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Archive for the ‘Volleyball’ Category

Another town? Another win!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on September 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   An injury kept Maddie Vondrak on the bench Thursday, but she was invaluable as a sideline reporter. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The road warriors continue to rock.

Half the team has yet to play a high school volleyball match at home, but Coupeville’s JV spikers haven’t let unfamiliar courts throw off their game.

After running host North Mason off the floor to a 25-15, 25-14, 25-27 tune Thursday, the Wolf young guns are a crisp 3-0 on the season.

And now, finally, their new players will get a chance to play in front of their home fans for the first time, when Coupeville hosts Klahowya next Tuesday, Sept. 26.

While the trek to the wilds of Belfair (72.6 miles one way) made for a long day, CHS pulled things together quickly against their 2A opponents.

“The JV played well today after enduring the long trip to North Mason,” said Wolf coach Chris Smith. “Our bus legs had us playing a little slow out of the gate but we mustered up the energy.”

Raven Vick put the punctuation mark on both of the first two sets, ending the first with a service ace and the second with an emphatic kill.

Camped on the bench for a night with an ankle injury, Maddie Vondrak put in time as an unpaid assistant coach, and she was a treasure trove of info.

Documenting the Wolves high points (of which there were many), she hailed Chelsea Prescott, Maya Toomey-Stout and Zoe Trujillo for “aggressive swings” and Lucy Sandahl for “awesome sets and passes.”

Coupeville passed the ball strongly all night, with Emma Mathusek, Vick and Trujillo leading the way.

The Wolves stayed on the attack in the second set, with Sandahl firing multiple aces to key the offense.

Prescott was a constant threat, praised by Vondrak for “always reading, looking for spots when serving/hitting, reaching when hitting and nice covering.”

Her other fellow freshmen were on top of their game, as well, with Kylie Chernikoff delivering “an awesome hit on the 17th point,” while Savannah Smith had “good reads and transitions.”

With the win in hand for Coupeville, the two teams opted to play a largely meaningless third set, then promptly went to war whether it mattered or not.

Vondrak gushed over her teammates hustle and refusal to let plays die, even when the ball was seemingly dead in the net.

Whether it was Mathusek’s “awesome down-balls,” Sandahl dealing with “tricky tips,” or Chernikoff and Prescott spraying service aces, everyone chipped in on the victory.

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Stats for everyone (not named Maya)!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on September 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Maya “I have no use for your stinkin’ stats!!” Toomey-Stout. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The Gazelle is too fast for the stat-keepers.

We know super sophomore Maya Toomey-Stout has been tearing up the volleyball court for Coupeville High School this fall — she torched Chimacum for five service aces alone.

But she’s nowhere to be seen when you look at the CHS stat sheet on MaxPreps, which is a surprising (and probably completely accidental) oversight.

To make up for that, she gets to grace our first volleyball stats story with her picture.

We know you exist, Maya, even if MaxPreps tries to insist otherwise.

Free The Gazelle!

Or at least free her stats…

Anyway, as the Coupeville spikers head off to North Mason today for a non-conference match, the fourth straight road trip for the Wolves, here’s a look at up-to-the-moment stats.

Stats through 9/20 (three matches):

Sets Played:

Payton Aparicio 9
Kyla Briscoe 9
Hope Lodell 9
Katrina McGranahan 9
Ashley Menges 9
Emma Smith 9
Scout Smith 9
Mikayla Elfrank 8
Allison Wenzel 7
Lauren Rose 6

Kills:

McGranahan 11
Briscoe 10
Aparicio 9
Elfrank 9
E. Smith 9
S. Smith 5

Kill Percentage:

McGranahan 52.4
Aparicio 47.4
Elfrank 39.1
E. Smith 37.5
Briscoe 34.5
S. Smith 23.8

Hitting Percentage:

McGranahan .476
Aparicio .474
E. Smith .208
Briscoe .172
Elfrank .087

Digs:

Lodell 9
Briscoe 7
Aparicio 6
Rose 3
Elfrank 2
McGranahan 2
Menges 1
E. Smith 1
Wenzel 1

Blocks:

Elfrank 7
McGranahan 4
E. Smith 2
S. Smith 1

Service Returns:

Aparicio 32
Lodell 26
Briscoe 20
Menges 1
McGranahan 1
E. Smith 1
S. Smith 1
Wenzel 1

Assists:

Menges 24
Rose 21
S. Smith 7
Elfrank 1

Serving Percentage:

McGranahan 96.6
Rose 95.7
Aparicio 91.7
Briscoe 88.9
Menges 81.1
S. Smith 77.8
Lodell 70.6
Wenzel 66.7

Service Points:

Aparicio 37
Menges 25
McGranahan 21
Rose 15
Lodell 10
S. Smith 7
Briscoe 5
Wenzel 4

Service Aces:

Menges 15
Aparicio 14
Lodell 8
McGranahan 5
Rose 5
Briscoe 3
S. Smith 3
Wenzel 2

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Let the spikes fly!!

