Lady Vikings Shut Out Mitchell on Senior Night

On a gorgeous evening for soccer, the Avery Lady Vikings celebrated Senior Night at Lees-McRae College, a 'home away from home', so to speak, with a 3-0 shutout victory on Wednesday evening.

Avery honored seniors Kate Griewisch and Katie Peters prior to the opening kick and the Big Red played a solid soccer match to send the girls off on a winning note in their final home match of their prep careers.

Elyse Perry put the Vikings on the board in the first half at around the 8-minute mark. Avery found itself with additional scoring opportunities, but unlike the teams' first meeting the Lady Mountaineers played competitive and improved soccer, preventing the Avery squad from cashing in for another score in the half. The Avery defense remained stout throughout, however, holding Mitchell scoreless in the half for a 1-0 lead at intermission.

Avery struck for a second goal early in the second half as Peters' foot found the ball and zipped a shot past the Mitchell keeper to double the Vikings' advantage. At around the 63-minute mark, Peters scored a second goal, this time off a direct kick to provide the Big Red with a 3-0 margin.

The Avery defense did the rest of the work, as the team remained relentless throughout the match in holding the Lady Mountaineers scoreless in both meetings for the season. Cailan Calloway was sterling in net, as she registered her ninth shutout of the season and the Lady Vikings improved to 14-3-2 on the season.

It was a good win for the Lady Vikings and a fitting tribute to a pair of seniors who have been anchors for a group of younger and talented teammates.

"This was perfect tonight and exactly what we were looking for," Avery coach Lou Brancourt said after the win. "I thought Mitchell played a really smart game and stayed back, making it harder for us to score. They have improved, but we were a very calm team tonight. We had several college scouts here today and I believe this is the kind of soccer they are looking for in their players, a calm and patient. 10-0 scores are not fun games, but 3-0, that's a soccer score."

The win was a good one leading up to Friday's showdown at Polk, but it also showed some areas the Lady Vikings need to continue to fine tune. "We still need to do some things better without the ball, and not just with kicking, passing, and dribbling," the coach added. "We can still be better with positioning and talking, as well as support and body language."

Coach Brancourt was very complimentary of the Lady Viking seniors. "I remember Katie walking in at the Hickory Jamboree after winning the JV basketball tournament. I had heard about Katie Peters for a long time. I remember it like it was yesterday. She was sneaky and quick as a young player, and she is the best captain and role model for a team that you could ask for. She's just full of energy and fighting spirit, yet can score goals and even play calmly when she has to," the coach said.

"What Kate does in our back line is amazing. She's able to take the ball and dribble around players or steal a dribble like it's nothing. She is the kind of player that can be used more and used all over the field. She makes difficult moves look easy. Both the girls are great and all you can ask for out of senior captains and leaders. The two are definitely special and have been great to work with."

Lady Vikings Upend Mountain Heritage

The Avery Lady Vikings returned to their winning ways with a 5-1 win over the Lady Cougars of Mountain Heritage on Monday evening in Burnsville.

Mountain Heritage struck first in the match's opening minute with a quick goal to take a 1-0 advantage. The goal served as a wake-up call for the the Big Red, as Avery equalized the match on a goal by Mary Chesnut Smith off an Emily Banner assist. Avery scored twice more over the next seven minutes of the match. Katie Peters scored the go-ahead goal off a Brianna Strange assist, with Rachel Buchanan providing the helper for a goal from Emily Banner. The goals gave Avery a 3-1 halftime advantage.

The Lady Vikings went on to score two additional goals in the second half to close out the conference win. The second half was a physical tussle, with officials allowing rough play to take place on the pitch. Heritage had opportunities to score, but time after time Avery keeper Cailan Calloway rose to the occasion to turn each scoring chance away.

Elyse Perry tallied a fourth goal to extend the Avery lead. Katie Peters headed a Smith corner kick. The Lady Cougars turned away the initial scoring chance but was unable to clear, opening the door for the Perry outside shot on goal.

Avery closed out the scoring late in the match as Emily Banner scored a second goal off a Kaley Faulkner assist. The Lady Vikings benefitted from a man advantage for the final 12 minutes of the match as a Cougar player received a red card for excessive physicality.

Avery's record stands at 13-3-2 on the season, with a 7-2-1 mark in conference play. Avery takes on Mitchell for Senior Night this Wednesday at Lees-McRae College at the changed time of 5 p.m. The squad closes the regular season with a match at Polk County on Friday.

Softball Postponement and Award News

This afternoon's softball game scheduled at Avery High has been postponed due to weather. No information on a make-up date has been passed along, but when we know, we'll post it here.

In other news, the Avery Vikings women’s track team has won the Spring 2008 NCHSAA Scholar-Athlete Team Award with a cumulative grade point average of 3.754. In the team division, a varsity team earns Scholar-Athlete recognition by attaining a 3.1 aggregate GPA on a straight 4.0 scale for that designated semester. The school receives a certificate from the NCHSAA honoring the accomplishment and each member of the squad receives a certificate.

A minimum of five individuals is necessary to constitute a team, and all team members must be included in figuring the team GPA. The team achieving the highest grade point average in the state in its particular sport and submitting its application by the appropriate deadline receives a plaque commemorating that achievement.

