Coupeville Sports

   CHS sophomore Mason Grove will hold down one of the varsity singles slots. (John Fisken photos)

After a breakout season in 2016, junior Jakobi Baumann is back for more.

Small but deadly.

The Coupeville High School boys tennis team isn’t exceptionally deep in numbers this season, but, what’s there, is pretty good.

Wolf coach Ken Stange will roll out 14 players when action starts next Tuesday, and, topped by a doubles duo with a solid shot of tangling for a berth to the state tourney, his squad is ready to rumble.

“We are a small team, and this could prove detrimental if players miss matches for any reason,” Stange said. “Many of our players are inexperienced, but are picking the game up quickly.

“It’ll be nice to have a match on the first day of school,” he added. “That will give us some useful information moving forward.”

Coupeville is the two-time defending Olympic League champs, and hasn’t lost a conference tilt since 2014.

To stay on track, the Wolves will need to stay healthy (they need 11 players for a varsity match) and focused.

“I expect that we will compete for our third straight league title,” Stange said. “We should also see Joey (Lippo) and Will (Nelson) repeat as league doubles champs, and hopefully a spot at state.

“I expect two or three of our singles players to qualify for districts,” he added. “Klahowya has the defending league and district singles champ, but beyond that, our guys are tough.”

The senior duo of Nelson and Lippo will anchor the team at #1 doubles, while all three of last year’s varsity singles players — senior Nick Etzell, junior Jakobi Baumann and sophomore Mason Grove — are back as well.

“They (the singles players) should shoulder more of the load this year, in terms of individual match wins,” Stange said.

Jaschon Baumann, Tiger Johnson, Zach Ginnings, Nile Lockwood, Koby Schreiber, Thane Peterson, Drake Borden, Harris Sinclair and foreign exchange student Pedro Gamarra round out the roster.

When CHS kicks off the new year Sept. 5 at home against 2A foe Port Angeles, it will mark the start of Stange’s 25th season as a tennis coach at the school.

It will be his 13th season at the helm of the Wolf boys, while he also has 12 campaigns with the Coupeville girl netters.