“I was proud of the girls”

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“I was proud of the girls”

October 6, 2022 by David Svien

Madison McMillan had a career-best night Thursday against South Whidbey. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Not all losses are created equal.

Case in point, Thursday night’s titanic volleyball showdown between Coupeville High School and archrival South Whidbey.

The Wolves, a scrappy 2B squad who didn’t get the audience they deserved thanks to a rescheduled football game pulling fans to a different part of town, left it all on the floor.

But the 1A Falcons, who have been playing superb ball of late, were able to fend off CHS, pulling out a 25-27, 25-12, 25-23, 25-18 non-conference win.

The loss drops Coupeville to 5-3, with all three of the team’s losses coming against schools from bigger classifications.

Two of those defeats have been to South Whidbey, which is 7-3 on the season.

While his squad wasn’t able to overcome the Falcon big hitters, CHS coach Cory Whitmore was pleased with the grit his players showed.

“Besides our second set, I thought we played really tough defensively and found ways to generate points when needed,” he said. “We just came up short with the amount of points generated.

“It is tough to be strong in the back row for so long, but I was proud of the girls for continuing to focus there.”

Coupeville got big performances from several players, with Grey Peabody notching a career-high 17 kills on a .500 hitting percentage.

“Madison McMillan was phenomenal on serve receive,” Whitmore said. “While Ryanne Knoblich really turned it up on her swing, taking aggressive swings, paying off to generate 13 kills.”

McMillan paced the Wolves with five service aces, while collecting a career-best 14 digs after coming into the night with 10 at the varsity level.

Coupeville has a couple of days to fine-tune things in practice before getting back into league play.

The Wolves, who sit atop the Northwest 2B/1B League with a 4-0 mark, host Concrete Tuesday, Oct. 11.

Thursday stats:

Alita Blouin — 12 digs, 4 assists
Mia Farris — 7 kills, 1 dig, 1 assist
Maddie Georges — 2 kills, 16 digs, 32 assists, 2 aces
Taygin Jump — 5 digs, 1 ace
Ryanne Knoblich — 13 kills, 4 digs
Katie Marti — 2 digs
Madison McMillan — 1 kill, 14 digs, 1 assist, 5 aces
Grey Peabody — 17 kills, 3 digs
Jill Prince — 4 kills
Lyla Stuurmans — 1 kill, 1 dig