Coupeville Sports

 Megan Oakes (19) rises up to make a play on the ball, as teammates Allie Hanigan (15) and Bessie Walstad (27) watch. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

The general returned and the Wolves went to war.

With big hitter Bessie Walstad back in the lineup, and quickly working her way back up front where she could unleash her patented power attack, the Coupeville High School volleyball team battled through four titanic sets Thursday night before falling to visiting Lakewood.

With a vocal pack of Lakewood JV volleyball players verbally jousting with Coupeville’s raucous student section after every point, the two squads put on a nice show, before the Cougars snagged a 25-18, 22-25, 25-14, 25-23 win and made a mad dash for their bus and the nearest McDonalds.

Walstad, who had missed multiple games with a badly sprained ankle, did not start in her return. She made her impact felt, though, especially in the fourth set, when she unleashed a couple of wicked spikes and then teamed with Breeanna Messner on an especially resounding double-team stuff block at the net.

Messner was on fire for most of the match, owning much of the second set. After ripping off five straight points on her serve to stake the Wolves to a 7-1 lead, she popped in a pair of picture-perfect scoring tips which landed where the defense wasn’t, then capped an epic rally by nailing the set-winning point with a blast off the back line.

Coupeville opened strongly, battling Lakewood almost to a standstill for much of the first set. With Allie Hanigan and Hailey Hammer teaming up to deliver a string of key hits, and Sydney Aparicio once again sacrificing her body to guard the back line, the Wolves trailed just 18-17. Unfortunately, Coupeville then misfired on several plays in a row to hand the Cougars the set.

The rest of the evening played out much the same, with the Wolves taking the lead several times before Lakewood managed to pull away. Coupeville rallied multiple times in the fourth set, coming back from seven down to tie the set at 14, then fighting off two match points at the end before finally running out of miracles.