2025 Lady Ironmen Volleyball Team Celebrates Historic Season

Cherryville, NC (WNN)- The 2025 season for the Cherryville High School Lady Ironmen volleyball team was not only memorable but also included several historic achievements. Coach Leigh Kiser, the team, and several players all made their mark on history.

There have been many good seasons over the 16 years that Coach Kiser has led these young ladies; however, this one has been magical and memorable. In fact, it is so memorable that several names have been added to the banners in Nixon Gym displaying school records.

Team Accomplishments

Although a team is made up of individual players, the matches are won and lost as a team. This team displayed great chemistry and began to really gel as the season progressed. They were fun to watch as they enjoyed playing and found the right combination of energy, intensity, and enthusiasm to get the job done.

Their overall record was 16-10 and 8-8 in conference play. The Lady Ironmen beat some strong teams and came close to upsetting some very good ones. Those types of things are not reflected in the win-loss column, yet they can be building blocks for facing the next opponent. Those are the pieces they used to have a six-match winning streak around mid-season and finish the season winning 5 out of the last 7, including the playoffs.

CHS Lady Ironmen Volleyball - Cherryville's Nixon Gym - October 8th, 2025

Mason Beam (WNN)

In the conference tournament, they defeated Stuart Cramer but fell in the next round to Highland Tech. Their performance during the season and conference tournament was good enough to earn a first-round bye in the 2025 NCHSAA 2A Women’s Volleyball Championships. As the tournament progressed, the second round saw the CHS ladies defeat Bradford Prep 3-1.

This victory propelled them into the Cherryville High School record books as the first women’s volleyball team to advance to the third round in school history. Unfortunately, they would face powerhouse Cornerstone Charter and see their season come to an end.

Individual Records and Honors

Senior Emily Allen earned her 3rd All-Conference recognition, and Junior Kate Mulvey earned her 2nd All-Conference selection. That was not the only honors for these two outstanding young ladies. They were also both selected to the All-Region 6 team. Emily finished her career by having her name added to the top five career leaders’ banners in four categories!

She is the all-time leader in kills at 731, second in career serving aces at 207, and third in career assists, becoming only the third player to achieve over 1,000, with a total of 1,326. She set the third-highest single-season number of assists with 638 this year. Her final category is in digs, where she is in fifth with 615.

Emily Allen setting a career kills record.

Kelly Rent

Senior Kate Mulvey is right behind Emily in third place for career aces with 201. Senior Cameryn Shirley finishes her all-time career in second place in the digs category with 314. The final category for the top five during a career is for blocks, and two Seniors are now enshrined on that banner. Raylei Gidney is in second place with 132, and Jenna Anthony comes in fourth with 126.

#15 Kate Mulvey returning the volleyball - Cherryville's Nixon Gym - October 8th, 2025

Mason Beam (WNN)

Again, it is worth noting that Coach Leigh Kiser set records and milestones of her own as well. She set the new record for the winningest women’s volleyball coach for Gaston County, as she currently stands at 203 victories. She is also the all-time winningest volleyball coach at a single school in the county, and of course, those records enabled her to reach the milestone of 200 career victories at Cherryville High School.

Coach Kiser with her 200th career victory banner.

Brian Kiser

Her records are 203-186 at Cherryville and 268-236 combined throughout her career. Coach Kiser foresees another good season upcoming despite losing eight seniors to graduation. Congratulations to the coaching staff and all these young ladies.

It doesn’t matter if their names made it into the record books or not; they each still contributed to a spectacular season and have made their families, community, and school very proud. It’s a pleasure to have witnessed the true sportsmanship they displayed in victory and defeat. Job well done!