Haylee Armstrong pounds a winner. (Danica Strong photo)
A rebuilding season ended a few days too early.
One year after a veteran-dominated squad went undefeated to the final day of the campaign and brought home a program-best 4th place state trophy, the Coupeville High School volleyball team was denied a playoff berth.
The young Wolves, who had only one senior this time around, fell 25-17, 25-18 to Friday Harbor in a tiebreaker played on a neutral court in La Conner Wednesday night.
With the victory, the Wolverines earn the #4 seed for 2B schools from District 1 to the six-team District 1/2 tourney, which runs Thursday through Saturday.
Coupeville finishes its first season under new head coach Scout Smith at 5-10-1.
The tiebreaker was required because CHS and Friday Harbor finished in a stalemate, both going 2-8 in league play.
La Conner (8-2), Mount Vernon Christian (8-2), and Orcas Island (5-5) are the other playoff-bound 2B schools, while NWL champ Darrington (8-0) and last-place finisher Concrete (0-8), both 1B schools, have already begun postseason play.
Wednesday’s tiebreaker marked the end of the road for Wolf senior Teagan Calkins. A key contributor to last year’s trophy winners, she led Coupeville in kills and digs as a senior.
Teagan Calkins was a rock for the Wolves all season. (Jackie Saia photo)
“We are extremely grateful to our lone senior,” said CHS coach Scout Smith. “Her unwavering dedication and commitment to our program is unmatched and she will be dearly missed.
“However, she has undoubtedly left her mark on this program and has left it better than she found it.”
While she was hoping for a different outcome Wednesday, and a chance to take her squad to the postseason, Smith liked the continued growth she witnessed as a new group of varsity players began to make an impact.
“Obviously not the ending we hoped for, but still a lot of positives to take from this season,” she said. “We will continue to build to come back as an even stronger team next year.
“Hats off to Friday Harbor. They too were against the ropes fighting for a spot in districts and showed great composure in the moment.
“We are excited to have so many players returning for next year,” Smith added. “We will focus on and build off of all the positives from this year.”
Wednesday stats:
Haylee Armstrong — 3 kills, 2 digs, 1 assist, 1 ace
Teagan Calkins — 4 kills, 2 assists
Ari Cunningham — 2 digs
Lexis Drake — 1 block assist
Adeline Maynes — 4 digs, 2 aces
Dakota Strong — 1 dig, 1 assist, 1 block assist
Tenley Stuurmans — 4 kills, 3 digs, 7 assists
Coupeville Sports 
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