The team’s award will be recognized at the NCHSAA’s annual meeting on Thursday at the Dean E. Smith Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Avery women’s soccer coach Tom Evaul will also be recognized with the Toby Webb Male Coach of the Year Award at the same ceremony.

Construction Underway at MacDonald Stadium

The scheduled renovation and replacement of the turf at MacDonald Stadium is officially underway. Trucks, graters, and other equipment has begun the work of removing the natural grass field that has graced the stadium since 1968, with a new FieldTurf surface and track area scheduled for completion before the fall school semester.

Here are some photos taken today of the field work. We'll try to update progress on the stadium as it happens.

Orange and White Game Highlights

Here is a slideshow consisting of photos that I took at Neyland on Saturday and some stats at the end. I hope you enjoy! -Matt

Vikings Fall to Freedom on Diamond

The Avery baseball team lost a close non-conference home game on Monday with Freedom, falling by a 6-3 final score.

Freedom picked up an early two-run lead, only to see Avery scrap back to tie the contest at 2 runs each. Junior right-hander Sutton Stanley got the start for the Vikings and gave the club a good outing, pitching 5 1/3 innings. John Hensley came on in relief to finish the contest. Reggie Washington picked up the victory for the Patriots, hurling a complete game.

Avery takes on Hendersonville this afternoon in an important 1A baseball matchup. The Bearcats took the first matchup between the teams by a 4-2 final in Hendersonville.

From the Student Section: Orange and White Game

Hola!!! I hope all is well for everyone. I am sitting the Culp Center delaying working on homework again, and I thought I would take another look at some observations from the Orange and White game.

• Jonathan Crompton was down right impressive. I know he was against the second string defense and that led to some open recievers, but he threw accurate passes almost everytime in windy conditions. If there was any doubt that Crompton will be the starter, I think Saturday cleared it up as soon as he stepped on the field. His first play: a 74 yard touchdown pass to Denarius Moore. He ended the game 13 of 20 for 266 yards, threetouchdowns, and one interception.


• The first string defense was almost as impressive as Crompton. The UT secondary may be one of the best in the countries and showed it on Saturday. When they are healthy, look for the secondary to win UT a few games.


• Gerald Jones may be able to play just about any of the skill positions on the field. He caught 3 passes for 47 yards, threw a touchdown pass from 17 yards (his passing statline was 1 of 1 for 17 yards and 1 touchdown), and added 12 yards on just one carry. Jones is an offensive weapon , and new offensive coordinator Dave Clawson will make him an impact player.


• Walk-on Tanner Shamblin got a few snaps at quarterback for the Vols. All of the media people I talked to these weekend really liked Shamblin and his attitude. To recieve that praise from the those people is quite an honor.


• There was a huge crowd of around 28,000 to watch the game. They saw quite a lot of different things. It was a fun atmosphere that was worth the drive.

There is a quick look. I will have more later on in the week as time permits, possibly including a slideshow and other media that we are trying out here at the Journal. Anyway, have a great week and see you then!

White Crush: White Dominates Orange in Orange and White game

KNOXVILLE- On Saturday evening, the Tennessee Volunteers showed no signs of a new coaching staff and new starting quarterback as Jonathan Crompton led the White team in a 38-16 victory in the closing scrimmage of spring practice. Crompton and the first string offense put on a show for the fans as they scored early and often in the contest. Crompton ended the game 13 of 20 for 266 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception.

“I thought early, especially, we executed extremely well offensively,” head coach Phillip Fulmer said. “It was good to see Jonathan in that kind of rhythm. There were some really big plays in the passing game. I thought he had a good day except for that last ball. I don’t know his numbers, but they were outstanding the first two-thirds of the scrimmage. Generally, it was a good day for us.”

The White team scored on five of their first six possessions, including a 74 yard touchdown pass from Crompton to Denarius Moore on the first play of the game. Moore led all receivers with two catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns.

The White team also had big plays as Crompton found Josh Briscoe for a touchdown from 18 yards out, and when Lennon Creer found the end zone on a three yard run.

Briscoe had four catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns, while Creer led the way on the ground with 59 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown.

White led 35-3 at halftime as the Orange squad only mustered a 30 yard field goal from Devin Mathis.

The game was the first time most Tennessee fans saw new offensive coordinator Dave Clawson’s new system. So far, Fulmer has been pleased with his new assistant and his acclimation to the program.

“I think (it went) really well,” Fulmer said. “He’s a football junkie like I am. We had a scrimmage the other day and I had four pages of notes. There wasn’t one thing as we went through them that he took any exception to. I love that. We can sit there and discuss and argue -- there are a lot of good things to come out of that as we go along and as we continue to put this together.”

The contest also helped Crompton solidified his position on top of the depth chart at the quarterback position.

“He’s had a tremendous spring and today kind of capped it off,” Fulmer said. “I still pointed out to him that he’s got to take care of the football a little bit better than he did. It was great what he did in the early part of the scrimmage. To have that one play is kind of a downer, but he is definitely our quarterback and definitely a guy who has shown the ability to run the offense.”

While the contest was the end of spring practice for the Vols, Fulmer knows his team still has work to do.
“We’ve still got some real challenges in front of us to get through the summer,” Fulmer said. “Obviously, we hope to get some of the freshmen who can help us in the mix really quickly, whoever can give us more depth. We’re not where we need to be.”

