By David Rogers. MILLERS CREEK, N.C. — As season openers go, it couldn’t get much better for the Watauga women’s volleyball squads on Aug. 12. The 2025 6A state runners-up varsity defeated West Wilkes, 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-15), while the junior varsity Pioneers dispatched their Blackhawk foes, 2-0 (25-15, 25-23).
Except for a lull midway through the third set, the Pioneers all but dominated the Blackhawks, featuring adroit assist by setter Lainey Gragg, powerful spikes by outside hitters Ashlyn Smith and Julia Rowan, as well as strong frontline play by middle blockers Rae Coffey and Addie Stough. Sophomore Mia Mitchell came off the bench for timely blocks and key offensive moments, while libero Caroline Childers was critical, defensively, in keeping the ball in play and passing to the setter.
Individually, senior Lainey Gragg reached an important milestone in recording her 2,000th assist on the night. Gragg is believed to have the program’s career record in assists, just one match into her final season.
Returning from the 2025 6A state championship runners-up squad, Smith and Childers did not hold back on their enthusiasm for getting the 2026 season started with this combination of players.
“We are all best friends,” said Childers. “We are as tight as a team can be, doing a lot of stuff together off the court, too. This is an incredible group of teammates but even more, a wonderful group of friends.”
In 2025, Smith emerged with a self-created, critical role of spotting what the opposing teams are doing, how they are setting up and barking that information out to her teammates and often unnerving the other team.
“I look at part of my job as bringing extra energy,” said Smith, “to keep us up. I see things in how the opponents are doing, where their key role players are positioning themselves. That can give us a clue as to what they are going to run, from where we can expect their attack to come.”
Pioneer head coach Kim Pryor was tenuously optimistic coming into the match.
“West Wilkes is always a scrappy team, a resilient team, and they always server really, really well,” said Pryor. “I knew we had to be ready to serve receive, first of all, and we have been working on that part of our game.”
Pryor underscored the statements of Childers and Smith in how close the athletes are on and off the court. Evaluating what they lost from last year’s state championship runners-up squad and what the Pioneers have returning this year, Pryor didn’t hesitate.
“The strength of this year’s team is how well they work together,” said Pryor. “Everybody on the team. So continuing to build that comradery is really important. And really, that isn’t something you can coach, they just have. It’s really amazing to watch because they love being together.”
In terms of team weaknesses, Pryor pointed to a common lament of coaches.
“I’d like to cut down on unforced errors, like missed serves. The kind of errors that rest solely on our shoulders,” she explained. “If an opposing team does something great against us, that is fun. Losing points because of our mistakes is not fun. At the same time, we want to stay aggressive. Now, if you are aggressive, you are going to have errors — but we want to minimize those.”
Next action for the Pioneers is on Tuesday, Aug. 18, at Ashe County with the junior varsity slated for a 4:30 p.m. first serve and varsity to follow.
INDIVIDUAL WATAUGA STAT LEADERS
- Kills: Ashlyn Smith (12), Addie Stough (7), Rae Coffey (3)
- Kill %: Gracyn Phelps (75%), Rae Coffey (75%) Addie Stough (63%)
- Service Aces: Jillian Martin (4), Ashlyn Smith (3), Lainey Gragg (1), Caroline Childers (1), Graycie Collins (1)
- Total Blocks: Addie Stough (6), Mia Mitchell (4), Lainey Gragg (3)
- Digs: Caroline Childers (12), Ember Honeycutt (6), Lainey Gragg (5), Ava Zaragoza (5), Graycie Collins (5)
- Assists: Lainey Gragg (28), Jillian Martin (2), Ashlyn Smith (2)
- Serve Receive: Caroline Childers (13), Ashlyn Smith (12), Ember Honeycutt (4)
