Coupeville Sports

Hope Lodell, one of many Wolves to play strongly Saturday. (John Fisken photo)

  The Wolves enjoy a break from the muggy gym while a faulty fire alarm is checked out. (Amy King photo)

They put in a full day’s work.

The Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad spent close to 12 hours together Saturday.

Playing at a tournament in Bellingham hosted by Meridian, the Wolves met up at the CHS gym at 6:30 in the morning and didn’t return until 6 PM.

Along the way they played three matches, survived a muggy gym and were evacuated when faulty fire alarms interrupted them mid-match.

And while it didn’t win any of the three matches (losing to Nooksack Valley, Sehome and Mount Baker), Coupeville did have its fair share of highlights along the way.

“I know it was a long day, but the girls really stepped up and worked hard,” said CHS coach Amy King. “They did things today I haven’t seen them really do before. There were so many great rallies, awesome digs and hits.

“I’m very proud of each of them and how they continued to battle,” she added. “We may not have won but we made the other teams work for every point.

“This group is chalk full of talent and heart. I appreciated their positive attitudes and the way they constantly help each other out.”

The Wolves opened against Nooksack and had a bit of a struggle to blink away the early-morning tiredness. They got stronger as the match progressed, eventually falling 25-10, 25-17, 25-21.

Hope Lodell continued to earn her nickname of “The Surgeon,” slicin’ n’ dicin’ her foes with precision serving.

She nailed 14 serves in (including an ace) while Katrina McGranahan and Payton Aparicio connected successfully on 10 apiece.

McGranahan spent most of the match stalking the net, then exploding upwards to deny Nooksack. She amassed seven hits, two blocks and five tips in the match.

King also gave a nod of approval to the play of Sophia Hassapis and Abby Parker (“she was going for everything and saved a few balls heading out of the court”).

The middle match of the day started strong, then faded a bit, as Coupeville fell 25-20, 25-8, 25-12 to Sehome.

“We couldn’t maintain our scrappiness and let some of our errors get to us,” King said.

Lodell, Maggie Crimmins and Kayla Rose were money at the service stripe, while McGranahan soared for two court-shaking blocks that “got the bench screaming.”

Aparaicio, Rose, McGranahan, Lauren Grove and Kameryn St Onge spread out the kills, taking turns at destroying Sehome’s carefully-planned attacks.

Things got interesting near the end of the day, as the Wolves and their final opponent, Mt. Baker, got run out of the gym midway through the first set when fire alarms went off.

After a reprieve from a stuffy gym and a chance to sit outside in the breeze and take selfies, the two teams got back it, with Baker eventually triumphing 25-17, 25-20.

King came away pleased with the play of all of her players who made the day-long trip.

“Hope and Lauren were very consistent in their setting duties. Moving around the court, setting their teammates up and being steady all around on both offense and defense,” she said. “Kayla served for Lauren all day as Lauren’s shoulder has been giving her some problems. Kayla did a great job with serving as well as back row defense.

“Payton and Katrina did a great job with serve receive and defense; Abby stepped in and played a very aggressive back row and had several saves,” King added. “Kameryn, Allison (Wenzel), Mackenzi (Valko), Sophia and Claire (Mietus) all had great moments, whether tipping, hitting, serving or defense.

“They all contributed positively through the day.”