Avery Soccer Suffers Heartbreaking OT Loss to Bearcats

In an exciting Wednesday night showdown, the fans at MacDonald Stadium in Newland were treated to a soccer match pitting two talented and exciting high school soccer teams. Although the #5 ranked Avery Lady Vikings held the lead on two separate occasions in the contest, a resilient group of Hendersonville Lady Bearcats took advantage of a key Avery injury and utilized an adept crossing game to defeat the Lady Vikings 4-2 in overtime.

Avery came into the home contest looking to avenge an embarrassing 3-0 loss in Hendersonville which saw the Lady Bearcats take advantage of the Big Red early and often in a lopsided first half. This story began differently, however, as the Lady Vikings were the girls to draw first blood, when Elyse Perry assisted on a terrific display of dribbling and shot-making by freshman Emily Banner, staking Avery to a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute of the contest.

Hendersonville knotted the match at 1-1 in the 38th minute on a Carissa Jones rebound in the box and shot on goal. The tally was the last of the half as the teams went into intermission tied.

Avery was dealt a costly blow in the 52nd minute when senior starter Katie Peters suffered an ankle injury and had to be helped off the field. Peters was unable to return to the match, subtracting an experienced leader off the pitch for the Big Red.

Despite the adversity, Avery regained the lead at 2-1 when Mary Chesnut Smith was fouled in the penalty area near the Hendersonville goal and converted a successful penalty kick in the 60th minute to give the Lady Vikings a 2-1 lead. The Lady Vikings were playing with much confidence against a talented Hendersonville squad and looked poised to pull off the home victory.

Hendersonville would not lay down and quit, however, battling back to tie the match on a Sam Reeves follow goal to tie the match at 2-2 in the 68th minute. The two teams continued to compete through the remainder of regulation, with goalkeeper Cailan Calloway fending off a couple of late Lady Bearcat scoring attempts to keep the contest tied at 2 goals apiece and force the match into two-10 minute overtime sessions.

In the third minute of the first overtime session the Lady Bearcats tallied a second goal from Reeves to give the Lady Bearcats their first lead at 3-2. Despite playing five freshmen and three sophomores for much of the contest, the Lady Vikings continued to stand up to a physical and, at times, downright rough playing Lady Bearcats team. The first session ended with Hendersonville holding the one-goal advantage.

Hendersonville added a much-needed insurance goal three minutes into the second session of overtime, with Jones adding a second goal for a 4-2 edge in what proved to be the final margin of the match.

"I think the biggest turning factor of the match was losing Katie. She's a key player and it put pressure on our bench which plays well, but doesn't have a lot of experience. Without her as a threat up front, we had to juggle our lineup with positions that affect us down the road," Avery coach Tom Evaul said after the match. "The girls played hard and we're proud of them. I think the fans enjoyed this game more than they enjoyed the one where we won 7-1 because this is good soccer and two good teams who went head-to-head. We had three mental breakdowns, and Hendersonville scored goals on them and also got lucky."

Avery falls to 12-3-2 on the season and now takes a few days off to heal up before returning to the pitch to take on Mountain Heritage on April 28th.

Tennessee's Orange and White Game

The Tennessee Vols Football team ends their spring practice on Saturday with the annual Orange and White game. If all goes as planned, I will be in Knoxville to cover the game. Here is a video I made to get introduce it. All photos used in the video are mine and the music is of course Rocky Top!

Prep Roundup

BASEBALL:

Avery baseball defeated Mountain Heritage in varsity action 10-9 on Tuesday evening in Burnsville. Chris Childress and Brooks Oakley took the mound to help lead the Vikings to the one-run win. The team stands at 4-6 on the season and will host the North Wilkes Vikings on Friday afternoon at Avery High.

Avery's JV squad fell 12-0 to Mountain Heritage on Tuesday and will take on North Wilkes' JV squad following Friday's varsity game.

SOFTBALL:

Avery softball swept a doubleheader over Cloudland by scores of 11-1 and 14-11, respectively.

Lady Vikings Dominate Erwin 7-1

Despite playing without two starters in the match, Avery's talent and skill was simply too much for an overmatched Erwin squad, as the Lady Vikings took a 7-1 victory to run its consecutive games won/tied streak to 12 games.

Senior Katie Peters started the scoring frenzy with a goal in the 18th minute to take a 1-0 lead. Four minutes later Melinda Eggers found the back of the net with a helper from Peters to push Avery ahead by a pair of goals. Just three minutes elapsed before Avery scored again, this time Rachel Buchanan provided the assist on Peters' second goal of the half. Avery was not finished scoring for the half, however, as Peters earned a hat trick before intermission, scoring off a Brianna Strange assist in the match's 37th minute for a 4-0 Avery halftime lead.

The Big Red continued to rain shots on the weary Erwin net-minder in the second half. Rachel Buchanan crossed a pass to Emily Banner in the 51st minute, who peeled a shot into the net for a five-goal advantage. Strange got into the scoring act for Avery two minutes later off yet another Buchanan touch.

A seventh and final goal scored came off the foot of Emily Banner who dribbled downfield on a breakaway and blasted a shot for a 7-0 lead. Avery used much of the half to move players to various positions on the field in preparation for future contests. Erwin remained aggressive to the end, preventing an Avery shutout in the 73rd minute on a goal by Haley Allen for the final scoring margin.

