Coupeville Sports

Lucy Tenore is a heavy hitter for a high-flying Coupeville volleyball squad. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

They came, they saw, and they almost completely conquered.

The Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad claimed second-place at a tournament in Sultan Saturday, while mixing competition with experimentation.

The Wolves opened by blitzing through pool play, winning five of six sets to claim top dog status.

Coupeville, a 2B school, gave up a single set to 2A Cedarcrest, then bounced 4A Mariner in a three-set thriller in the semifinals of the tourney.

While the Wolves “ran out of steam a bit,” falling to 1A Mount Baker in the championship match, CHS coach Cory Whitmore was pleased with the day.

“It was great experience, and we got to work with some different lineups, which was fun for the group,” he said. “I thought we served tough throughout the day and worked hard in transition — a focus of ours.

“Always fun to get some tournament experience fairly early on, and the day offered a lot of chance for touches and reps.”

Coupeville, which is 4-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, and 4-1 overall, has back-to-back matches to kick off next week.

The Wolves host next-door neighbor South Whidbey (5-1) Monday in a titanic non-conference rumble, before traveling Tuesday to Friday Harbor (1-2, 1-4) for a league tussle.

Maddie Georges sets up the Wolves for success.