Draughn outlasts Patton for WPC volleyball tourney title

Fittingly after the teams split the regular-season title, losing only once to each other, it took two-plus hours and the full five sets for the Draughn and Patton volleyball teams to decide the inaugural Western Piedmont 3A/4A Conference tournament title on Wednesday evening in Valdese.

In the end, the top-seeded host Lady Wildcats (20-5) were left standing — jumping and screaming, actually — after surviving a five-set war against the No. 2 seed Lady Panthers as they added to their winningest season all-time with a first-ever league tournament trophy.

Draughn was victorious by set scores of 25-13, 20-25, 25-13, 21-25, and 15-11.

After the win, Draughn coach Triniti Lambert was recognized as WPC coach of the year and senior outside hitter/defensive specialist Bailey Mozeley was named WPC player of the year, both winning those awards for a second consecutive year after doing so last fall in the Western Highlands 1A/2A Conference.

“Our main focus was doing it together,” Lambert said. “I feel like sometimes when things get crazy, teams either bond together or fall apart. And they showed they’re a family. They did it together.

“That win helps our RPI and gives us a great chance to make a run in the playoffs. Everything we’ve accomplished these last two years is the girls. They show up every day all summer long, they practice hard, they show up to matches ready to play. They wanted this, and they deserve it.”

The Lady Wildcats’ last deficits came at 2-1 in the opening set and at 7-6 in the third set, with little drama in those sets. But Patton (19-5) rallied each time, claiming the second and fourth sets, including after being down 20-17 late in the fourth after a Mozeley kill.

The serving of Carly Setterlind and net play of Hannah Huggins — who posted three late kills — helped the Lady Panthers rattle off eight of the final nine points in the fourth to force the do-or-die fifth set, where Patton maintained the momentum and surged to an early 3-0 edge.

Another Mozeley kill capped a 6-1 stretch of play after which Draughn never trailed again, though the fifth set was tied as late as 8-8. A Mozeley kill, Ava Aldridge kill, and Shelby Proffitt ace provided the final three points in the Lady Wildcats’ championship march.

“It took dedication and all of us working together,” Mozeley said. “We throw it around a lot, but we’re a Wildcat family. We’re around each other 24/7.”

Despite the loss, Patton — like Draughn — will receive a first-round bye in the NCHSAA 3A state playoffs and open the postseason at home on Oct. 21.

Lady Panthers third-year coach Hayden Huffman noted the effect that a season like 2025 and a match such as Wednesday’s could have locally on the sport.

“It’s super exciting to have a new conference where you have three Burke County schools playing each other,” Huffman said. “This is great for our sport in general, having it hosted in Burke County with the best of the county playing one another so that volleyball fans and younger players can come watch. It helps us grow the game. … We’re excited for the playoffs.”

Draughn had reached the title match by beating Hibriten (25-16, 25-12, 25-14) and East Rutherford (25-11, 25-20, 25-13) at home on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, for its fourth and fifth sweeps in a six-match span. No statistics were available from those matches.

The Lady Wildcats late last week ended the regular season with a 25-21, 25-15, 27-25 sweep at rival East Burke on Oct. 9 as Mozeley had team-highs of 17 kills and three aces, while Proffitt had 23 assists, Macy Auton provided 13 digs, and Kylie Corpening led the way with four blocks.

The Lady Cavaliers (8-16) were led in defeat by Belle Gwyn and Karlie Chester (six kills each), Amanda McLean (six blocks), Hermione Garro (10 digs), and Carissa Towery (19 assists).

Patton advanced to the finals thanks to a 25-9, 25-9, 25-19 first-round home win over Chase on Monday and a 25-19, 25-20, 25-23 win over R-S Central in the semis at Draughn on Tuesday.

The Lady Panthers were led by Huggins (eight kills, two blocks), Setterlind (14 digs, five assists), Soraya Hartman (15 aces, nine digs, eight assists, six kills), Emma Griffin (11 assists, seven digs, six kills), Leah Clark (eight kills), and Jolann Buff (three aces) on Monday before statistical leaders Tuesday included Hartman (16 assists, 14 digs, 13 kills), Huggins (13 kills, two blocks), Clark (10 digs, seven kills, two aces), Setterlind (11 digs, five assists), Griffin (13 digs, 10 assists), and Kynzlee Worley (six kills).

