Hundreds of people are in the stands, girls are screaming from the bench, the coach is yelling, “Come on girls!” But to the girls on the court, the gym is silent. This moment means everything, and all they can hear and see is the court they are playing on. 

On Tuesday, October 28, 2025 Watauga High School’s volleyball team came head to head against King’s Mountain in the Final Four Regional Playoffs. This home game filled the stadium with Watauga students and families. And, the crowd hollered as the Watauga Volleyball team won the match 3-2. This gave them the chance to play in the State Championship, and allowed other Watauga students to be bussed to Raleigh to watch the match.

“This year we were able to accomplish being runner-up in the NC 6A State Championship,” said Junior Ashlyn Smith. “We were able to, for the 1st time in almost 20 years, win our region, 6A West. We were able to become conference champions, and I think that that was because of our team chemistry.”

Though there is little to no physical contact in volleyball, it is still a team-oriented sport. Whether they are winning or losing the team makes sure to come together in a supportive “huddle” after each point.

“There's something to celebrate in every point because even if you lose the point, you still learn something,” said Smith

Coming together after each point pushes the team to do their best, and keep in mind that volleyball is more than just one player. That support and coming into the huddle shows everyone just how close the volleyball team is.

“The start of the year was different than any other season because we had that bond and we were so close,” said Junior, Lainey Gragg. “As the season went on, we could see our potential game by game, and as we began to win. We began to see that we had the potential to go to the state championship.”

The team can contribute their tight bond to more than just volleyball. Every year Coach Kim Pryor takes the volleyball team on a beach trip. They spend the weekend focusing on nothing but growing closer. The only rule of the beach trip is no volleyball.

“We also have sister groups, like little pods of girls. And throughout the year, we go on, team bonding with those, just to hang out, eat food, get to know each other better. And that just strengthens our team bond,” said Smith. “The balance between having discipline, skill work, as well as fun, competitive drills, really helped make everyone look forward to practice and look forward to getting better.”

This drive was able to help push the volleyball team to win the final four match against Kings Mountain High School. The team coaches and all of Watauga felt pride watching the volleyball team win again and again.

“Everyone has talked about the final 4 games,” said Gragg. “Even in basketball games, parents still talk to us, and they hadn’t seen the gym that full in so long. That environment, the loud, competitive environment, the pressure, it's just so, so cool to be able to play in that.”

Though drive and effort are needed in any sport, one won’t get anywhere without support. And the volleyball team knows this better than anyone. They are supported by each other as well as the whole of Watauga High School. 

“After the game, celebrating with everyone, seeing the stand so hype, and the student section coming down to celebrate with us, that was so fun,” said Smith. “Our students also attributed to the fun and they bring the noise. The students were also kind of a part of our success too, because they created that fun, competitive environment for both sides of the net.”