Posted in Middle School, Volleyball, tagged , , , , on September 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Coupeville Middle School volleyball coach Casie Greve surveys the action Wednesday in Sequim. (Kimberly Bepler photos)

The Wolf 7th graders are ready to make their debut.

The 8th graders are back for another go-round.

“Here we go, Wolves! Here we go!!”

Catch a rising star. (Amanda Rogers photo)

The season has begun, in a hail of spikes, sets and hours spent on a bus.

The Coupeville Middle School volleyball squads rambled down to Sequim Wednesday, where they put up a strong fight before falling to a much-bigger rival.

Their hosts feed a 2A high school, something the Wolves, who will one day play for a tiny 1A high school, will face often this year.

Even without the advantage of numbers, and with their legs possibly affected by bus lag, the Wolves were scrappers.

The 8th grade squad won the first set 25-23, before being nipped in sets two and three, while the CMS 7th graders lost in straight sets.

Both teams had at least one player go off on long, successful runs at the service stripe, as well.

Lucy Tenore opened the 7th grade match with a run of eight straight points, while Kylie Van Velkinburgh had a similar streak during the 8th grade clash.

After another road trip Monday, Sept. 25 — this one a much-shorter jump over to Port Townsend — CMS makes its home debut Thursday, Sept. 28 against Stevens.

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Many tacos, some wins!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , , on September 20, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Raven Vick was enjoying her post-game meal until the paparazzi got all up in her business. (Maria Reyes photo)

The road to perfection hit a brief snag.

After sweeping its first two matches this season, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad hit a pothole on Taco Tuesday.

Playing at Bellevue Christian, home of the most revered food truck in all of high school sports, the Wolves enjoyed tasty treats, but endured a sour finish on the floor.

Falling 25-19, 25-22, 25-18 in a non-conference tussle with the always-sharp Vikings, the Wolves saw their record slip to 2-1.

The loss capped what was otherwise a strong evening for CHS, as it swept to C-Team and JV victories earlier.

Coupeville, which has yet to play at home this season, heads to North Mason Thursday for a match-up with a strong 2A squad.

Only then, after four matches, plus prior trips to Langley and Yakima for tourney play, will the Wolves finally visit their own gym Sept. 26.

That night Klahowya comes to Whidbey for a major Olympic League showdown.

While the Wolves couldn’t get the win Tuesday, it wasn’t for lack of effort.

“I’m pleased with some things that I saw us do, that we may not have a year ago or even a couple weeks ago,” said CHS coach Cory Whitmore. “I’m proud of our fight tonight.

“The scores may not show just how close each set was, but we left the gym feeling like we left it all out there and really stayed competitive with them.”

Bellevue Christian boasts a very strong offense, and Coupeville attacked it relentlessly, before falling to some big hitters.

“We went at their block instead of avoiding it and playing timid,” Whitmore said. “Bellevue Christian was required to earn the points they put on the board; we battled and at this early point in the season, that’s what I want to see.

“We’ll go back to watch some film and look for areas of improvement and hopefully get another chance to play them later in the post-season.”

Wolf junior Ashley Menges was a key, with six service aces and nine assists.

“Ashley did a great job of staying aggressive from the service line and brought us within striking distance in the second game,” Whitmore said.

With Menges and Lauren Rose (10 assists) setting things up, Coupeville’s power players were able to spray kills.

Junior Emma Smith peppered the Vikings with five, while Mikayla Elfrank and Kyla Briscoe chipped in with four apiece.

“Emma did a great job in the middle of playing faster than the ball, both as an attacker and a blocker,” Whitmore said. “I’m proud of how fast she played tonight.”

Hope Lodell (six digs, two aces), Briscoe (six digs) and Payton Aparicio (five digs, two aces) filled out the stat sheet, while Coupeville collected eight team blocks.

“Our blocking is starting to become a strong part of our game,” Whitmore said.

