Coupeville Sports

Hailey Hammer uncorks another winner. (John Fisken photo)

Good things happen when Breeanna Messner stays in the gym.

Bouncing back from an epic five-set loss at home the first time around, when their star senior left the gym midway with possible concussion symptoms, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad got a measure of payback against host Sultan Thursday night.

With Messner a perfect 12 of 12 from the service stripe, with four aces, during the deciding fourth set, the 1A Wolves bounced the 2A Turks 19-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-15.

The victory lifted Coupeville to 2-10, snapped a nine-game skid, and gave first-year coach Kirsty Croghan her first Cascade Conference win.

“A great, competitive match tonight,” Croghan said. “This win meant a lot to the team tonight and was truly a TEAM effort. Everyone was a key part of our play tonight.”

In the team’s first meeting, the Wolves had rallied from down two sets to one after Messner went out, only to fritter away four match points and be hurt by a controversial call on an illegal substitution by Sultan. This time around, Coupeville never let it get that far.

With multiple players hammering kills from all angles, led by Allie Hanigan’s nine winners, the Wolves were a focused, ramped-up bunch. Hailey Hammer (six kills), Madeline Strasburg (six) and Haley Sherman (five) all had the laser blasts popping, as well.

Sophomore Sydney Autio set up the winners nicely, doling out 22 assists, while Kacie Kiel (three blocks) and Hanigan (two stuffs) controlled the net.

Coupeville dominated the serving game, winning both sides of the battle. The Wolves were an uncanny 71 of 72 on returns, led by seniors Amanda Fabrizi (25 of 25) and Megan Oakes (14 of 14).

When they had the ball in their hand, the Wolf servers were on fire, paced by Messner, who went 28 of 29 with seven aces. Hammer (13 of 13, two aces), Autio (10 of 12, two aces) and Kiel (9 of 11, two aces) were all equally locked in.