Opening losses can’t dim promising season for booters, spikers!!

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Opening losses can’t dim promising season for booters, spikers!!

September 7, 2012 by David Svien

Hope and faith is winning the battle against doom and gloom.

Despite dropping openers in both volleyball and girls’ soccer Thursday, Coupeville High School is far from calling it quits and going home early. While the losses left CHS at a combined 0-3 on the young fall season (with football gearing up for a second chance Friday night and boys’ tennis set to swing into action earlier in the day), every defeat so far has been close and has allowed for moments of Wolf brilliance.

The booters played 3A Oak Harbor to a virtual standstill, losing a razor-thin game 2-0, while the Wolf spikers were nipped 25-21, 25-11, 25-19 at Cedarcrest by one of the Cascade Conference’s bigger schools.

Senior sensation Bessie Walstad kicked off her last run on the high school volleyball court by going low for a match-high 20 digs (to go with four kills and two service aces), while Megan Oakes doled out nine assists. Hailey Hammer brought the heat as well, pounding home four kills.

On the pitch, a new-look Coupeville squad, playing its first game under first-year head coach Dan d’ Almeida, stayed remarkably close with its big-school Island rival, giving goalie McKayla Bailey, replacing the graduated Grace LaPoint, plenty of time to get settled in the net.

With an increased offensive attack from a season ago, the Wolf booters are hoping for more scoring pop, and will look to players such as senior Amanda d’ Almeida, who will spend this weekend making her first official college recruiting trip to Claremont-McKenna College in California. A top Division III program, CMC is coached by Keri Sanchez, a four-time NCAA womens’ soccer champ during her days at the University of North Carolina.

When d’ Almeida rejoins her Wolf teammates for their second game of the season, a road affair at Cedarcrest this coming Tuesday, Sept. 11, she will find an excited coach/father, who sees a bright future ahead for his team.

“Today was the best “loss” I ever had!,” said Dan d’ Almeida on his Facebook page. “We had great possessions, many, many scoring chances, good stuff from new and veteran players and just good juju on the team.

“What was the old saying — “lose the battle but win the war?” he added. “Yeah, thinking our season has some tremendous upside.”