"The game gave us an opportunity to play a couple of freshmen more minutes than they've had to play for us in a game this season. We wanted to see how our chemistry would be with the new girls playing, and for the most part I felt like they did a good job," Coach Tom Evaul said after the win. "This game gave us a chance to play a lot of girls in a lot of different positions, because down the road we'll need to know what we've got."

Although the Lady Vikings have been dominant at times, the coaching staff knows there is still work to do for the team to be able to reach its ultimate goals for this year. "At times we were a little over-aggressive in the second half. We weren't being very patient and we were stabbing at the ball at times."

Avery gets some much needed rest before Wednesday evening's showdown at MacDonald Stadium with conference foe Hendersonville, one of only two teams to defeat the Lady Vikings this season as they upended the Big Red 3-0 in a match back on March 17th. The coaches see a couple of keys for the Lady Vikings to be successful in returning the favor and handing the Lady Bearcats a defeat.

"Their keeper plays as far up as near midfield, and we will need to be able have our back girls take shots. The number one thing we will have to do is finish. We had opportunities tonight to finish and couldn't take advantage of them," Coach Evaul explained. "We will also have to do a better job of protecting our weak side. That's how Erwin scored their goal, and Hendersonville really likes to use the cross to take advantage of a team's weak side, so we will have to really watch that. If we do those things, I think we'll be okay."

Both teams will enter Wednesday's contest ranked in the state's top ten 1A rankings and should be an exciting match. Opening kick is slated at 6 p.m. at MacDonald Stadium.

Lady Vikings Shutout Owen for Win #11

Avery's Lady Vikings soccer team continued its hot play with a 4-0 blanking of the Owen Warlassies Wednesday afternoon at MacDonald Stadium.

The Vikings opened the scoring as, off of a corner kick, Emily Banner assisted on a goal by Elyse Perry in the 22nd minute to lead 1-nil.

Later in the first half the Lady Vikings received a scare as freshman Mary Chesnut Smith took a kicked ball directly to her eye area. Smith was helped off the field suffering from blurred vision and sat out the remainder of the first half.

Fortunately she was able to return to the pitch, playing on the front line in the second half.
Late in the first half Avery scored a second goal as Rachel Buchanan scored in the 36th minute to increase the lead to 2-0, a lead that remained unchanged through the rest of the half.
Smith made her presence felt almost immediately as the second half began. Two minutes into the half the freshman dribbled over 30 yards by the Owen defense and fired a shot past the Owen keeper for a 3-0 Avery lead.

The scoring was closed out by the Vikings on a goal in the 48th minute by Katelynn Eudy off the foot of a Mary Chesnut Smith corner kick. The effort was the final goal as Avery went on to cruise to the conference win.

"The second half was the opposite side of the coin from the first half. In the first half we were doing everything up the middle, right where Owen's best players are, and everything was bungling down" Coach Tom Evaul said after the win. "There was no intensity in the first half, and we were just standing around and not getting to the ball. I think in the second half the girls responded well and were more aggressive. We were still sending the ball in the middle more than we wanted them to. Some of our younger girls who haven't played a lot, like Megan Robbins, came through and showed some promise, showing us some things they haven't shown us before. As a team we still need to stay sharp and not get complacent or comfortable because we have two big games still coming up."

Avery's victory improves their record to 11-2-2 on the year, with a match on Thursday afternoon at home against Erwin.

Lady Vikings Soccer Notches Tenth Win with 4-1 triumph over Madison

The Avery women's soccer team improved its record to 10-2-2 on Monday afternoon at MacDonald Stadium by defeating the visiting Lady Patriots of Madison County.

Freshman Mary Chesnut Smith (pictured) tallied two of the Avery scores on the night. Katie Peters began the scoring with a goal in the game's seventh minute off a Melinda Eggers assist. Madison answered the goal quickly, within 30 seconds in fact, to tie the match at 1-1.

In the 21st minute Avery took advantage of a direct kick after the Madison goalie collided outside the box with Avery's Katie Peters. Smith made the Patriots pay for the mistake, curling a shot into the left half of the goal as Avery retook the lead at 2-1, a lead that they held at intermission.

Avery further padded its lead in the second half with a pair of goals. Smith struck again for her second goal in the game's 50th minute to take a 3-1 advantage, while in the 59th minute Melinda Eggers closed the scoring as she rushed toward the goal on a direct kick, caught her foot on a rebound and guided a shot into the back of the net for the 4-1 victory.

"The goal that Madison scored was a mistake, but I'd rather us make it against Madison than against Polk. Mistakes happen, but we were confident we could come back from the mistake and be alright," Avery soccer coach Lou Brancourt said after the win. "Tonight we tried to manage the match, our fitness, and the mental side to prepare ouselves for the bigger games coming up in the season. As coaches we don't try to ask for too much, and at halftime we didn't yell or scream at the girls and they responded well from the talk."

Avery does much more than just score goals, as the team's defense has held opponents to only a 1.07 GAA (Goals Against Average) for the season. "The girls work hard on the defensive side. The work of Katelynn Eudy in the middle is like having both a defensive midfielder and a stopper in one," Coach Brancourt said. "She and Chesnut are able to cover a lot of space and control the field. It allows us to make a faux pas from time to time and still recover."

