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Positives, not negatives!!

Posted in Boys Tennis, tagged , , , , on September 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Nick Etzell upended a big school foe Wednesday by disrupting his playing style. (John Fisken photo)

   Nick Etzell upended a big school foe Wednesday by disrupting his playing style. (John Fisken photo)

While the Coupeville High School boys’ tennis squad slid to its fourth consecutive loss Wednesday, falling 5-2 at Kingston, the loss to a large 2A school wasn’t without its bright moments.

Three things in particular stood out.

Freshman Mason Grove made his varsity debut, having shot up the singles ladder at the last practice, and fought hard through a close match.

Going him one better were the #3 doubles duo of Jimmy Myers and Grey Rische, who rebounded from a set down to win a thriller and remain the only unbeaten players on the Wolf roster.

While Coupeville is 0-4, having faced three 2A schools and a 1A private school power, the senior duo is a spotless 4-0 in their first go-round as partners.

Topping the afternoon was a huge breakthrough for #1 singles player Nick Etzell, who used his wiles to outfox his foe and grab his first win at the top of the roster.

“Nick was a man possessed today,” said CHS tennis coach Ken Stange. “He played a more experienced opponent, but he employed a smart strategy.

“He took all the pace off the ball, hitting shots that were high and deep. His opponent needed balls that were hit hard,” he added. “I don’t know if I’ve ever had a player stay so true to a plan of attack.”

The win, and the way it was achieved, reinforced why Stange thinks so highly of his junior ace.

“To call him coachable would be a major understatement,” he said. “I’m very proud of his effort today, and every day.”

Complete results:

Varsity:

1st singles — Nick Etzell won 7-5, 6-4

2nd singles — Nile Lockwood lost 6-0, 6-2

3rd singles — Mason Grove lost 6-2, 7-5

1st doubles — Joseph Wedekind/John McClarin lost 6-0, 6-2

2nd doubles — William Nelson/Joey Lippo lost 6-0, 6-7, 6-2

3rd doubles — Grey Rische/Jimmy Myers won 4-6, 6-1, 6-4

4th doubles — Aiden Crimmins/Jakobi Baumann lost 6-4, 6-3

JV:

5th doubles — Jaschon Baumann/Tiger Johnson lost 8-3

6th doubles — Nick Blalock/Koby Schreiber lost 8-3

7th doubles — Elliot Johnson/Zach Ginnings lost 8-1

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Feel the intensity! Taste the action!!

Posted in Boys Tennis, Girls Soccer, Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on September 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Mallory Kortuem

   Mallory Kortuem (right) sacrifices her noggin for the good of her team. (John Fisken photos)

John McClarin

John McClarin plays doubles, with his own shadow making a superb partner.

Lindsey Roberts

   Lindsey Roberts is not so sure about this soccer ball’s ability to levitate in mid-air.

Nick Etzell

Nick Etzell shows off a laser-like focus at the net.

Nile Lockwood (John Fisken photos)

On the attack, it’s Nile Lockwood, destroyer of worlds.

Kalia

   “The goal’s that way! THAT WAY!!” Sage Renninger (back) directs Kalia Littlejohn as she heads off on the attack.

William Nelson

William Nelson dances with his racket.

Mia Littlejohn

   “All your goals are mine, fool!!” Mia Littlejohn, caught in the midst of a four-goal explosion Tuesday vs. Chimacum.

Tis the season to snap pics.

Bouncing from court to field and back again, wanderin’ photographer John Fisken went crazy snapping pix of Coupeville’s fall sports teams in action over the past two days.

The photos above, a medley of eye-catching moments, are courtesy him and showcase girls’ soccer and boys’ tennis.

To see more of his work (purchases fund college scholarships for CHS student/athletes!) pop over to:

Soccer — http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/GS-20160913-Coupeville-vs-Chim/

Tennis — http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/BT-20160912-Coupeville-vs-Sequ/

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Doubles duos delight!!

Posted in Boys Tennis, tagged , , , , on September 12, 2016| Leave a Comment »

(John Fisken photo)

   Joey “Aces” Lippo lived up to his nickname, closing out Monday’s doubles win with partner William Nelson by slamming an ace past a Sequim rival. (John Fisken photo)

Monday afternoon offered a bit of everything for tennis fans.

