2026 fall preview: Sport-by-sport look at the local 2026 high school teams to watch

With high school fall sports starting in just two days on Monday (Aug. 10), it’s now or never for a preview glance at what to expect on the local scene.

This year, we will also include the Caldwell County teams to match up with The Paper’s newly-expanded coverage area, and also since all three schools already share conference affiliations with Burke’s five high schools.

In this preview, we will cover the sports of girls volleyball, boys soccer, girls tennis, boys and girls cross country, and girls golf, excluding football and girls flag football.

(Our extensive prep football preview will appear in the regular Aug. 22 edition, while it remains unclear which local schools will field flag football teams in the inaugural season for the sport, which opens with practices on Aug. 31.)

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL Heated Draughn-Patton feud renewedIt was the defining battle of the local 2025 fall prep sports season. It necessitated three matches to decide, with local volleyball fans turning out the big winner.

When Burke County rivals Draughn and Patton clashed on the volleyball court last fall, it was must-see entertainment. The Lady Wildcats claimed round one in Valdese in sweep fashion, then the Lady Panthers escaped a 2-1 deficit at their home court to eke out a five-setter.

Those were the squads’ only losses in Western Piedmont 3A/4A Conference play, and after tying for the league’s regular-season title, they played another five-setter at the Wildcats’ Den to determine the tournament championship, where the hosts were victorious in sets No. 1, 3, and 5 to claim the season series.

Draughn went on to win three state playoff matches and reach the NCHSAA 3A West Regional semifinals in a program-record 23-win season, while Patton suffered a round-one upset.

Both teams lost key pieces to graduation, and Lady Panthers coach Hayden Huffman also departed. But Draughn and Patton both bring enough back that it should surprise no one if these programs meet again three times, with that final head-to-head match coming in round three of the WPC tournament.

The Lady Wildcats graduated WPC player of the year Bailey Mozeley, who’s playing at Caldwell Tech this fall, but coach of the year Triniti Lambert’s troops are projected to return All-WPC selections Macy Auton (who supplied team-highs of 489 digs and 67 aces) and Shelby Proffitt (team-high 462 assists), plus Bella Whitson and Kylie Corpening, who together added 379 kills and 133 total blocks.

Patton’s notable returners include all-conference selections Hannah Huggins, who was also named all-region and all-state, and Soraya Hartman, who was also named all-region.

Huggins, an NCAA Division I USC Upstate verbal commit, posted totals of 297 kills and 78 blocks, while Hartman had 310 assists, 308 digs, 269 kills, and 88 aces.

Rounding out the WPC ranks locally, East Burke tied for fourth place but was four games under .500 in doing so at 5-9 (8-17 overall), while sixth-place West Caldwell was 4-10 (5-17 overall), and Hibriten (3-11, 5-18 overall) tied for last place.

The Lady Cavaliers graduated both of last year’s All-WPC picks, with rising senior Amanda McLean (team-high 146 total blocks) leading the projected returners.

In the Northwestern 6A/7A Conference, South Caldwell (13-10) finished 5-5 and in third place last fall, while Freedom (3-19 overall) finished sixth out of as many teams after not winning a league match.

The Lady Spartans figure to bring back their team leaders in four of the five major statistical categories, however, led by junior Riley Powell (382 assists, 40 aces; plus 178 digs, 146 kills), while FHS’ leading returning players should be junior Camryn Warlick (484 assists, 202 digs, 38 aces), senior Kennedy Denton (258 digs), and junior Mia Furches (157 kills, 52 blocks, 33 aces).

And in its first year in the new Catawba River 1A/2A/3A Conference, NCSSM-Morganton enjoyed easily its best season in the sport yet, winning eight league games in a .500 season (overall and in CRC play), and both qualifying for the 1A playoffs and winning a playoff match for the first time ever. The Lady Dragons’ 2025 roster included eight juniors who are eligible to return this fall.

BOYS SOCCER Can Panthers stave off Caldwell foes?