Patton also swept Chase on the road Oct. 9 to end the regular season, 25-18, 25-21, 25-20, fueled by the play of Hartman (16 assists), Huggins (12 kills), Setterlind (22 digs, three aces), and Worley (four blocks), while Griffin and Buff added three aces each.

EB and NCSSM-Morganton will join Patton and Draughn in the playoffs, both opening on Saturday.

The Lady Dragons (9-9) upset host Jackson Day, 25-22, 25-23, 25-22, on Monday in the first round of the Catawba River 1A/2A/3A Conference tournament before falling in the semis at top-seeded Mountain Island Charter on Tuesday, 5-25, 9-25, 19-25.

NCSSM-M was led Monday by Lola Wilson (eight kills, eight blocks), Emma Johnson (10 assists, seven aces, three digs), Bree Spicer (nine digs), Ella Burke (five assists, two aces), and Anshita Bhunia (three kills, three aces).

The Lady Cavs fell in the first round of the WPC 3A/4A tourney at East Rutherford on Monday, 22-25, 14-25, 27-29, despite the standout play of McLean (12 blocks, seven kills), Garro (16 digs), and Towery (20 assists).

And Freedom (3-19) ends the season minus a playoff berth after losing in five sets at McDowell on Oct. 9 to end the regular season, 25-22, 22-25, 18-25, 25-22, 11-15, and falling at South Caldwell, 17-25, 13-25, 20-25, on Monday to open the Northwestern 6A/7A Conference tournament.

The Lady Patriots on Monday were paced by Kennedy Denton (14 digs), Camryn Warlick (10 assists, eight digs), Kaitlyn Hagmann (eight kills, six digs, three blocks), and Mia Furches (three blocks) after also being led on the stat sheet in Marion by Hagmann (20 kills, 11 digs), Warlick (33 assists, 10 digs, three aces), Denton (25 digs), and Furches (seven kills, six assists, five blocks, three aces).

CROSS COUNTRY

Patton girls win WPC 3A/4A championship

Sophomore Elisabeth Sawdy won her third race of the season (to go along with three runner-up finishes) in a time of 19:31.94, leading her Patton girls team to the title at Tuesday’s WPC 3A/4A championship meet at R-S Central.

It was the Lady Panthers’ fourth meet victory of the season as they finished with 20 points in a landslide win, and Sawdy was first to the finish line by nearly a minute and a half as her time met the MileSplit U.S. second team standard.

The Lady Panthers also got good runs from Layla McGuire (third), Nora Wykle (fifth), Julia Niehoff (seventh), and Anna Aiken (11th), each of whom joined Sawdy on the All-WPC team, while PHS’ Julie Chapman was voted WPC girls coach of the year.

East Burke senior Elijah Baker added the WPC title to his county title from earlier this fall, winning Tuesday’s boys race by 50 seconds in a time of 17:14.26 for his fourth overall win of the season to lead the Cavaliers (49) to a second-place finish, just six points behind champion Hibriten.

Sophomores Eduardo Valencia Soria (eighth) and Kade Tolbert (ninth) also placed inside the top 10 for the EB boys, while the EB girls also finished second in the team standings, led by Lacie Forino (ninth), Aubrey Sanders (12th), Maliena Smith (14th), and Gracie Kaylor (15th).

Draughn was led by girls runners Adelei Morrow (fourth) and Saylor Watson (13th) and by boys runner Rammelio Sevcik (29th), while Patton’s boys did not participate in the meet.

Also Tuesday, both the Freedom boys and girls squads placed third in the NWC 6A/7A championship meet hosted by Watauga. The Patriots’ top boys runners were Frank Harrelson (13th; 18:52.13), Nick Chiota (23rd), and Brooks Snipes (25th), while the girls were led by Leighton Beck (12th; 22:22.77) and Ashlyn Davis (24th).

