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PCA Athletics

The PCA Lady Raiders volleyball team is gearing up for another state championship run this fall. Pungo has advanced to the state title match the past three seasons, winning the first two before losing last years in five sets to conference foe Albemarle School.

The Lady Raiders will be without their top three hitters from last season with Autumn Gibbs and Alden Taylor graduating and Allison Sawyer being sidelined for the season after tearing her ACL in January.

PCA returns four players and three starters from last year’s team with aspirations of reaching the championship for
the fourth year in a row. Anna Stoop is a two-time TIC All Conference and NCISAA All-State selection and is already the school’s all-time leader in assists with 1,287 in her career.

Julia Rouse, Emma Hanna and Madison Prince are the other returning seniors. Rouse is expected to take on a larger role on the front line while Hanna and Prince will be a consistent presence on the back line.

Incoming senior Raylee Lynch will add some strength to the Lady Raiders attack while AvaHaiyes Cox, Mia Rojas-Beltran, Bristol Cutrell and Ashleigh Wallace will bring in experience from their years on JV.

Kelly Rouse is taking over for Melanie Eddleman after Eddleman stepped down from her head coaching spot. Rouse has been an assistant for Eddleman the past three years and has successfully built up the Raiders middle school and JV programs.

The Raiders have a busy 19 game schedule that includes trips to Northside and Cape Hatteras as well as key home matchups against Faith Christian and Christ Covenant.

Meanwhile, the PCA boys soccer team made history by advancing to the state semifinals for the first time ever last fall. They fell 1 – 0 in the semifinal game and with that, ended the careers of four seniors who were a big part of the Raiders success. Eight players return from last year’s squad and will be joined by five newcomers.

Expect the cousin duo of Bruce Taylor and Brooke Baxter to lead the Raiders attack. Brody Tooley, Ryan Rouse, Gage Spencer and Brody Paul will look to be a consistent presence in the midfield while Luke Rouse and Carter Balance hold down the fort on defense.

Newcomers Dylan Parker, Rylan Williamson, Wade Thomas Elliott, Dustin and Landen Sparks and Ryan and William Taylor will look to help replace the talented senior class of 2024.

Billy Bunn is the new head coach of the Raiders after Victor Chavez stepped down at the end of last season. Bunn previously coached soccer at Northside High School for several years before coming to PCA. The Raiders 13 game schedule is highlighted with trips to Arendell Parrott Academy and defending 1A Champion Crossroads Christian while hosting key matchups against Faith Christian and conference foe Ridgecroft School.