A day after her 18th birthday, Taylor Brotemarkle sparkled in a season-opening win. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Balanced and brutal.
Getting something from everyone on the floor, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad opened a new season in fine form Tuesday night.
Mashing host South Whidbey 25-16, 25-14, 25-14, the Wolves claimed a key non-conference win and asserted themselves against a school from a bigger classification.
Now Coupeville, a 2B unit, will pivot from its victory against a 1A foe and head off to Yakima for this weekend’s SunDome Volleyball Festival.
That tourney, which plays out at the home of the state championships, will pit CHS against Connell, Stevenson, and White Swan in pool play Friday.
Tuesday’s tilt with the Falcons was a great set-up for the Wolves, who boast a roster deep in seniors looking to write a splendid final chapter to their prep volleyball careers.
“It was a great first road trip, and always good to get a win against our friends to the south,” said Coupeville coach Cory Whitmore.
“We showed up to this rivalry knowing what a win could do for our program, especially to set a tone for our season moving forward,” he added.
“Of course it is great to come out with a win, but the way in which we did it signals some exciting things to come.”
The Wolves spread out the offensive love, with senior setter Katie Marti flicking gorgeous passes to her snipers as they crashed the net.
Overall, Coupeville racked up an impressive .246 hitting percentage, with seven players combining to nail 29 kills.
“We passed well, but Katie calmly made great decisions, really running the offense off serve receive and just as strongly through transition,” Whitmore said. “Very impressed with her play tonight.”
Wolf junior thumper Teagan Calkins, AKA “The Red Dragon,” was particularly efficient, rifling seven winners with no errors off of 17 swings.
“She had kills on the left, in the middle, on the right and even just behind the setter, and so her ability to take care of the ball from so many locations was very impressive,” Whitmore said.
The Wolf coach praised his entire team, pointing to quality work from numerous spikers.
“Another versatile player was Lyla Stuurmans,” Whitmore said. “Not only did she have a number of very strong kills from a variety of locations, she was strong from the back row as well, passing a number of serves to get the ball to Katie.
“Shoutout to all of our passers tonight – Lyla, Mia Farris, Madison McMillan; Taylor Brotemarkle only had five reception errors the entire night, which hits a big goal for our season to be at or less than two per set.
“Chloe Marzocca also came in off the bench as a serving specialist and did a great job of getting them out-of-system, and even pulling in three aces to help us out.”
Chloe Marzocca is here to collect all the service aces.
With his players clicking, Whitmore got to step back a bit and enjoy the show.
“Honestly, I just kind of facilitated and let them take it the rest of the way,” he said.
“It was a complete group effort, each player carrying out their role. What excited me most about watching them perform was the calm leadership in which they worked together to get the job done.
“The girls were very clean tonight, committing a very limited number of unforced errors and if we keep that consistent in the games to follow, we can build both our offense and defense to be even more versatile.”
Stats:
Teagan Calkins — 7 kills, 1 block assist
Mia Farris — 8 kills, 3 digs, 5 aces
Jada Heaton — 3 kills
Katie Marti — 1 kill, 3 digs, 26 assists, 3 aces
Chloe Marzocca — 3 aces
Madison McMillan — 1 kill, 2 digs, 1 ace
Lyla Stuurmans — 8 kills, 1 dig, 2 assists, 1 block assist, 2 aces
Aby Wood — 1 kill, 2 digs
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