Chelsea Prescott, rampaging spiker, lethal server and destroyer of noses. (John Fisken photos)
CMS 7th grader Jaelyn Crebbin, daughter of former Wolf volleyball guru Toni Crebbin, played stellar defense Monday in a straight-sets win.
The message has been sent loud and clear — enter Cow Town at your own risk.
By the time the Coupeville Middle School spikers were done blistering visiting Port Townsend Monday, the Wolves had a pair of straight-set wins and a huge psychological edge over one of their closest competitors.
The punctuation on the rout came courtesy Chelsea Prescott’s lethal serving arm, which inadvertently left half the gym dotted in blood.
And while the destruction was unintended, as the CMS 8th grader crushed a serve off of the face of a hapless rival by accident, the image will linger long after Athletic Director Willie Smith finished posing as Mr. Clean to mop up blood spatters.
Like a runaway volleyball exploding off of a delicate nose, the day’s matches were quick, brutal and liable to mentally scar the Port Townsend players for years.
The Wolf 7th graders rolled to a 25-17, 25-12, 25-11 win, then turned the court over to the 8th graders, who upped the ante, cruising 25-5, 25-20, 25-18.
Both CMS squads are a flawless 2-0 heading into their first road match, which comes Thursday when Coupeville heads to Stevens.
Kicking things off hot, the 7th graders rolled out to a 5-0 lead in the first set behind the pinpoint serves of Kylie Van Velkinburgh and never looked back.
At an age where getting the serve over the net is priority one, the Wolf ace, smoking the ball left-handed, is already miles ahead of that, aiming for winners instead.
If an imaginary foot fault hadn’t derailed her, Van Velkinburgh might have pulled off the full Lauren Rose (the CHS junior rolled off 20 straight points on serve earlier this season in a high school match) and never given Port Townsend a chance.
Not that the visitors had much luck, as Samantha Streitler moved into the spotlight for the Wolves, dropping a tip for a sweet winner before ripping off several nice serves of her own.
Kiara Contreras topped both of her teammates, however, with a bullet of a serve that scattered Port Townsend players like so many bowling pins.
Utilizing a deep, talented bench, CMS ran in completely different units in all three sets, with numerous players getting a chance to sparkle.
After big hits from Chloe LaRue in the first, the second set delivered Jaelynn Crebbin (a great save while dangerously close to the net), Alexis Reimers (two winners) and the sniper serves of Izzy Wells, Abby Mulholland and Anya Leavell.
Set three featured Angelina Gebhard (a nasty ace) and Noelle Daigneault moving to the forefront.
Daigneault had the shot of the match, spinning a winner over the net even as the backlash knocked her off her feet.
Skidding to a halt after sliding several feet, she looked upwards in wonder at what she had wrought, even as her teammates mobbed her.
The nightcap was a case of total domination, even before Prescott started randomly exploding people’s faces.
Port Townsend had no answer for big-hitting Morgan Pease, never-say-die Genna Wright or Prescott, always fond of using the angles with her slice ‘n dice spikes.
Savannah Smith was on point at the service stripe, as always, while Jaimee Masters put the match away early with a nine-point explosion in which none of Port Townsend’s returns made it back over the net.