Freedom was also in action Oct. 11 at the Tryon Cross Country Invitational at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, led by Harrelson (21st; 17:44.80) and Chiota (38th) on the boys side and by Chloe Spencer (88th) for the girls.

And NCSSM-Morganton was in action Oct. 11 at the Kernersville Cross Country Invitational at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex, site of the NCHSAA state championships at the end of the month.

The Dragons were paced by girls runners Stella Friedman (21st; 20:27.57), Amelia Fleury (34th), and Alexandra Hexemer (37th) and by boys runners Max Vaughan (20th; 17:16.52), Will Ellis (28th), and Brayden Tody (29th).

GIRLS TENNIS

Draughn, NCSSM-M alive in dual-team playoffs

Both Draughn and NCSSM-Morganton remain in the hunt for state titles after one week of the dual-team playoffs, as the top-seeded Lady Dragons (8-0) were bye twice in the 1A bracket and the No. 6 seed Lady Wildcats (11-3) won by a 5-2 margin Wednesday at home against West Davidson following a 3A first-round bye.

In its sixth straight playoff appearance, Draughn got singles wins via No. 2 Maria Medrano (6-3, 7-5), No. 3 Mati Kincaid (6-2, 6-3), No. 4 Addelynn Honeycutt (6-2, 7-5), and No. 5 Maddy Hudson (6-0, 6-0) before the No. 3 doubles team of Honeycutt/Peyton Dale (9-7) finished the victory.

NCSSM-M ended the regular season with an 8-1 road win over Owen on Oct. 9. Lady Dragons’ singles winners were No. 1 Shriya Reddy (6-1, 6-0), No. 2 Gina Byon (6-3, 6-1), No. 3 Leah Gibson (6-1, 6-0), No. 4 Anjana Ramanujam (6-0, 6-0), and No. 5 Harshika Chenchu (6-0, 6-1), while NCSSM-M’s No. 1 Reddy/Gibson (8-3), No. 2 Byon/Kirsten Boyd (8-5), and No. 3 Chenchu/Ramanujam (8-1) swept the doubles action.

Also in the 3A bracket, No. 12 Patton (7-8) claimed the program’s first-ever dual-team playoff win over Lincolnton at home Monday, 6-0, before being eliminated in a 6-0 second-round road loss Wednesday at West Lincoln.

Lady Panther first-round singles winners were No. 1 Coley Berry (7-5, 6-1), No. 2 Katrina Vu (7-5, 6-3), No. 3 Kinley Acord (6-1, 6-1), No. 4 Madi Norman (6-1, 6-2), No. 5 Mahi Shah (6-0, 6-0), and No. 6 London Berry (6-4, 3-6, 10-1)

No. 2 Vu (0-6, 6-4, 6-10) and No. 4 Norman (3-6, 4-6) in singles won the team’s most games in its season-ending loss two days later.

East Burke (2-12) and Freedom (0-11) also made the 4A and 6A playoffs, respectively, losing Monday in first-round matches at East Gaston (5-2) and North Iredell (6-0).

The Lady Cavs’ wins came in singles via No. 1 Maliena Smith (6-2, 7-5) and No. 4 Sarabeth Bradley (6-3, ret.).

BOYS SOCCER

Patton claims showdown, opens 2-game lead

Patton (16-1-2, 11-0 WPC) won twice more this week, hammering host R-S Central 9-0 via mercy rule in 51 minutes on Monday before knocking off second-place West Caldwell by a 1-0 margin on Wednesday in Gamewell to complete a sweep of the Warriors and open a two-game lead in the conference coming down the stretch.

Andres Garcia had a hat trick on Monday in the Panthers’ third straight 9-0 win and sixth of the season, and Noah Krogel, Romny Lopez (assist), Trevin Lavoie, Aldair Pinto, Abraham Miguel (assist), and Gabino Vasquez (assist) added a goal apiece.