A sun-splashed day that felt more like mid-summer than mid-September. Visiting royalty. Even a win for the Wolves.

Just not the right Wolves.

Despite putting up a strong fight against much-bigger competition, the Coupeville netters eventually fell 5-2 to visiting Sequim in a non-conference tilt.

Now 0-3 on the young season, the Whidbey Island version of the Wolves are learning under fire, having faced a pair of 2A schools and a private school power.

With Sequim, Coupeville faced off with a tennis squad coached by Mark Textor.

Along for the trip, his sister Phyllis, a Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Famer who spent 25 years working in the Coupeville school district and did just about every job possible — teacher, Principal, Athletic Director, volleyball and basketball coach to name a few.

It was a reunion, as she was the administrator who hired CHS tennis coach Ken Stange, now in his 11th year at the helm of the Wolf net programs.

His current boys squad didn’t go down without a fight, taking two matches outright while coming dangerously close to winning another two.

The titanic doubles duo of Will “The Thrill” Nelson and Joey “Aces” Lippo remained flawless on the season, controlling the net and slicin’ ‘n dicin’ a third straight foe in the match of the afternoon.

Hot on their heels was Grey Rische and Jimmy Myers, who improved to 3-0 as partners, dispatching their foes in straight sets with a mix of graceful shots (Rische) and booming, chest-flexing winners (Myers).

Two other matches came close to tipping Coupeville’s way, as the team’s top two singles players put up strong fights.

Nile Lockwood took the opening set in his match at second singles, but couldn’t hold off a late comeback and fell in a third-set tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, top singles ace Nick Etzell bounced back after a rough first set to pin his opponent down and thoroughly fluster him in a rough-and-tumble second set.

Up 5-1 in a second set tiebreaker, the Wolf junior hit a rough patch with his serve, however, allowing his Sequim counterpart to slip away.

Both Lockwood and Etzell will get another crack at sealing the deal, as Coupeville travels to Sequim Oct. 11 for a rematch.

Complete Monday results:

Varsity:

1st singles — Nick Etzell lost to Steve Prorok 6-1, 7-6(9-7)

2nd singles — Nile Lockwood lost to Dillon Liebert 5-7, 6-1, 10-7

3rd singles — Jakobi Baumann lost to Raymond Lamb 6-2, 6-1

1st doubles — Joseph Wedekind/John McClarin lost to Blake Wiker/Justin Porter 6-0, 6-2

2nd doubles — William Nelson/Joey Lippo beat Thomas Hughes/Damon Little 6-3, 6-1

3rd doubles — Jimmy Myers/Grey Rische beat Tim Porter/Paul Jacobsen 7-5, 6-4

4th doubles — Aiden Crimmins/Nick Blalock lost to Liam Payne/Brenton Barnes 6-2, 7-5

JV:

5th doubles — Mason Grove/Tiger Johnson beat Jake Ryan/Sam Frymeyer 6-4

6th doubles — Jaschon Baumann/Koby Schreiber lost to Liam Bratten/Aaron Jackson 6-2

7th doubles — Elliot Johnson/Grove beat Xavier Conway/Ben Wright 6-3

8th doubles — Lockwood/T. Johnson beat Nick D’Amico/Jonathan Hertz 6-1

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To the final match, to the final point!!

Posted in Boys Tennis, tagged , , , , on September 10, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Jakobi Baumann, seen here during a practice, battled strongly Friday in a loss. (John Fisken photo)

   Jakobi Baumann, seen here during a practice, battled strongly Friday in a loss. (John Fisken photo)

Call them the Comeback Kids.

The Coupeville High School boys’ tennis squad pulled off a pair of stunning rallies Friday to keep the private school boys on their toes.

While the come-from-behind wins at second and third doubles weren’t quite enough to tip the match in the Wolves favor — host Overlake slipped away with a razor-thin 3-2 win in Redmond — it proved Coupeville won’t go down easy.

Now 0-2 on the young season, after playing a large 2A school and a private school powerhouse, both on the road, the Wolves return home Monday.

Coupeville hosts another 2A school, Sequim (1-1), with play tipping at 3:30.

Friday the Wolves found themselves in a hole early, but came roaring back from a set down in two of their doubles matches to put a positive glow on the afternoon.

