After opening the season with a pair of singles wins, Mason Grove teamed with Nick Etzell Wednesday to roll to a doubles victory. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
William Nelson is not prone to excessive on-court giddiness.
The Coupeville High School senior netter is a serene, low-key athlete, and he and his doubles partner, Joey Lippo, are the very epitome of the phrase “cooler than the other side of the pillow.”
So, when Nelson jumped a good six inches in the air after Wednesday’s match, it was equal to another player ripping all their clothes off, setting their hair on fire, then sprinting laps around the school screaming “We are the Champions” at the top of his lungs while being chased by a fire extinguisher-wielding Mr. Black.
In other words, you knew big stuff had gone down.
What inspired this show of emotion?
Nelson and Lippo had rallied twice, once from a set down, then from a 3-0 hole in the third set, to stun a very good Kingston doubles duo and stay unbeaten on the season.
Even better, their 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 victory proved to be the difference as lil’ 1A Coupeville (227 students) knocked off their visitors, sending the 2A Buccaneers (605 students) home on the losing end of a 4-3 contest.
The non-conference win, coming on the heels of a pair of razor-thin 4-3 losses to other 2A schools, lifts the Wolves to 1-2 and gives them momentum heading into an important match.
That comes Friday, when Coupeville heads to Silverdale to face Klahowya in the first league match of the season.
As two-time defending 1A Olympic League champs, CHS would like nothing more than to get off to a strong start with a win over their toughest league rival.
If the Wolf doubles teams play Friday like they did Wednesday, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Along with Lippo and Nelson, CHS also got wins from the duos of Nick Etzell/Mason Grove (who threw down a double bagel, then tried to explain to their parents how that phrase translates to a 6-0, 6-0 win) and Zach Ginnings/Drake Borden.
Grove and Ginnings are also 3-0 on the young season, giving Coupeville four unbeaten players.
Rounding out the Wolf winners Wednesday was #3 singles ace Nile Lockwood, who crawled off his death bed, ignored possible pneumonia and rolled to a straight-sets victory.
Complete Wednesday results:
Varsity:
1st Singles — Pedro Gamarra lost to Ian Schmidt 6-0, 6-0
2nd Singles — Jakobi Baumann lost to Ethan Griffin 6-4, 6-3
3rd Singles — Nile Lockwood beat Tyler Bates 6-2, 6-2
1st Doubles — William Nelson/Joey Lippo beat Ethan Sax/Dawson Clark 3-6, 6-0, 6-4
2nd Doubles — Nick Etzell/Mason Grove beat Preston Gunnell/Giani Nguyen 6-0, 6-0
3rd Doubles — Jaschon Baumann/Tiger Johnson lost to Tristan Schmidt/Eli Guedea 6-3, 6-1
4th Doubles — Drake Borden/Zach Ginnings beat Tyler Krantz/Thomas Brown 8-3
JV:
5th Doubles — Thane Peterson/Koby Schreiber tied Jacob Diehl/Skylar Beyer 6-6 (ferry)
6th Doubles — Harris Sinclair/Etzell trailed Riley Odell/Gunnell 5-3 (ferry)
Coupeville Sports 
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