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Archive for the ‘Volleyball’ Category

Servin’ up a whuppin’!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on September 6, 2018| 1 Comment »

Put a volleyball in the hands of Willow Vick (or twin sister Raven) and they will unleash Hell on Earth. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Don’t hurt ’em, Vick sisters! Whoops, too late.

Combining to win points on 19 serves, the twin terrors that are Raven and Willow Vick (friendly, artistic souls off the court, cold-blooded assassins between the lines) were on fire Thursday night.

Actually, so was everyone else in a Wolf uniform, as the Coupeville High School JV volleyball team mashed visiting Friday Harbor in a match where the word “rout” would be an understatement.

Kicking off their season with a 25-7, 25-9, 25-11 cakewalk, the Vick-powered wrecking crew left coach Chris Smith leaning back in his chair, contented grin on his face as his game plan came together flawlessly.

Coupeville controlled the match from the service stripe, with one player after another going off on sustained runs in which they peppered Friday Harbor receivers with balls which had no chance of ever coming back over the net.

Abby Mulholland, Maddie Vondrak, Ivy Leedy, Eryn Wood, Izzy Wells – didn’t matter who was spinning the ball and rocketing sweet, sweet missiles over the net. They all had the magic touch.

But it was the Vicks who put the final stamp on the night.

Willow ripped off four-straight aces at one point in the final set, with each serve kicking in a different direction (except for the one which tattooed a Friday Harbor player in the chest).

Her twin was even more lethal, as Raven went on a tear which netted 12 consecutive points as the Wolves cruised through the second set.

She got some help from Zoe Trujillo, who cranked a winner off a rival, unleashing a shot which just about tore the girl’s arm out of its socket.

Other than that brief rally, Friday Harbor could not get anything off of Raven Vick, however, as she dropped aces in front of them, then blasted aces to the deepest, darkest part of the court.

Picking up inspiration from her older teammate, Wood, a freshman making her high school debut, put together her own run of six straight points on serve.

Fellow frosh Mulholland bashed a serve off of a Friday Harbor player’s very-surprised face, while Lucy Sandahl got nasty with her own serves, launching bombs which dove and bit the court, spraying fragments everywhere.

With Coupeville’s service game firing on all cylinders, there weren’t a whole lot of sustained rallies, but buried in the midst of a series of one-off plays there was one majestic conflict.

After Jaimee Masters put the ball in play off of her serve midway through the second set, both teams pulled off unexpected last-ditch saves, keeping the ball in the air longer than at any other point in the match.

While Friday Harbor looked like they had a winner, Vondrak, roaring up the middle of the floor, stretched out, using every last inch of her frame to scrape the rapidly-descending ball off the floor.

Pushing it skyward, she not only kept the play alive, but popped it perfectly on to Trujillo’s fingertips, allowing the Wolf outside hitter to pound home a convincing winner.

With everything falling his way, Chris Smith was able to use all 14 players on his roster, with Kylie Van Velkinburgh, Abby Meyers, Anya Leavell and Noelle Daigneault also seeing solid floor time.

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We must break you!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on September 6, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Ashley Menges had five kills, five assists and five aces Thursday as Coupeville routed Friday Harbor. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They were back in black (uniforms), and bad to the bone.

Pounding the ball with glee, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad opened a new season Thursday in style, savaging visiting Friday Harbor in a display of cold precision mixed with electrifying shot-making.

The Wolves stormed to a huge lead, hit the snooze button for a brief moment in the middle of the match, then flicked things back into over-drive, romping to a 25-8, 25-19, 25-16 win.

“We came out confident and firing in the first set, then got a little too comfortable,” CHS coach Cory Whitmore said. “I was excited with how we responded, though.

“We got some good starting lessons and made steps in the right direction,” he added. “Going forward, we want to continue to put our best foot forward in every match. It was a good first outing.”

Coupeville, coming off its first trip to the state tourney in 13 years, lost seven seniors to graduation.

Two of those spikers, Hope Lodell and Mikayla Elfrank, were in the gym Thursday, with Lodell on the bench as a volunteer assistant coach, and Elfrank winning the hearts of the crowd with the public debut of her new baby daughter.

The mass exodus left the current Wolf roster with just four returning varsity players — Emma Smith, Ashley Menges, Scout Smith and Maya Toomey-Stout — but the new mix of players met with immediate success.

Younger players like Emma Mathusek, Hannah Davidson and Chelsea Prescott stepped into the starting lineup with ease, while Lucy Sandahl, Raven Vick, and Zoe Trujillo contributed strong cameos off the bench.