Young guns roll:

Coupeville’s JV and C-Team swept to victories in the early matches, with both Wolf squads running their records to 2-0 on the young season.

After dropping the opening set, the C-Team roared back to take the next two 25-22, 25-16.

“They played solid, really commanding the last two sets,” said Wolf JV coach Chris Smith.

In the night’s second tilt, Coupeville’s JV swept all three sets.

“We are continuing to work on playing hard and smart,” Smith said. “Communication and tenacious team defense.

“Coach Whitmore and I were very proud of what we saw.”

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Epic trip, epic results!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on September 17, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Emma Smith (13) has a brief moment of rest in between the six matches she and her Wolf volleyball teammates played Friday. (Photo courtesy Konni Smith)

   The Wolves hit the floor at the 32-team SunDome Volleyball Festival. (Cory Whitmore photo)

Now they know.

Getting a first-hand look at what a trip to the state tourney would look and feel like, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad invaded Yakima and came away rich with victories and valuable experience.

The Wolves left the Island Thursday afternoon and returned to their home gym at 2:30 AM Saturday, having won four of six matches in between at the SunDome Volleyball Festival.

The event, played on the very same courts which host the 1A state tourney, attracted 32 teams from four classifications (2B, 1B, 1A, 2A) for Friday’s battle royale.

Coupeville finished second in its four-team pool, then jumped into bracket play and claimed second again, this time after facing off with the other #2 seeds.

And they did that all in the middle of a madhouse.

“The team (myself included) has been very excited about this tournament for a long time,” said CHS coach Cory Whitmore. “I’m very happy with the challenges that we faced and worked through.

“I was impressed with our ability to settle into our game in a very large and distracting environment,” he added. “There were eight courts playing at once, loud fans, bright lights up in high ceilings, but this did not seem to effect the girls to a great degree.

“Down the stretch, it will be very valuable to have this experience under our belts.”

Coupeville took 10 of its 11 varsity players (Allison Wenzel was auditioning for a symphony) and six top JV spikers on the trip, giving a large group of Wolves a chance to enjoy the big time.

“The whole experience was meant to be used as a team-bonding experience, a competitive challenge and a test of our ability to travel and perform,” Whitmore said.

The Wolves opened pool play with a hard-fought loss to powerful La Salle, falling 25-19, 25-10, then immediately found their groove.

After thrashing Lyle-Wishram 25-8, 25-8, Coupeville belted Kittitas — which had split sets with La Salle — 25-23, 25-18 to clinch second place.

“I was very pleased to see us get back to an aggressive and consistent play,” Whitmore said. “Our servers were very strong and aggressive and then our hitting approaches were bigger, resulting in more dynamic attacks.”

Three matches in and just at the halfway point of their day, the Wolves grabbed a quick bite before jumping into bracket play, this time with longer matches.

While pool play featured two-set matches, bracket play was a best two-of-three format.

Rolling at that point, Coupeville clouted 2A Selah’s JV team 25-22, 18-25, 15-8, then whomped on Overlake (“a very tough team with very strong hitters”) 25-22, 25-18 to advance to the championship match in its bracket.

In the title tilt they faced off with Brewster, which has advanced to state five of the past seven years, and tired bodies finally betrayed the Wolves as they lost in straight sets.

“We played well, but were always chasing a very good Bears team,” Whitmore said. “We ran out of attacking steam.

“I was happy to see our passing and defense remain consistent, but, without a tough serve, Brewster was able to run their offense very effectively.”

As he reflected on the tourney and his team’s success, Coupeville’s volleyball guru exuded a satisfied glow.

He hailed Payton Aparicio, Katrina McGranahan, Lauren Rose, Ashley Menges, Hope Lodell and Maya Toomey-Stout for doing “a phenomenal job from the service line” all tourney.

“They served tough and to specific spots, taking out hitters and their effectiveness.”

Once the ball was in play, fellow Wolves like Mikayla Elfrank, Scout Smith, Kyla Briscoe and Emma Smith “were able to put up a solid block, slowing their attack and allowing our back row to turn defense into offense.”

Being able to bring top-level play even when it was on its sixth match of the day, is a huge positive for a Coupeville squad which will take its 2-0 regular season record back into play Tuesday at Bellevue Christian.

“I was very happy to see how we performed at the end of a long day, in a new environment and deep on the road,” Whitmore said. “It is a testament to this team’s tenacity and resilience.”

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