Tenley Stuurmans pulls off some magic at the net. (Julie Wheat photo)
It was a day. A very, very full day.
For a fairly young, still jelling team like the 2025 Coupeville High School volleyball squad, Wednesday offered a chance to experience growth, perseverance, and the unique challenges offered by living on an island.
Traveling back and forth to the hinterlands of Forks — for a non-conference match shoved forward two days at the last second — the Wolves overcame a series of bumps in the road.
First, they discovered there would be no JV match only after arriving.
Then, they had to adapt to lineup changes as the varsity match played out, which allowed several backups to get substantial playing time.
Finally, after slugging it out with the host Spartans for four intense sets, the Wolves had to run for the bus in an effort to catch the final ferry — forcing both teams to accept a tie.
And truly a tie, as CHS swept the opening sets 25-21, 25-22, before Forks rallied to claim sets #3 and #4 by a 25-22, 25-21 score.
The rare stalemate leaves Coupeville at 2-1-1, with a very short turnaround, as Scout Smith’s squad hosts Northwest 2B/1B League rival Mount Vernon Christian Thursday night.
That will be the third match in as many days for the Wolves, who are then off until Sept. 23, when they trek to La Conner.
Having survived the all-day and all-night Forks adventure, Smith came away looking at the positives.
“A good experience in resilience and handling adversity,” she said. “Nobody wants to have a 15-hour day but we got the opportunity to get a little bit stronger and a little bit better by learning how to handle that.
“As always, lots to be happy about and lots that we can continue to improve upon.”
Wolf aces (l to r) Capri Anter, Adeline Maynes, and Sydney Van Dyke are a terrific trio. (Coupeville High School Yearbook staff photo)
The Wolves went deep with their lineup, with Smith praising the effort of her bench.
“Huge props to Adie (Maynes), Sydney (Van Dyke), and Capri (Anter) for being ready to go in anywhere at any time,” she said “When their number was called they were ready to go in and didn’t miss a beat.”
Across the board, the scrappy Wolves impressed their coach, who was quite the on-court brawler herself back in the day.
“Shout out to Tenley (Stuurmans) for being flexible and adaptable by playing in the middle,” Smith said.
“And finally, shout out to Haylee (Armstrong) for being a consistently calm and composed athlete on the floor.”
Wednesday stats:
Capri Anter — 1 dig
Haylee Armstrong — 4 kills, 12 digs, 1 assist, 3 aces
Teagan Calkins — 7 kills, 9 digs, 5 aces
Ari Cunningham — 3 kills, 2 digs, 1 assist
Lexis Drake — 4 kills, 5 digs, 1 assist
Adeline Maynes — 2 kills, 1 dig, 8 assists, 1 ace
Dakota Strong — 4 kills
Tenley Stuurmans — 3 kills, 3 digs, 14 assists, 1 ace
Sydney Van Dyke — 1 dig