The Wolves snatched control of the match from the word go, riding six straight points off of serves from Scout Smith to claim an early 7-0 lead.

The junior co-captain smoked an ace off the last bit of paint in the far left corner, then zinged her very next serve right off of the chin of a rival player.

The sting was real, both to the Friday Harbor spiker who crouched, rubbing her chin and praying the ball would go the opposite way after that, and to her teammates, who deflated around her.

Another successful run at the service line, this time from Menges, broke the set wide open, while the rest of the Wolves took turns trying to outdo each other with plays primed for the highlight reel.

Toomey-Stout dropped a gorgeous winner that sliced off a Friday Harbor kneecap as it went by, while Emma Smith decided to see if she could reach up and touch the roof of the gym.

The senior standout, a graceful powerhouse who evokes memories of aunt Joli Smith, a Wolf volleyball legend, caught an elevator straight to the clouds on one play, catching the ball with just the tips of her fingers.

That was enough to re-direct it between two flailing foes for a winner.

A few plays later, she was back at it, this time pounding the snot out of the ball on a spike which ripped a chunk out of the gym floor as it skipped away for a winner.

The second set was basically a mirror image of the first, with Emma Smith once again mangling the hapless volleyball (and potentially giving PTSD to the Friday Harbor players).

Meanwhile Toomey-Stout spent her time hoppin’, hangin’ in mid air for an eternity, then unleashing lasers, while Davidson fired off a variety of aces while on serve.

Up 19-8, Coupeville had its only setback, and it was a self-inflicted one.

While Friday Harbor went on a 10-2 run to pull back within 21-18, it would be hard to point out anything the visitors did to achieve the momentary burst of success.

Pretty much, they kept the ball in play, and the Wolves mentally went out to get a snack, handing away some points.

After a timeout or two, and some gentle words of wisdom from Whitmore, however, CHS got its mojo right back.

Menges fired off a couple more winners from the service stripe, before Prescott popped in from the side, elevating and snapping off a perfectly-placed tip to close out the set.

In the moment, it was like the Coupeville sophomore was Moses and the Friday Harbor players were the Red Sea, as three went one way, three went the other way, and the ball splashed down right in the middle.

The final set, while semi-close in the early going, again allowed the Wolves to showcase their skill-set.

Mathusek, Prescott and Vick all had strong runs on serve, Emma Smith hit the ball so hard it may be permanently bruised, and then there was Toomey-Stout once again doing things that defy the laws of physics.

“The Gazelle,” while hanging in mid-air for a solid 90 seconds, had to reach far behind her head, where a wayward ball was trying to make a run for freedom.

Plan foiled, as Toomey-Stout snagged the orb, her arm flashing forward and driving the ball over the net with sweet vengeance.

I’d like to tell you Friday Harbor tried to make a play in response, but it’s closer to reality to report all six players rocked back on their heels, mouths agape, as the winner cracked the gym floor in half and exploded out the side door.

Meanwhile, Toomey-Stout is still hanging in mid-air and doesn’t appear to be coming down anytime soon.

As they celebrated their opening night win, the Wolves did so as their beaming coach nodded appreciatively as he surveyed a very-balanced stat sheet.

Emma Smith paced the Wolves with seven kills, while fellow senior captain Menges collected five kills, five assists and five service aces.

Scout Smith peppered Friday Harbor for six aces and nine assists, Toomey-Stout collected eight digs and five kills and Davidson pounded out five kills.

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Big spikes, big grins!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , on September 2, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Ashley Menges dances her way to success on the volleyball court. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Freshman Izzy Wells has eyes only for the ball.

Zoe Trujillo fires up her favorite serve, The Knee Buckler.

   Super mega fan Charlotte Young has had her morning caffeine, while Michael Davidson is simply tired of people asking for his autograph.

Raven Vick is an oasis of calm in the midst of a raging tempest.

Maya Toomey-Stout glides in for the bump.

One paparazzi shooting another, as Brian Vick gets his close-up.

Noelle Daigneault is already in mid-season form when it comes to nabbing photo ops, which impresses (l to r) Wells, Anya Leavell and Ivy Leedy.

Jumpin’ jamborees, the season has begun.

Coupeville High School volleyball hit the court Saturday at the Oak Harbor jamboree, with the Wolf varsity and JV squads seeing action against the host Wildcats and Cascade.

As the action unfolded, on the court and off, local paparazzi John Fisken clicked away, blowing the dust off his cameras as he also got ready for a new school year.

