Emily Rains was a volleyball assassin Wednesday night. (Emma Leavitt photo)
Winner, winner, they get to sit on a ferry for the rest of the night.
At least the journey back from Friday Harbor is likely to be a joyous one Wednesday night for the Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad, after the Wolves claimed their first victory of the season.
Holding off the pesky Wolverines (and their board operator, who lost control of the score more than once) 26-24, 25-23, Alita Blouin’s spikers improve to 1-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 1-5 overall.
Coupeville’s second squad, which has come close almost every time out, gets a chance to make it back-to-back celebrations when it hosts Concrete Thursday in Cow Town.
The young Wolves will be riding a high when they take the floor against the Lions, having put together their most complete performance of the season in a rival’s gym.
CHS fought back from an early deficit Wednesday, rallying behind tip winners from Emma Leavitt and Cassandra Powers, before getting a big burst at the service stripe from Olivia Martin.
The fired-up Wolf libero peppered Friday Harbor, running off five straight points on her serve to stake the Wolves to a 15-11 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Not that the Wolverines didn’t make a serious play to stage their own comeback, finally forcing a tie at 21-21.
But a strong serve off the fingertips of Amira Anunciado, followed by Leavitt slashing a winner while soaring towards the net from the left side, was the answer.
As was a tooth-rattling ace from Powers at set point, the ball skidding away from the would-be receiver.
With the JV teams playing second, thanks to the need for a possible rush out the door to snag the last ferry out of town, action stayed hot ‘n furious in the second frame.
Friday Harbor surged ahead, Wolf freshman Emily Rains corrected things with a stellar run on her serve, and the teams battled through 10 ties.
Powers and Leavitt continued to come up with big-time plays, whether it was the former flicking deep balls that caught the back line, or the latter leaning way back to redirect a rapidly dropping ball for an emphatic kill.
Also coming up big was Scarlett Spencer, making a great save to turn a potential Friday Harbor point into a surprise Coupeville winner.
With the score knotted at 23-23, the Wolves dug deep, with Anunciado crushing a service ace followed by Powers ending things with one final ear-popping spike winner.
Coupeville got contributions from everyone on the roster, with Annabelle Cundiff and Addison Jacobson chipping in to the on-floor performance and Sabrina Judnich and Hannah Roberts bringing big emotional support from the bench.
Wednesday stats:
Amira Anunciado — 1 ace
Addison Jacobson — 1 kill, 1 dig
Emma Leavitt — 6 kills, 3 digs, 8 assists, 2 aces
Olivia Martin — 3 digs, 1 ace
Cassandra Powers — 7 kills, 6 assists, 5 aces
Emily Rains — 3 kills, 4 digs, 6 aces
Scarlett Spencer — 4 digs
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