Avery takes on Owen at MacDonald Stadium on Wednesday at 5 p.m. and host Erwin High School on Thursday at 5 p.m.

Avery Softball and Baseball Travel to Madison

On Friday afternoon the Avery softball and baseball squads trekked to Marshall for conference contests against the Madison Patriots.

In the softball contest, the Lady Vikings hoped to bounce back from a 13-0 loss at Polk County. Unfortunately the Big Red ran into the freight train of Madison junior pitcher Laurel Gregg. The junior right-hander is among the state leaders in ERA and strikeouts, and has thrown five no-hitters and eight shutouts this season.

Gregg struck out 15 Avery batters en route to an 11-0 Madison victory. The hurler allowed only one base runner, as Samantha Shook reached on a passed ball from a dropped third strike. Tiffani Taffer led Madison (11-1, 5-1) at the plate by going 2 for 3 with a double and a triple. Kaitlyn Huff went 2 for 3 with a run.

In baseball action, Coach Benny Wellborn's Avery Vikings looked poised for a victory Friday as Avery grabbed an early 4-0 lead behind timely hitting the pitching of southpaw starter Chris Childress, and led 6-2 as late as the bottom of the third frame. Errors and mental mistakes reared their ugly heads in the third frame. Avery was also the victim of a questionable safe ruling on an apparent tag by pitcher Chris Childress of a Madison runner. The play allowed Madison to come back to take a 7-6 advantage after four innings.

As the clouds thickened and darkened overhead, the rain began to fell in earnest. Before the worst of the rain, the Patriots picked up a pair of insurance runs to lead 9-6 going into the top of the sixth inning.

Facing the prospect of a second loss for the week, the Vikings reached down deep to ignore the elements and battle back. Pedro Benavides drew a walk and stole second base, and Seth Phillips followed with a walk to put a pair of runners on. Junior catcher Zac Hall came to the plate and 'Man-Bear', as his teammates refer to him, came through in the clutch in the largest of fashions, walloping a mammoth three-run home run over the left field wall to tie the game.

The Vikings were retired to end the half inning, but faced a different dilemma. The team had to complete the Madison half of the sixth inning before play was halted by umpires due to rain or, according to the umps, the score would revert to the previous inning (where Madison led 9-6). Avery reliever Sutton Stanley retired the first two batters, allowed two Patriots to get on base, but battled back to induce a third out to close the frame.

Umpires called a stoppage of play and deemed the contest a suspended game, meaning the teams must resume the game at a later date with the same score and statistics as when the game was halted. As of Friday evening, the Vikings appear headed back to Madison on Monday afternoon to resume the 9-9 ballgame.

MONDAY UPDATE: The Vikings returned to Marshall on Monday afternoon to resume the game suspended by rain last Friday. Seth Phillips went to the mound in relief of Sutton Stanley for the contest. Neither team could score in the seventh inning as action resumed, forcing the game into 'extra innings'.

In the top of the eighth, the Vikings batted around and scored six runs to take a 15-9 lead, with Phillips closing the door in the bottom of the frame to give the Big Red a win to finish a game that took three days to complete.

"Everybody hit the ball. We just started hitting the ball, hitting line drives and put the ball into play over their head basically," Coach Benny Wellborn said after the win. "They hit a couple of hard balls, but we were able to hold them, which was the important thing."

The win was particularly sweet since the Vikings had to give up a day of practice for Tuesday's matchup with Mountain Heritage in order to travel to Marshall to complete Friday's game. "I tried to use the trip as motivation to prepare the team. None of us were thrilled over having to make another trip down there and lose a day of practice. We wanted to finish it early and we did so," the coach added.

Due to Monday's finish, Avery was forced to cancel Thursday's contest at McDowell because a team cannot play more than three opponents in a week. Avery already has the Heritage contest as well as a home game on Friday with North Wilkes.

Avery Soccer Shuts Out Mountain Heritage, Plays Polk to Scoreless Tie

Avery concluded its three-game soccer week with a 3-0 victory over Mountain Heritage at home on Wednesday night and played Polk County to a 0-0 tie in a game called in overtime due to lightning.

In Wednesday's match Avery scored first only four minutes into the match as Melinda Eggers assisted on a goal scored by Katie Peters. The Lady Vikings struck again in the 31st minute off a corner kick by Mary Chesnut Smith. Kaley Faulkner controlled the loose ball in front of goal and fired a shot past the Heritage keeper for a 2-0 advantage, which held until intermission.

The contest was a physical match as there was a fair amount of pushing, holding, and tugging. Peters scored her second goal in the game in the final two minutes of the second half, this one off a through pass by Emily Banner to provide the final margin.

The win improved Avery to 9-2-1, the second best start to a season in program history. "We knew tonight would be as rough and challenging a game as Monday was. Madison had tied Heritage, so we knew this wasn't going to be an easy game. Plus three of our starters missed Tuesday's practice with sickness, but still came out to play today," Coach Tom Evaul said after the match. "We're really proud of the team tonight, especially our five defenders. They have a pretty good offensive attack, but our defense did a good job of collapsing and controlling the ability of their offense to advance."