Grey Rische and Jimmy Myers stayed on the court the longest, pulling out a hard-fought win in a third-set tiebreaker.

“Jimmy and Grey played a closely-contested match,” said CHS coach Ken Stange. “When they started their final tiebreaker, they were the last match on the court.

“Calm Grey and fiery Jimmy. It works fabulously!”

The biggest comeback though might have happened at second doubles, where juniors William Nelson and Joey Lippo dropped the first set 6-2.

After surging back to take the second set by the same score, they seemed at a dead-end, trailing 7-1 in a third-set tiebreaker played to 10.

Instead, the duo found their mojo in a snap, firing off nine straight points to shock the world with a 10-7 triumph.

In a match with just five varsity battles, being swept in the singles slots made life tough for the Wolves.

While he would have liked to have seen a different result on the score cards, Stange was pleased with the effort of his solo warriors.

“It was a good match,” he said. “Our singles guys were over-matched, but Nick (Etzell) played quite well.

“He employed his game plan the whole way through,” Stange added. “He’s getting better every day.”

Complete results:

Varsity:

1st singles — Nick Etzell lost to Reyhan Virani 6-2, 6-3

2nd singles — Nile Lockwood lost to Charlie Hill 6-0, 6-0

1st doubles — Joseph Wedekind/John McClarin lost to Quinn Clelland/Nachiket Karmarkar 6-3, 6-4

2nd doubles — Joey Lippo/William Nelson beat Zander Gillett/Kellen Foster 2-6, 6-2, 10-7

3rd doubles — Grey Rische/Jimmy Myers beat Gaurav Nene/Lucas Gavrila 3-6, 6-4, 10-6

JV:

4th doubles — Aiden Crimmins/Nick Blalock lost to Chris Chen/Matt Heimbigner 6-3

5th doubles — Mason Grove/Jakobi Baumann lost to John Sinwell/Zach Natha 6-3

6th doubles — Koby Schreiber/Jaschon Baumann lost to Evan Lauer/Josup Cho 6-1

7th doubles — Tiger Johnson/Elliot Johnson lost to Weston Kennedy/Sam Hirsch 6-4

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No quit! Ever!!

Posted in Boys Tennis, tagged , , , , on September 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Grey Rische teamed with doubled partner Jimmy Myers for a straight sets win Tuesday at Port Angeles. (John Fisken photo)

   Grey Rische teamed with doubles partner Jimmy Myers for a straight sets win Tuesday at Port Angeles. (John Fisken photo)

Not all losses are equal.

While the final tally of Tuesday’s season-opening boys’ tennis match in Port Angeles didn’t come out Coupeville’s way — the Wolves fell 4-3 to a much-larger school — coach Ken Stange exited fairly satisfied.

“Close match, though,” he said. “Our doubles teams were simply dominant. Today’s match will go a long way toward prepping us for the league matches.”

Coupeville, the defending 1A Olympic League champs, is playing six of its eight non-conference matches this season against 2A schools.

While going up against teams like the Roughriders won’t be easy, the experience should help prepare the Wolves for their showdown with league rivals Klahowya and Chimacum.

CHS won three of four doubles matches Tuesday, with #2 duo William Nelson and Joey Lippo rolling to a 6-0, 6-0 win in less than a half hour of court time.

Port Angeles rallied to the win with stellar play in singles, sweeping all three matches.

The best battle of the day came at first singles, where Wolf Nick Etzell, playing through an injury, managed to stretch his match to a full three sets before running out of steam.

“He put up a heck of a fight on a bad wheel,” Stange said.

Complete results:

Varsity:

1st singles — Nick Etzell lost 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-0
2nd singles — Aiden Crimmins lost 6-1, 6-2
3rd singles — Nick Blalock lost 6-0, 6-1

1st doubles — Joseph Wedekind/John McClarin won 6-3, 6-4
2nd doubles — William Nelson/Joey Lippo won 6-0, 6-0
3rd doubles — Grey Rische/Jimmy Myers won 6-3, 6-1
4th doubles — Mason Grove/Tiger Johnson lost 6-4, 6-1

JV:

5th doubles — Jaschon Baumann/Koby Schreiber lost 6-2, 6-0

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