Four of the eight combined Burke and Caldwell soccer teams won at least one state playoff game last fall, and three of those reside in the WPC 3A/4A, so we will start there again, where Patton (13-1) edged Hibriten (12-2) and West Caldwell (11-3) to the finish line in a top-heavy league race in 2025.

The 20-win Panthers went on to reach the 3A West semifinals, falling by one goal on the road to eventual state runner-up Polk County, who had eliminated West by one goal in Columbus one round prior.

It was a Burke County record-extending fourth consecutive trip to at least the third round for Patton, who claimed its second league title in that span.

Hibriten, like Patton in 3A, received an opening-round bye in the 4A bracket and won once, falling in the third round after an 18-win season that included beating rival West on the final day of the regular season to claim second place and handing Patton its only WPC loss in 1-0 fashion in Lenoir in the teams’ second meeting.

Patton coach Keith Scott left after 19 seasons, but the Panthers’ returners are headlined by rising senior Gabino Vasquez, the reigning WPC defensive player of the year, as well as All-WPC players Aldair Pinto, Sammy Quinonez, and Trevin Lavoie.

Hibriten graduated WPC player of the year Lukas Sanderlin, a striker, but returns goalkeeper of the year Cooper Boggs, while West graduated offensive player of the year Andy Galindo, with junior Snyder Nunez (19 goals, 19 assists) expected to lead this year’s Warrior squad.

Draughn won just twice in league action and tied for sixth place. The Wildcats return both of their All-WPC players from 2025 in Jacob Powell and Abdiel Gonzalez.

And East Burke managed two WPC ties but went winless and graduated Yingchi Yang, its lone All-WPC player.

In the CRC, NCSSM-Morganton finished fourth out of nine teams but got hot at the right time, winning three playoff matches — including two on the road by a goal apiece — to advance to face league champion and host Thomas Jefferson in the NCHSAA 1A West final.

The Dragons played TJCA to a scoreless draw for 50-plus minutes but eventually succumbed, 3-1, and the Gryphons went on to win state.

Rising senior Jack Macnamara (four goals, eight assists) is projected as NCSSM-M’s lone returning All-CRC selection from 2025.

Meanwhile, Freedom and South Caldwell struggled in an NWC that was dominated by Watauga and Alexander Central, combining for just five league victories (and nine overall) as they finished in the bottom half of the league race and were shut out in first-round road playoff contests.

The Patriots graduated both all-conference players, and the Spartans graduated their top two goal scorers.

GIRLS TENNIS Lady Dragons eye back-to-back titles

NCSSM-Morganton enjoyed a dream 2025 season, going 11-0 overall, winning a third straight league regular-season title, and following that up with regional and team state championships, plus placing all of its six ladder players in the semifinal round or beyond at the individual state championships.

But NCSSM-M probably isn’t going anywhere. The Lady Dragons could return as many as 10 of their 13 total players from 2025, led by Leah Gibson, whose singles win gave the team the clinching point in a dominant 5-0 dual-team title match victory and who was part of the 1A state doubles title individually.

NCSSM-M also could welcome back Shrika Chatta, MVP of the dual-team state title match, and Anjana Ramanujam, the team’s sportsmanship award winner at state, as well as: Harshika Chenchu, Karalyn King, Anamika Hareesh, Shreshta Vemula, Inioluwa Obebunmi, Niharika Pathipati, and Anvi Deepak.

Meanwhile, Hibriten won the WPC 3A/4A in undefeated fashion ahead of second-place Draughn, with both teams reaching double-digit overall win totals and making the third round of the dual-team playoffs in their respective classifications.

Hibriten is slated to bring back four ladder players, led by No. 1 Tehya Bley, while Draughn graduated all but two ladder players, No. 3 Mati Kincaid and No. 5 Maddy Hudson.

Patton finished .500 in the WPC and won a first-round 3A playoff match, while East Burke finished sixth and West Caldwell seventh out of as many teams.