On Friday evening the #8 ranked Vikings played host to the #4 ranked Polk Lady Wolverines to a scoreless tie on a cloudy and rainy pitch at MacDonald Stadium. The match was a rough and tumble affair with few whistles coming from the officials in relation to the physicality of the game. Neither team cracked the scoreboard in the first 40 minutes of play. Avery came out more aggressively on the attack in the second half of play as the team continued to gain confidence against a club who they have yet to defeat in 1A play.

Weather played a role through the course of the match as the rain fell at the match's outset, then tapered off as the match ensued. Following regulation and half of the overtime session, lightning was sighted in the distance, prompting officials to call a halt to the contest with the score tied.

Avery is 9-2-2 on the season (4-1-1 in conference play) and plays three home games this week against Madison (Monday), Owen (Wednesday), and Erwin (Thursday @ the changed time of 5 p.m.).

Ashe/Avery Baseball Game postponed

This afternoon's scheduled baseball game in Newland between Avery and Ashe County has been postponed due to rain. When we get word of rescheduled make-up date, it will be posted.

Errors Sink Vikings Ship on the Baseball Diamond against Polk

In a rematch of a game just 7 days earlier, the Avery Vikings played host to the Polk County Wolverines. Avery grabbed an advantage early in the game, but costly mistakes proved the difference as Polk took a 13-8 victory.

The Wolverines drew first blood when a passed ball allowed a runner from third to scamper home with the game's opening run. Avery rallied back quickly, however, as a towering two-run home run by senior pitcher Seth Phillips off Wolverines starter Brandon Jolley highlighted a four-run frame for the Big Red, staking the Vikings to a 4-1 edge after one inning.

Avery maintained its lead until the top of the third inning, where a one-out, three run home run by catcher Nick Jolley spearheaded a four-run Polk rally, helping the Wolverines regain the lead at 5-4. Following a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half of the frame, Polk added three runs on only one hit as a pair of Avery errors allowed the Wolverines to build an 8-4 margin.

Avery got a run back in the bottom half of the inning as second baseman Pedro Benavides singled and eventually came around to score on a Chris Childress RBI single. Polk negated the Avery run in the next half inning as a solo home run to right centerfield by second baseman J.P. Ruth off starter Seth Phillips made the score 9-5.

Over the next two innings, leadoff hitters got on base for the Vikings, but Avery could not bring any runners around to cross home.

Polk added a tenth run in the top of the sixth inning off Vikings reliever Chris Childress to lead 10-5, then tacked on three additional runs of insurance in the seventh to take a 13-5 edge. Childress struck out five Wolverines over his two innings of work, but also surrendered four walks and hit a batter.

In the bottom of the seventh and final frame, Avery rallied to score three runs off Polk reliever Nick Jolley, as pinch hitters Jack Buchanan and Luke Pittman each reached base, followed by a three-run home run down the right field line by Brooks Oakley. Unfortunately, the comeback bid ended as Jolley retired the next three hitters in order to close the contest.

"We made some errors, but we were able to take advantage of some of their early errors and score a few runs. The biggest thing for us right now is that we had a mental letdown out there tonight," Avery head coach Benny Wellborn said after the game. "We had bases loaded once and had runners trying to run when they shouldn't have, but that wasn't the only thing. We had some mental breakdowns all around and we have to do a better job with that."

Avery starter Seth Phillips threw 110 pitches over five innings, struck out seven hitters while surrendering only six hits. Avery has a home game scheduled on Thursday with Ashe County, but rain in the forecast may force change. The Vikings will travel to Marshall on Friday for a conference game against Madison.

Fierce Second Half Sparks Lady Vikings to 3-1 Win at Madison

The Avery Lady Vikings ran their record to 8-2-1 and proved why they are worthy of the #8 ranking in the latest 1A state poll in defeating the Madison Lady Patriots 3-1 in Marshall Monday night.

In the opening 40 minutes the Avery squad battled a drizzling rain and cool temperatures at O.E. Roberts Stadium, as well as a determined Lady Patriots team hungry for its first win of the year.

A handball called inside the penalty box area resulted in the only tally of the opening half, as Madison's Michelle LaFountain scored on the kick in the upper right corner of the goal in the 32nd minute, giving the Lady Patriots the lead at intermission.

A lackluster first half of play for the Big Red made a 180-degree turn in the second half, as the Lady Vikings played one of its strongest halves of soccer in the season thus far. Avery scored the equalizer just 35 seconds into the half as Katie Peters took a picture perfect through pass and blazed a shot past the Madison goalkeeper to knot the score at one apiece.

Avery took the lead at the 52 minute mark as Elyse Perry continued her offensive surge with a goal, chipping a shot just over the head and outstretched arms of the Madison goalie. The shot squeezed just under the crossbar on the left side to put the Vikings up 2-1.

As the half continued, the Lady Vikings found themselves with a number of additional opportunities to score, but were unable to add an all-important insurance goal. Avery was finally able to score for a third time in the half at 69:00 as a solid header from 10 yards out by Katie Peters off a Perry assist sailed over the top of the keeper and nestled its way into the back of the net for the 3-1 advantage. The senior scored two goals in the contest and performed admirably despite suffering throughout the day from flu-like symptoms.

