Coupeville Sports

Tiffany Briscoe unleashes a serve. (John Fisken photo)

They know how to stage a rally, that’s for sure.

Making visiting Lakewood fight for every point, the Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad got stronger as the match went on Tuesday. And while they eventually fell in three sets, the young Wolves gave coach Amy King a glimpse of good things to come.

The 25-12, 25-11, 26-24 loss dropped the JV squad to 1-2 on the season, matching the Wolf varsity.

Some early sluggishness cost Coupeville, but the Wolves were consistent in one aspect — serving — the entire evening.

Valen Trujillo continued her torrid output at the stripe, knocking in seven winners, one by ace, while Miranda Engle converted five, including her own ace.

At the net, Monica Vidoni swung the Fist O’ Death, powering home three kills. Khanei Williams brought her bench to its feet with an impressive block late in the third set.

It was a strong team-wide effort, King said, topped by McKenzie Bailey, who “played a well-rounded game, with a lot of good back row ups as well as a diving save in the first game.”

“Emily Coulter stepped in and did a great job,” King said. “Everyone contributed – Jae (LeVine) played back row and was very consistent, Tiffany (Briscoe) controlled her hits and serves much better than she has the past few games.”

“Miranda, Monica, Tiffany and Khanei played the net well, Lauren (Grove) and Merle (Fitzenhagen) got their hand on the ball several times and both Valen and McKenzie did a great job all-around,” she added. “It would have been nice to pull out that third game win, but I was happy with our play and am seeing improvements. We will get there.”

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Big-hitting Wolf junior Hailey Hammer (left) and one of her many fans. (John Fisken photo)

Capping a season-opening three-game home stand, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad put up an epic fight Tuesday night.

With Hailey Hammer spraying kills and Megan Oakes doling out assists to everyone in sight, the Wolves pushed their big-school opponent to four closely-fought sets before bowing. The 25-19, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20 loss dropped Coupeville to 1-2 overall, 0-2 in Cascade Conference play.

Next up for the squad is the first road match under new coach Kirsty Croghan, a short jaunt down the Island to face arch-rival South Whidbey Thursday, Sept. 19.

The Falcons are 2-1 overall, 1-1 in league play after knocking off Cedarcrest Tuesday.

Facing a tough foe in Lakewood, the Wolves refused to go down easy.

“The girls did great tonight,” Croghan said. “It was a fun and exciting match. I can’t wait for the rest of the season.”

Hammer notched nine kills to pace the Wolves, while the high-flying Madeline Strasburg collected six. Breeanna Messner put away five, while also going a perfect 10-of-10 at the service line, with two aces.

Oakes, who had a team-high 23 assists, was 16-of-19 on serves, with two aces, while Amanda Fabrizi was 10-of-12 with three aces. Fabrizi was Coupeville’s first line of defense, as well, as she went 28-of-31 on service returns.

Messner (12-of-12) and fellow senior Haley Sherman (7-of-7) were both flawless on returns. Junior Kacie Kiel topped Coupeville with seven digs.

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     Breeanna Messner was electric Saturday, pacing her squad to its first win of the season. (Aimee Bishop photo)

The student has become the master.

With recently-retired Coupeville High School volleyball coach Toni Crebbin working the PA system, the new woman in charge, Crebbin’s former player, Kirsty Croghan, notched her first win as a high school head coach Saturday.

Still basking in the glow of getting a hug from an adorable baby whose family had come to root her on, Croghan then turned her attention to her players and had to be excited with what she saw. Getting big contributions from all eight girls who saw floor time, the Wolf varsity drilled visiting Port Townsend 25-11, 25-17, 25-19.

“We still have some work to do, but it is exciting to get a win under our belts early on,” said a beaming Croghan afterwards.

Now 1-1 on the young season, Coupeville mixed strong setting (37 of 41 with 17 assists) with knee-buckling hits (Breeanna Messner tallied five kills, while Hailey Hammer tossed in three) to keep the Redskins on their heels.

The Wolves blew out to an 8-1 lead in the first set, sparked by a perfectly-timed double stuff from Hammer and leapin’ Kacie Kiel, one of five blocks by the CHS squad. Coupeville then punctuated the early run with teeth-rattling spikes from Messner (who hit with attitude all afternoon) and Hammer.

When they had the ball in their hands, the Wolves were virtually unstoppable, as Megan Oakes, Messner, Kiel and Amanda Fabrizi all pulled off long, successful runs at the service stripe. Overall, Coupeville converted a crisp 90% on its serves.

For the match, Oakes was 17 of 20 on serves, with four aces, while Kiel and Hammer each dropped three aces of their own.

The Wolves were equally as superb when receiving serve, with Messner leading the way with a flawless 10 of 10 performance. Kiel was 11 of 14 and Sydney Aparicio nailed 8 of 9.

The final two sets were a bit closer in score, but dominated almost equally by the high-flying Wolves. Allie Hanigan and Madeline Strasburg stepped up with big plays in the second set, while Hammer unleashed a wicked serve that exploded up and tattooed the face of a Port Townsend player.

Capping a strong all-around performance, Messner, one of the team’s senior leaders, was everywhere in the final set. She administered a string of stinging spikes, then elevated to stuff a Redskin shot at the last second before skipping away, face beaming as she was mobbed by her cheering teammates.

Even on points they didn’t win, the Wolves brought their A-game, as when Fabrizi laid out, collecting floor burns in a valiant effort to save a ball that no one else had a prayer of reaching.

More often than not, though, Coupeville’s shots hit pay dirt, with Strasburg unwinding on a mammoth blast to cap the scoring and set off the on-court celebration.

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Valen Trujillo, CHS volleyball star on the rise. (John Fisken photo)

Port Townsend had no answer for Valen Trujillo.

The Coupeville High School freshman reeled off point after point on her service Saturday, propelling the Wolf JV volleyball squad to a three-set win for its first victory of the young season.

What started as a romp turned into more of an evenly-fought struggle in the late going, but Coupeville persevered, pulling out a 25-6, 20-25, 25-21 win under the guidance of spiker guru Amy King.

Using her entire bench, the Wolf coach played mix and match and found inspiration wherever she turned.

It started with Trujillo, who broke open the first set.

After Miranda Engle blasted a point-scoring spike to break Port Townsend’s serve, Trujillo sparked Coupeville from a 1-1 tie to a 12-1 lead. She blasted a pair of aces and continually put the light-hitting Redskins on their heels with low, powerful serves that exploded into the waiting receiver.

She also got some help from her teammates, particularly during a long rally where Monica Vidoni made a brilliant lunging save on a ball that was inches away from dropping in and ending Trujillo’s run.

Vidoni and Engle brought the power all afternoon, as they went high to pound winners on a consistent basis.

Trujillo, when she wasn’t serving, froze Port Townsend in place with precision-placed tips of her own, while Jae LeVine, Emily Coulter and Lauren Grove provided maximum hustle.

Rallying after the emotional devastation of the first set, the Resdskins got back in the match with a strong second set, jumping out to an 18-6 run.

McKenzie Bailey blunted the run, firing off an impressive run of her own at the service stripe, but the Wolves couldn’t quite make it back all the way.

The deciding set was the closest of the afternoon, as both squads battled in a game of tug of war. There were eight ties, before Coupeville surged for the final time with Engle serving.

Using nice plays from Vidoni and Ally Roberts, Engle brought the Wolves back from 16-14 down and finished her service time with CHS holding a 20-14 lead.

From that point on, it was just a question of when and not if, as Vidoni unleashed a slam that shook the rafters and Tiffany Briscoe ended the match with a laser shot that caught the end line and set off a roar from her teammates and fans.

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