South Caldwell (9-4, 7-3) reached the third round in 6A, falling for a third time to league champ and eventual state semifinalist Watauga. The Lady Spartans return three ladder players, led by No. 1 sophomore Ellie Alspaugh. And Freedom did not win a match in 2025, finishing last in the NWC.

CROSS COUNTRY Three local squads look to stay on top

Four of the 16 combined Burke and Caldwell cross country teams are looking to defend league titles from 2025, but we have to again start this list with the NCSSM-Morganton girls, who also won a state title in this sport.

The Lady Dragons, who were also conference and regional champions, figure to be led this fall by rising seniors Amelia Fleury and Alexandra Hexemer, who placed third and sixth, respectively, last year at state with sub-22 minute times. NCSSM-M also returns Gracie Toplitz and Lilah Johnson, who also finished among the top 20 at state individually.

The Dragon boys also won the CRC and return Will Evans, who was third in conference and 13th at state as NCSSM-M placed fourth.

Led by state champion Elise Sawdy, a rising junior, Patton’s girls also won their league title and went on to place fifth at state. Underclassman Layla McGuire also placed inside the top 20 at state.

And the Hibriten boys edged East Burke for the WPC title, led by third-place rising senior Austin Whittington. A pair of rising Cavalier juniors — Eduardo Valencia Soria and Kade Tolbert — finished in the top 10 at last year’s WPC championship meet.

The EB girls were also second in the WPC, with Hibriten third. Four returning Lady Cavs’ top-20 runners are led by Aubrey Sanders (12th), while Hibriten’s Ama Higgs was runner-up to Sawdy last fall. Rising junior Adelei Morrow (fourth) led the Draughn girls, who did not post a team score last year at conference, while Aaliyah Gill (eighth) led West Caldwell.

Rising junior Noah Thomas was Draughn’s lone state qualifier last fall, while West Caldwell features four total returning boys runners, led by sophomore Mason Crisp (17th in WPC), and Patton did not field a boys team in 2025.

Both Freedom teams placed third in the NWC 6A/7A, with South Caldwell placing fifth in boys and sixth in girls. Underclassmen Leighton Beck (12th) and Frank Harrelson (13th) paced Freedom in last year’s NWC title meets, while South rising sophomore Bryce Corpening was boys individual champion and went on to finish 29th at the 6A state meet.

GIRLS GOLF NCSSM-M, Hibriten boast state qualifiers

Another fall sport, another conference title for NCSSM-Morganton girls athletes to defend.

Last fall, not only was NCSSM-Morganton the only Burke or Caldwell squad to win a league title in the sport, the Lady Dragons went on to send three of the area’s five total golfers to the NCHSAA state championships.

NCSSM-M’s Claire Gamache placed 18th as the Lady Dragons took eighth place in the 1A/2A state championships, but Gamache graduated in the spring. That leaves Mady Schoenfish and Priana Patel with state experience for this year’s Dragons squad. Schoenfish placed 27th individually, and Patel was 49th.

Emery Miller is also among those who could return for NCSSM-M after she was the team’s second-lowest golfer at the league championships (47) and also played at regionals.

Hibriten rising senior Summerlin Gragg led her team to a second-place finish in the WPC 3A/4A last fall as she was also the individual runner-up (77) and went on to qualify for state, placing 14th individually in the 4A event. Gragg recently finished runner-up at the Dan Dobson Junior at Mimosa Hills Golf Club and will compete at this month’s Mimosa Hills Junior Invitational. Meanwhile, her Hibriten classmate Lindsay Reid tied for 21st place at state.

Draughn was third and East Burke fourth last year in the WPC, with Patton not fielding enough golfers to produce team scores and West Caldwell not fielding a team at all. Among those teams, rising Lady Wildcats senior Emma Starrett is the lone returning regional qualifier.

South Caldwell finished fourth in the NWC 6A/7A last season, paced by returning regional qualifiers Addison Worsley and Bella Smith, and Freedom finished sixth out of as many teams.