Patton’s lone goal two nights later came from Miguel off a Pinto assist in the 21st minute. Patton outshot West by a 19-5 margin, and goalkeeper Colsyn Queen made five of his six saves for the week in the contest.

“We knew going in this would be a good test for us,” said Patton coach Keith Scott. “Coming off three mercy rule games in a row makes it incredibly difficult to switch back on against fast and aggressive play. West Caldwell did a fantastic job keeping pressure on us and defending in numbers.

“We had outstanding defensive play from our back line of Vasquez, Jacob Ruiz, Andrew Sierra Cruz, and Jacob Batz, and Krogel, Pinto, Mylton Lopez, and Sammy Quinonez controlled the middle.”

Freedom (4-13-1, 1-6 NWC) collected its first league win Wednesday in a 2-1 home triumph over St. Stephens. No individual statistics were available. Freedom also fell 8-0 at Watauga on Monday.

No other county squad won this week, though East Burke (0-14-2, 0-9-2 WPC) claimed a 2-2 tie at R-S Central on Wednesday as the Cavs’ Cavin Bishop and Tucker Chapman both had a goal and an assist. EB on Monday lost 9-0 at home against West Caldwell.

NCSSM-Morganton (8-6-1, 6-6 CRC) lost by scores of 4-0 at league-leading Thomas Jefferson on Monday and 6-1 at home against Piedmont Community Charter on Wednesday, and Draughn (1-12-2, 1-9-1 WPC) lost 8-0 at home to East Rutherford on Monday and 5-0 at Hibriten on Wednesday.

GIRLS GOLF

Conference regular seasons draw to close

Draughn and East Burke concluded their regular seasons in Monday’s WPC 3A/4A 18-hole championship match at Forest City Golf Course, while Freedom wrapped things up the same day in the NWC 6A/7A finale at Brushy Mountain Golf Club.

Nonconference NCSSM-Morganton also competed in Forest City, stealing the show with a third-place team finish (260) that was led by Claire Gamache’s round of 80 as she placed fourth individually.

The Lady Dragons also got contributing scores via Emery Miller (86) and Mady Schoenfish (94).

Draughn (320) placed fourth, paced by Emma Starrett (104), Kennedy Stroupe (104), and Callie Hale (112), and EB (329) was fifth, led by Reagan Austin (97), Sophia Vaughn (115), and Sara Evans (117). Patton did not participate in the match.

And Freedom (185) finished sixth in Taylorsville, led by Addison Webb (61), Paycen Coleman (61), and Lillian Floyd (63).

Qualifying teams and individuals will next participate in NCHSAA West Regional championship matches on Monday, Oct. 20 (1A/2A at Cedarbrook Country Club, 3A and 4A at Pilot Knob Park Country Club) and Tuesday, Oct. 21 (6A at Brushy Mountain) for the right to earn berths in the state championships the following week.

JV FOOTBALL

Freedom, EB both win in dramatic fashion

Both Freedom and East Burke claimed their third overall wins on the JV gridiron on Thursday, Oct. 9 in exciting, one-score contests.

The JV Patriots (3-3, 1-1 NWC) snapped a three-game skid as they defeated visiting St. Stephens, 30-22, scoring the winning touchdown with 18 seconds left to pull it out.

Freedom’s Wyatt Cantrell scored three touchdowns on runs of 10, 1, and 35 yards, and Christian Chapman added a 5-yard TD carry and a pair of successful two-point conversion runs. Johnny Mabry also scored on a conversion for Freedom, while Desmond Carson (interception) and Qamar Rasheed (fumble recovery) had takeaways to lead the defense.

The JV Cavaliers (3-4, 3-1 WPC) rallied from a 12-8 halftime hole to defeat host R-S Central, 14-12, and claim a second straight win. EB’s Brayden Sigmon rushed for his 10th JV score of the season, and quarterback Cash Oyola had a rushing TD and a two-point conversion.

Oyola (interception), Garrett Stamey (interception on an R-S two-point conversion attempt) Landon Minor, Landon Williams, and Austin Sanderfer paced the EB defense, which allowed just one total TD as the Hilltoppers also scored on a kickoff return.