particularly fast players,” said Bryant, a senior, after the game. “I think the difference tonight was our team’s heart. We were determined not to let them score.”

Watauga head coach Chris Tarnowski was candid when all was said and done.

“Sometimes soccer is a funny game. Offensively, we were arguably outplayed tonight but I am so proud of our defensive performance. It was gritty and it came against a very good South Meck team that is among the best in the state,” said Tarnowski.

With the win, Watauga advances to Round 3 vs. No. 9 Mooresville on Monday, May 20. Kickoff is set tentatively for 6 p.m. at Jack Groce Stadium.

ROUND 2 RESULTS FOR THE NCHSAA 4A WEST BRACKET:

• No. 1 Watauga def. No. 17 South Mecklenburg, 1-0
• No. 9 Mooresville def. No. 9 Providence, 1-0
• No. 5 Asheville def. No. 12 Reagan, 1-0
• No. 13 Charlotte Catholic def. No. 4 Ardrey Kell, 6-0
• No. 3 West Forsyth def. No. 14 Cuthbertson, 2-1
• No. 6 Marvin Ridge def. No. 11 T C Roberson, 2-1
• No. 26 Myers Park def. No. 10 Weddington, 1-0
• No. 2 Hough def. No. 15 East Forsyth, 6-0

OTHER GAMES OF INTEREST:

• 3A: No. 1 Hibriten def. No. 16 Crest, 7-0
• 3A: No. 5 Hickory def. No. 12 Asheboro, 7-0
• 2A: No. 3 Wilkes Central def. No. 14 Forbush, 2-1

 

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Based on Watauga’s Round 1 performance, it is easy to understand how the Pioneers earned the No. 1 seed in the NCHSAA 4A West bracket of the North Carolina state playoffs.

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When a soccer team spends most of the game time controlling possession in the attacking half of the field there is a high probability for it to emerge the victor. That is exactly what happened on May 13 at Jack Groce Stadium, with No. 1-seeded Watauga women’s soccer rolling over No. 32-seeded Ragsdale (Jamestown), 9-0.

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Watauga’s Katie Durham sizes up the Ragsdale goalkeeper…

… then pummels the ball into the back of the net for one of her two second-half goals. Photographic images by David Rogers

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Executing the team’s short-passing, ball possession strategy almost to perfection, the deft-ball handling and one- and two-touch passing of the Pioneers dominated, from the defense to the attacking third of the field.

Six Watauga players were credited with assists on a night where rain clouds poured in early in the second half and made ball-handling a bit trickier. The assists went to Katie Durham, Georgia Parker, Savannah Duvall, Sammy Morgan, Sam Bertrand and Morgan Flynt.

On the receiving end of those assists were a pair of “hat tricks,” three goals each by Flynt and Parker. Durham shrugged off a first half bloody nose to return and tally two goals in the second half while Bertrand added a goal, too.

“Overall, it was a great way for us to start our playoff run at home,” said Watauga head coach Chris Tarnowski after the game. “The rain certainly made the ball roll faster, but we adjusted to that and to Ragsdale’s game. We were able to find some openings in their defense. Our offense is really clicking and our forward/midfield players are so unselfish in the final, attacking third; they’re looking for one another and making some beautiful passes. Our defense is playing strong and communicating, non-stop, so front to back we’re really in a good spot as we advance in the playoffs.”

In Round 2, Watauga will host No. 17 South Mecklenburg, which upset No. 16 Cox Mill in Concord, 2-1.

FULL ROUND 1 SCORES IN THE 4A WEST BRACKET:

• No. 1 Watauga def. No. 32 Ragsdale, 9-0
• No. 17 South Mecklenburg def. No. 16 Cox Mill, 2-1
• No. 8 Mooresville def. No. 25 Hickory Ridge, 1-0
• No. 9 Providence def. No. 24 Northern Guilford, 3-2
• No. 5 Asheville def. No. 28 Hopewell, 9-0
• No. 12 Reagan def. No. 21 Mount Tabor, 1-0
• No. 13 Charlotte Catholic def. No. 20 Page, 5-1
• No. 4 Ardrey Kell def. No. 29 East Mecklenburg, 9-0
• No. 3 West Forsyth def. No. 30 Davie, 2-1
• No. 14 Cuthbertson def. No. 19 Lake Norman, 3-0
• No. 6 Marvin Ridge def. No. 27 Alexander Central, 9-0
• No. 11 T C Roberson def. No. 23 Grimsley, 5-1
• No. 26 Myers Park def. No. 7 Northwest Guilford, 1-1 (shootout 3-2)
• No. 10 Weddington def. No. 23 R J Reynolds, 4-0
• No. 15 East Forsyth def. No. 18 Sun Valley, 5-2
• No. 2 Hough def. No. 31 Porter Ridge, 7-0

