Amanda Fabrizi (John Fisken photo)
I’m going to call it now. Shot of the year.
Scrambling towards the gym doors, her back to the net, Coupeville High School senior Amanda Fabrizi was just trying to catch up to a ball headed in the wrong direction Thursday night.
Her team’s second hit had been an awkward, hurried shot and the ball was screaming towards no-man’s land.
In that instant, Fabrizi, who spent most of the night collecting floor burns over 98% of her body with fearless dives, not only caught up with the ball, she launched a precision moon shot over her shoulder.
That it then flew with deadly accuracy not just over the net, but perfectly dropped in between two startled Granite Falls players for a Wolf point, was jaw-dropping.
Nailing all the big moments, but unable to string enough of them together, the Wolves fell 27-25, 25-16, 25-19 to the visiting Tigers. But it wasn’t for a lack of effort or heroics.
“The girls played well tonight. They should be proud of themselves,” said Coupeville coach Kirsty Croghan. “Many people said it was the best they have seen them play.”
Whether it was Fabrizi sacrificing her body for team glory or Hailey Hammer lighting up at the surprise appearance of former teammate Bessie Walstad, who traveled from Oregon to see her play, then slamming kill after kill to mark the occasion, the Wolves were electrifying for good stretches.
Consistency, though, was a killer, for a team that dropped to 1-9 overall, 0-9 in Cascade Conference play.
Coupeville was twice one point away from taking the opening set, only to have Granite Falls escape both times.
The Wolves later roared out to a 10-2 lead in the third set, punctuated by powerhouse spikes from Haley Sherman and Breeanna Messner and a strong run at the service stripe from Hammer.
The junior standout finished a crisp 14 of 15 on serves, with three aces, while also racking up nine kills. Messner (10 of 11 on serves, 28 of 28 on return of serve), Fabrizi (17 of 21 on returns, 27 of 31 on defense) and Sherman (four blocks, 7 of 7 on serves) also threw up strong stat lines.
Despite being done in the minimum amount of sets, it was a close match, with Coupeville never being an easy push-over.
Along with Fabrizi’s miracle shot, the third set opening surge included a dazzling play where Messner hit the floor to save what seemed like a sure kill, setting up Sherman who pasted the ball off the last speck of paint on the back line for a Wolf winner.
While Fabrizi’s heroics will linger, the best shot of the night might actually have been one that didn’t count.
In the middle of a heated rally, a rouge tennis boll rolled onto Coupeville’s side of the court, almost tripping up several players.
Picking up the wayward ball, Wolf setter Megan Oakes whirled and whipped it like a frozen rope to Aimee Bishop, who snatched it out of the air. A brief pause, and then everything went back to normal like it had never happened in the first place.
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