Coupeville Sports

Senior Jakobi Baumann heads up a scrappy Wolf tennis squad ready to take on the big boys in the Emerald City League. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

“We are the CHS team that has the toughest schedule.”

There is little doubt about that, as Ken Stange’s 14th year at the helm of the Coupeville High School boys tennis program arrives complete with an epic new challenge.

While other Wolf teams will face off with fellow North Sound Conference foes, the netters have a slightly different path to travel.

Coupeville and South Whidbey are the only schools in the new six-team league which play boys tennis, so they are linking up with the ultra-ritzy, ultra-competitive Emerald City League.

That puts the Wolves up against potentially the toughest tennis conference in all of 1A, one where private school players compete year-round in one sport and benefit from ready access to private coaches and indoor courts.

University Prep is the two-time defending team state champs, and the ECL has won five of the last six singles titles.

In four of the past six years, at least two ECL teams have finished in the top five in the team standings at the state tourney, with U Prep being in that exclusive group every season.

In other words, things have changed.

“It was nice winning two of four league titles in our old league (Olympic League), but that was then,” Stange said. “We can either complain about it, or we can work at getting better.

“I choose the latter.”

The new league also brings a format change, as the Wolves go from a three singles, four doubles set-up for varsity matches to two singles, three doubles.

With three fewer varsity spots available, the battle at practice will rage.

“We have quite a few returning players with experience,” Stange said. “There will be some stiff competition this season within our team.

“We lost our top players from last year and we are moving into a new league that is full of private schools. We have our work cut out for us, but we’re working hard to raise our collective game.”

Gone are #1 singles player Nick Etzell and #1 doubles duo Joey Lippo and William Nelson, but nine of the 12 players on the Wolf roster are returning letter winners.

Junior Mason Grove and senior Jakobi Baumann, who both played strongly a season ago, head up the team.

Joining them are Jaschon Baumann, Zach Ginnings, Drake Borden, Tiger Johnson, Koby Schreiber, Thane Peterson and Harris Sinclair, while three newcomers – James Wood, Jacob Burke and Andrew Aparicio – round out the roster.

Through good times and bad, big wins and tough losses, Stange has always approached his time on the court the same way – head up, wicked sense of humor intact and deeply committed to getting the best out of each of his players, regardless of their talent level.

“The new league raises expectations but we haven’t seen the competition yet. It should be challenging and fun,” he said. “I hope we can be competitive and be a solid part of our new league. I also hope we can get a couple of entries into the district tourney.

“This season will be a success if we can win a few matches and have some individual success,” Stange added. “The real success will be in whether or not we are able to improve our results in the second run through our league schedule.”