At the 77 minute mark, Madison benefitted from a questionable takedown call inside the penalty box, affording the Lady Patriots a second penalty shot in the game. This time, however, Avery keeper Cailan Calloway was equal to the task, extending left to successfully turn away the Madison shot attempt. The Vikings keeper was strong in goal, continuing her stretch of solid play in net as Calloway has surrendered only one goal (the first half penalty goal) over the past four contests.

"Last year in a game like tonight, Coach Lou and I would have been screaming and yelling at halftime. But we were able to keep our composure tonight and the girls kept theirs as well," head coach Tom Evaul said after the win. "We told the girls the ball didn't bounce our ways and that they needed to stay calm and cool. In the second half the ball bounced our way. We told the girls if we scored early we would win this game, and Katie came out in the first 30 seconds and did just that. Their keeper didn't move as we caught them off guard quickly, which pushed some wind out of their sails and into ours."

Avery plays a pair of additional home matches this week, a game Wednesday against Mountain Heritage, and a duel of top-10 ranked 1A teams as Polk County comes to town on Friday evening, a change from the original schedule.

Come out and support this talented group of young ladies and watch some exciting soccer action!

Wednesday Prep Roundup

Avery baseball scored three first-inning runs, then staved off a late Hampton rally to hold on for a 5-4 win on Wednesday in Carter County, TN.

Preston Jennings got the starting pitching nod and threw well in his season debut. The senior right hander went three innings+. Avery built a 4-0 lead, but Hampton rallied to score three runs in the bottom of the third on five straight base hits to cut the lead to one. Jon Hensley came on in relief of Jennings in the third, but was unable to retire a batter. Coach Benny Wellborn then called on Brooks Oakley to pitch, and the right hander struck out two of the next three batters and went the distance to secure the win.

Avery plays at Wilkes Central in a non-conference game on Friday.

In soccer action Wednesday evening the Avery Lady Vikings extended its non-losing streak to three games with a 1-0 win at MacDonald Stadium against the Pisgah Lady Bears. The game winning goal occurred in the 67th minute as Brianna Strange assisted on a goal by Mary Chesnut Smith. Avery plays this evening in a non-conference match at North Wilkes High School.

Vikings Outdueled by Wolverines in Polk County

The Avery JV and varsity baseball teams traveled to Columbus this evening for a 1A conference match against Polk County. The junior varsity squad had difficulty against the strong pitching of the Polk southpaw starter, only mustering a single walk in five innings of play.

Avery starter Daniel Huff gave a solid pitching effort to the Big Red, surrendering only three runs through the first three innings of play. Polk used timely hitting and took advantage of walks issued by the Avery relief corps to extend the lead to an eventual 10-0 victory.

Tuesday's varsity action set up to be an exciting pitcher's matchup between Avery's Seth Phillips and Polk's Brandon Jolley. The two did not disappoint, combining for 18 strikeouts in the contest. Despite the strong performances on the mound, both teams were able to generate offense at the plate and on the base paths.

Polk took advantage of a walk, two errors, and a balk (all with two outs) to score four runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Avery surrendered a fifth run in the third inning to lead 5-0, but the Vikings pieced together four straight singles off Jolley in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 5-3. This, Avery's final and best offensive threat of the game, ended with the bases loaded. Jolley helped his own cause with a solo home run to right field for an insurance run to provide for the final 6-3 margin as Brandon's brother Nick came on in the top of the seventh for a 1-2-3 inning to pick up the save.

Phillips pitched a complete game of six innings, throwing 115 pitches and striking out 10 hitters while giving up only eight hits. Avery takes on Hampton and Wilkes Central in non-confernece games later this week.

Lady Bucs Already Looking For Next Seaon

The ETSU Lady Bucs made history last Saturday night in, of all places, Des Moines, Iowa. When the Lady Bucs took the floor at the Wells Fargo Center, one of the most successful seasons in the program’s history reached a historic milestone as the Lady Bucs squared off against Oklahoma State in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

“I’m very proud of my teammates, we did something that no other team has done before at East Tennessee State,” Michelle DeVault said in an NCAA interview. “We proved that we not only belonged in this tournament, but that we could play with the best and we hung in there with a really good team, so I’m really proud of my teammates.”

“It feels good just to make history and get into the history books,” TaRonda Wiles said at a postgame press conference. “We want to go farther next year.”

Wiles’ teammates echoed her thoughts of next year, and for good reason. While the Lady Bucs fell to Oklahoma State, the Lady Bucs finished what is arguably the best season in program history. In addition to the program’s first NCAA bid, the Lady Buccaneers tied a school record 21 wins, including winning 15 of their last 17 games, capturing both the regular season and tournament Atlantic Sun Conference championships. The Lady Bucs also scored 2,478 points, the most team points scored in a single season in program history. While they lose four talented seniors, DeVault, Jenny Norman, Nichelle Akers and Kelly Truman, the Lady Bucs return nine players including Siarre Evans, who was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder.

“To be apart of this team with such great chemistry, it felt like we should have gone farther in the tournament,” Latisha Belcher said. “But that will have to wait until next year.”

Oklahoma State coach Kurt Budke even praised the Lady Bucs in his postgame press conference for the heart and dedication they showed.

“Credit East Tennessee State, they outcoached and outplayed us tonight,” Budke said. “They believe in themselves and they believe they can play with anybody.”

While this season did not end like a fairy tale, the Lady Bucs have every intention of playing the part of Cinderella next season.

