Coupeville Sports

Wolf setter Sydney Autio stays focused on her task. (John Fisken photo)

They kept on getting closer.

Playing in Everett Thursday, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad narrowed down the gap against host Archbishop Thomas Murphy in each of its three games. Unfortunately, the Wolves couldn’t quite get to where that gap was gone.

The 25-15, 25-20, 25-21 loss dropped Coupeville to 1-5 overall, 0-5 in Cascade Conference play. A possible protest of a botched call late in their razor-thin loss to Sultan Tuesday is still in play, however.

Against a strong Wildcat squad, the Wolves leaned on the big power of junior Hailey Hammer, who put together a strong stat line. She was a flawless 17 of 17 at the service stripe, with three aces, while also collecting three kills and two blocks.

Kacie Kiel, who packs a surprising amount of punch in her slender frame, paced Coupeville with four kills, while Allie Hanigan topped the Wolves with four blocks.

Breeanna Messner, back after missing a chunk of the Sultan game with illness, teamed with Amanda Fabrizi to provide the first line of defense. The duo went 31 of 36 on service returns, while Messner was also 7 of 7 when she had the ball as a server.

Also getting some props were the Sydneys, as Autio (70 of 75 on passes) and Aparicio (9 of 9 on serves) were their usual inspired selves.

Coupeville returns home for its next match, hosting Granite Falls Tuesday, Oct. 1. Between now and then, the Wolves will look to tweak a few aspects of their game.

“We played well tonight, just need to control our side of the net and eliminate errors on things we control,” said CHS coach Kirsty Croghan.