OTHER SCORES OF INTEREST

• 1A West: No. 9 NC School of Science and Math def. No. 24 Avery County, 3-0
• 2A West: No. 3 Wilkes Central def. No. 30 Southwestern Randolph, 6-2
• 3A West: No. 1 Hibriten def. No. 32 West Charlotte, 10-0
• 3A West: No. 16 Crest def. No. 17 Ashe County, 4-3
• 3A West: No. 5 Hickory def. No. 28 Ledford, 8-0
• 3A West: No. 7 A C Reynolds def. No. 26 St. Stephens, 4-0

BONUS PHOTOS

By David Rogers. CHARLOTTE, N.C. — No matter how good the athleticism, game experience and skill development as a team and as individuals are often the difference makers between winning and losing. Still just a second year program, the Watauga High School men’s volleyball battled hard, improved a lot with each match, and gained valuable experience for future matches on May 10-11 in the North Carolina state championship tournament for men’s volleyball. Final place in the tournament standings: No. 14.

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Hosted by the Carolina Union Volleyball Club, the Public Schools Division featured 16 teams divided into four, 4-team pools. Based on round-robin play against the other three teams in a pool, each team advanced to either a Gold, Silver or Bronze championship round bracket.

Watauga head coach Kim Pryor explained after the second match in pool play against the tourney’s No. 1 seed, Marvin Ridge, that because the Pioneers only had one opponent during the regular season (they played Ashe County several times, winning all but one), the state tournament organizers assigned the High Country’s best team as the No. 16 seed.

Pryor knows that getting better requires not just practice but also playing against better competition.

“Ashe County is a very good team and getting better and better, but like us they are inexperienced, too,” explained Pryor. “We haven’t had much success in getting other schools in our region to organize men’s volleyball teams and it has also been a challenge to get the better teams off the mountain to fit us into their league schedules. I am not worried about the early round seeding because if you are going to win a tournament you are ultimately going to have to play all of the best teams.”

Watauga’s Pool 1 included Marvin Ridge, Hough and TMSA (The Math and Science Academy), all Charlotte area schools that have for the most part been playing for several years and play against each other regularly.

The Pioneers went 0-3 in pool play so were relegated to the Bronze Division for the championship rounds, but it is worth noting they got better against each opponent. In meeting Hough, they lost 10-25, 25-20. Versus the Mavericks of Marvin Ridge, they also doubled their second round score, losing 8-25, 15-25. The two pool matches against TMSA were both very tight, losing 21-25 and 23-25.

In the opening match of the Bronze playoff bracket, Watauga battled to a 25-20, 16-25, 15-10 win over Millbrook, from the Raleigh area. In the Bronze final, a Pioneer rally fell short in the first set, losing to Christ the King, a private Catholic high school school in Huntersville, by a score of 20-25. Watauga bounced back in the second set, winning it decisively, 25-11, but fell short in the decisive third set.

The final standings in the Public School Division:

• 1 – Marvin Ridge (Matches: 6-0; Sets: 12-0)
• 2 – Reagan (5-1; 10-2)
• T3 – Butler (3-2; 6-4)
• T3 – Weddington (3-2; 6-4)
• T5 – Hough (2-2; 4-4)
• T5 – North Guilford (3-1; 6-4)
• T5 – Union Academy (2-2; 4-4)
• T5 – West Forsyth (3-1; 6-2)
• 9 – TMSA (3-2; 6-5)
• 10 – Chapel Hill (2-3; 5-8)
• T11 – Riverside (1-3; 3-7)
• T11 – T C Roberson (1-3; 3-7)
• 13 – Christ the King (2-3; 5-7)
• 14 – Watauga (1-4; 3-9)
• 15 – Millbrook (0-4; 3-8)
• 16 – North Henderson (0-4; 1-8)

The final standings in the Private School Division:

• 1 – Metrolina (4-0; 8-0)
• 2 – Covenant Day (3-1; 6-2)
• T3 – Freedom Christian (1-2; 2-4)
• T3 – Liberty Prep (1-2; 2-5)
• 5 – Woodlawn (1-2; 2-4)
• 6 – Cary Academy (0-3; 1-6)

BONUS WATAUGA PHOTOS