Lady Vikings Drop Match at Hendersonville & Tie Burns; Bounce Back with Rout at Mitchell

Despite a rainout which postponed Wednesday’s conference match with Polk County, the Avery High women’s soccer team competed in a pair of physical road matches, dropping a 3-0 decision in Hendersonville to the top-5 ranked Lady Bearcats, but rebounded to finish with a 2-2 overtime tie at Burns High School on Good Friday afternoon.

In Monday’s match, Avery held the Lady Bearcats to a goal for most of the first half. However, Hendersonville was able to take advantage of Lady Viking mental miscues to bury an additional two goals in net in the final two minutes of the half to get its three-goal advantage. The second half was a stalemate as the Lady Vikings were held scoreless for a second straight match. The defense remained dedicated to the effort, however, holding the Bearcats scoreless in the final 40 minutes.

“Mentally we didn’t come prepared to play the match, especially in the first half, and they just took it to us,” Avery head coach Tom Evaul said following the defeat.

On Friday the Lady Vikings made the trek to Lawndale in Cleveland County for a non-conference match with the 3A Burns Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Vikings struck early in the contest for a goal, as freshman Emily Banner scored in the first four minutes off an assist by Brianna Strange. The goal held up as the Lady Vikings led 1-0 at intermission.

Burns came out with renewed intensity to open the second half, as the Lady Bulldogs took advantage of a defensive miscommunication to split the defense for a goal in the opening minutes, knotting the match at 1-1. At approximately the sixth minute mark, Avery again retook the lead at 2-1 as Melinda Eggers assisted on a goal inside the box by senior Katie Peters. With around 23 minutes remaining, Burns found a way to escape a scrambling Vikings back line to score the equalizer to tie the match 2-2.

The score remained unchanged through the remainder of regulation, and the teams made the decision to play two-10 minute overtime sessions. The squads remained scoreless through the first session. In the second ten minutes, Burns kept the ball in the Avery defensive half of the field for the overwhelming majority of the period, but the Vikings were stingy, turning away an indirect kick as well as a pair of corner kick opportunities to conclude the match in a tie.

“Burns has a couple of good girls up front and a good sweeper. We scored early, but the match did not play out as easily as perhaps we might have thought it might,” Coach Evaul stated. “We did a lot of standing around, and we need to work on being a little more aggressive and going to the ball a little more than we did in this match.”

This evening Avery traveled to Ledger to play a conference match at Mitchell. Through brutal cold and snowy conditions, the Lady Vikings took a 4-0 lead on the Lady Mountaineers into halftime. Avery continued pouring it on with six additional goals in the first 40 minutes of the second half for a commanding 10-0 win.

Emily Banner tallied a hat trick by midway through the second half for the Lady Vikings as Avery prepares for a home match on Wednesday and a match at North Wilkes on Thursday.

Avery Baseball Rescheduled

The baseball game between Avery and Hampton has been rescheduled for Wednesday at 4:30pm.

ETSU Lady Bucs Fall In NCAA Tournament

The ETSU women’s basketball team saw their outstanding season come to an end on Saturday night after giving Oklahoma State everything they could handle as the Cowgirls advanced to the second round of the NCAA Women’s tournament 85-73.

“There are really no words to describe how proud I am of this team,” Lady Buc coach Karen Kemp said. “They came out and played very hard. My biggest fear going into this game was that we would just be in awe of everything because we were in our first NCAA Tournament. We played really focused. We knew Oklahoma State was a good basketball team. I felt like we came out and gave it everything we had and played a good basketball game.”

The Lady Bucs and Cowgirls traded shots to open the contest as the Lady Bucs took an early 14-11 lead thanks to two Michelle DeVault 3-pointers. However, the Cowgirls went on a 20-7 run to take a 29-17 lead with 7:54 remaining in the half. DeVault hit another 3-pointer to close the gap to 31-22, but the Lady Bucs were unable to gain anymore on Oklahoma State. The Cowgirls took a 41-29 lead at the break.

The Lady Bucs, however, did not give up in the second half. ETSU responded to an Oklahoma State 3-pointer with a 6-0 run to open up the second half. However, the Cowgirls went on a 9-0 run to push their lead to 52-35. Siarre Evans and DeVault 3-pointers gave the Lady Bucs momentum as ETSU pulled within seven points with less than nine minutes remaining. However, the clock worked against the Lady Bucs as they could not get closer to the Cowgirls.

“Credit East Tennessee State, they outcoached and outplayed us tonight,” Oklahoma State coach Kurt Budke. “I tried to stress that midmajors such as East Tennessee are very dangerous. ETSU believe in themselves and they believe they can play with anybody. They came out playing very relaxed.”

The Lady Bucs were led by DeVault’s 22 points as she tied a career-high six 3-pointers. Latisha Belcher scored 14 points, while Evans scored 12 points. TaRonda Wiles added 10 points for the Lady Bucs. Oklahoma State was led by All-American Andrea Riley’s 26 points and Maria Cordero added 23 points. The Cowgirls and Lady Bucs were nearly even in rebounding as the Cowgirls won the battle in the paint 46-45. The Lady Bucs also had 17 assists.

The Lady Bucs finished the season by winning 15 of its last 17 games. The team tied a Lady Buc record of 21 victories and captured the first NCAA berth in the program history.