To see everything he shot, pop over to:

https://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/Coupeville-Volleyball-2018-2019/VB-2018-09-01-Jamboree-at-Oak-Harbor/

When you go, remember, purchases help fund scholarships for CHS senior student/athletes.

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“It was a great starting point!!”

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on September 2, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville spikers prepare to take the floor Saturday at the Oak Harbor jamboree. (Charlotte Young photo)

“It was a good first outing, finally playing against someone other than ourselves in scrimmages.”

With the regular-season opener coming up fast, Coupeville High School volleyball coach Cory Whitmore was thrilled to unleash his spikers Saturday at the Oak Harbor jamboree.

Facing a pair of big schools, the small 1A Wolves held their own, sweeping three sets from 4A Cascade and dropping three close sets to their 3A hosts.

“It was a great starting point to learn from, especially in our losses to Oak Harbor,” Whitmore said. “We were much more confident stepping on the court versus Cascade and played loose and ahead of their offense, working within our own identity, while with OH we struggled to play to our strengths and remain on the attack.

“As the morning and afternoon progressed, I was happy to see us make small improvements in various areas that will help us to shape our identity and stay strong to a game-plan,” he added.

“This group expects a lot of themselves and are cohesive, quick-learners – I’m excited to get back to practice for a couple days and then take on Friday Harbor at home.”

Coupeville, which went to the state tourney last season, jumps in to the new North Sound Conference while dealing with the loss of a talented group of seniors.

The Wolves return four varsity players — Emma Smith, Ashley Menges, Scout Smith and Maya Toomey-Stout — while also getting back Hannah Davidson after a brief detour to Cali.

As he meshes newcomers with veterans, Whitmore came away impressed with what the first-time varsity regulars are bringing to the floor.

“Emma Mathusek played very well as our libero,” he said. “She played a combination of relaxed and active and I was very impressed with her as she settled comfortably into her role and will be a fun player to watch.

“Zoe Trujillo was very adaptable today, playing both outside and right side hitter at various points during the day,” Whitmore added. “Chelsea Prescott did a fantastic job in her first venture playing back row at the varsity level.

“She remained poised, learning as the day went on and got more and more aggressive attacking the dig forward. I particularly enjoyed learning that her range of serving varies not only deep but placed short-court as well.”

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Wood a winner, on court and off!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , , on September 1, 2018| Leave a Comment »

CHS freshman Eryn Wood runs during volleyball practice. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

So many sports, so little time.

Coupeville High School freshman Eryn Wood springs from an athletic family, and the middle child of three has dabbled in numerous sports over the years.

As a middle school star, she impressed on the volleyball court and shone while competing in both track and field events.

Now, as a newcomer to the world of high school sports, Wood plans to flip track for tennis, giving longtime net coach Ken Stange another talented young player to take under his wing.

This fall, she’s ignoring the possible anguish of her soccer-obsessed family and staying with volleyball.

At least for the moment.

“I have not decided if I will play soccer next fall instead of volleyball,” Wood said. “I am definitely torn between soccer and volleyball because I’ve grown up around a family that worships soccer.

“But I also really enjoy playing volleyball as an outside hitter,” she added. “I enjoy how competitive and exhilarating it can be. I also love when you receive the perfect set to just kill the ball.”

Wood, whose goal for high school is to eventually earn an athletic letter (“I think that’s a good start, given that I’m a freshman”), considers herself a work in progress on the volleyball court.

Cue hard work and constant effort to refine her skills.

“I would say that I’m a good passer and hitter,” Wood said. “Although this is a very crucial part of the game and it really helps to have this as a strong area, serving is definitely one of my weaknesses.”

When she’s away from practices and games, the young Wolf enjoys a wide range of leisure activities.

“I really enjoy reading,” Wood said. “I think it’s just a fun way to disconnect from reality and get your mind off of whatever is stressing you out.

“I also LOVE to travel. I love to experience new cultures and see new places.”

Whether she’s pounding the ball on the court or off exploring, Wood is part of a tight-knit family, and she hails her parents, Robert and Jill, as well as older brother James and lil’ sis Aby, for the joy they bring to her life.

Even when she’s not playing soccer.

“My dad is a soccer coach, so I’m pretty sure he wants me to play soccer,” Wood said. “But he also encourages me to do something different and play volleyball.

“My mom just tells me that she will support me no matter what.”

Her appreciation for family support also carries over to her siblings.

“My brother James, a junior, knows everyone on the volleyball and soccer team,” Wood said. “So he just gives me the insider information.

“I love my sister Aby; it can be tough sometimes having a little sister with such an incredible personality but she really just keeps me on my toes and she supports me just as much.”

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