Coupeville Sports

   Hope Lodell, here backed up by Maya Toomey-Stout, played strongly Thursday as Coupeville crushed Port Townsend. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Get in their way, get steamrolled.

Picking up steam with every match, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad capped a big week Thursday with another straight-sets win over a key conference rival.

Crunching host Port Townsend 25-17, 25-16, 25-10, the Wolves improved to 3-0 in Olympic League play and sit alone atop the standings.

The defending league champs are 3-0 after their first swing through conference play, 5-1 overall.

Klahowya (2-1), Chimacum (1-2), who CHS hosts Tuesday in a rare home match, and Port Townsend (0-3) round out the standings.

Thursday, as it often is, the focus for Coupeville was on exploiting its strength at the service stripe.

The Wolves ripped off 13 aces as a team, with Hope “The Surgeon” Lodell carving up the RedHawks for four.

She was backed up by Lauren Rose, who calmly dropped in three gems, while pretty much every Wolf was spot-on when putting the ball in play.

And when the service game didn’t quite click, CHS found other ways to snatch points.

“I was very pleased with our hitting efficiency today and execution of a clean game plan,” said Wolf coach Cory Whitmore. ‘We pushed ourselves on the service line and at times it paid off and others we let some serves get away from us.

“But we commanded the passing line and dug the ball really calmly and accurately, allowing our setters to deliver a great ball to an array of hitters,” he added. “I thought we played with focus and at times, big energy.”

Kyla Briscoe delivered her best performance of the season up front, lashing a team-high nine kills, while Mikayla Elfrank chipped in with six and Katrina McGranahan delivered five.

Rose was the linchpin all night, doling out a season-high 21 assists.

Ashley Menges backed her up with six set-ups, with Payton Aparicio (14) and Lodell (12) Coupeville’s go-to women when it was time for a dig.