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Archive for the ‘Volleyball’ Category

Mighty mashers win fifth straight

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on October 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Mia Farris (left) and Madison McMillan are on a five-match winning streak. (Bailey Thule photo)

Methodical and overpowering.

Jumping out to a huge lead Monday, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad mashed visiting Providence Classical Christian in straight sets.

Putting the kibosh on a non-conference foe, the Wolves captured their fifth-straight win, and did so to a 25-13, 25-15, 25-11 tune.

Now 6-4 on the season, Coupeville gets right back at it in less than 24 hours, traveling to Seattle Tuesday to face The Bush School in another non-league rumble.

If the Wolves come out for that one playing like they did against PCC, it’ll be a short, but sweet road trip.

Ever-springy Lyla Stuurmans erupted for the first of her team-high 12 kills during the opening rally Monday, the ball slamming inches away from denting mom Sarah, who was calling lines.

That sent the ball into the hands of Wolf setter Katie Marti, who promptly went off of a giddy rampage, notching 10 consecutive points on her serve to stake CHS to an 11-0 lead.

While things got a little (emphasis on little) bit closer after that, Coupeville was firmly in control of things every second of the way.

Even with Wolf coach Cory Whitmore bounding out of his chair to chastise over-exuberant members of his student section for intruding in the personal space of a rival hitter, the mood was one of almost Zen-like calmness.

Stuurmans, Grey Peabody, and an electric Mia Farris mashed the crud out of the ball all night long, banging the ball off the back line as the visitors could do little but gaze in silent awe.

Lyla Stuurmans launches. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

PCC was unable to force the action on offense and spent much of its time on defense scrambling to keep from getting pegged in the head and shoulders by the Wolf snipers.

Any balls put into play were tracked down by Madison McMillan and Marti, while three different CHS players recorded solo blocks as the net was a no-fly zone.

Those blocks came from Jada Heaton, Teagan Calkins, and Peabody, as Coupeville snuffed out any PCC comeback hopes in short order.

All nine Wolves to hit the floor made an impact, with Taylor Brotemarkle and Issabel Johnson slamming home daggers in the form of service aces.

If one sound could describe Monday’s massacre, though, it would be the sound of a volleyball tearing up a chunk of the floor after being hammered by the aggressive arms of Stuurmans and Farris.

The wham-bam junior duo were in a particularly savage mood, their kills exploding off the polished gym floor.

Followed by quiet smiles as the Wolf markswomen strode away like gunfighters exiting a high noon showdown ready for another shootout at a moment’s notice.

 

Monday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — 1 dig, 1 ace
Teagan Calkins — 2 kills, 2 digs, 2 aces, 1 solo block
Mia Farris — 10 kills, 2 digs, 3 aces
Jada Heaton — 1 solo block
Issabel Johnson — 2 aces
Katie Marti — 1 kill, 6 digs, 25 assists, 7 aces
Madison McMillan — 4 digs, 1 assist, 3 aces
Grey Peabody — 8 kills, 1 solo block
Lyla Stuurmans — 12 kills, 5 digs

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JV spikers scorch private school foes

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on October 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Carly Burt cranks up a winner. (Jackie Saia photo)

Six pistons firing as one.

Playing with no reserves Monday, the Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad scorched visiting Providence Classical Christian, dismantling their private school foes in straight sets.

By the time they were done, the Wolves had a 25-16, 25-13, 25-20 non-conference victory in hand, which lifts them to 4-6 on the season.

Despite playing with a thin bench night in and night out, the freshman-dominated team has won three of its last five.

Next up, road trips to The Bush School in Seattle Tuesday and Darrington Thursday, as Ashley Menges and her spikers carve a path of success.

Monday night, the Wolves dominated almost start to finish, with just a brief dry spell in the (practice) third set.

Fab frosh Haylee Armstrong came out on fire, peppering PCC with nasty serves to reel off the first five points of the night.

That went over so well, the rest of the Wolves decided to do the same thing, with Capri Anter, Lexis Drake, and Chloe Marzocca reeling off their own hot streaks at the line.

Chloe Marzocca digs out a ball in an earlier match. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The visitors had trouble keeping a rally alive, at least in the early going, and it didn’t get much easier in the second set.

Myra McDonald cranked an ace off of a rival’s arm, before Marzocca launched several lasers which set up brief rallies won by the Wolves thanks to note-perfect tips from cousins Armstrong and Anter.

Carly Burt also snapped off a gorgeous ace, and Coupeville romped through the first two frames, securing the win.

But, since this is JV volleyball, they always go on to play a third set for practice — to a full 25 points — even when one team has clearly dominated the proceedings.

Given a third chance, PCC proved to be scrappy, building a third-set lead and holding it most of the way.

At a certain point the Wolves flipped a switch, however, with Anter and Marzocca flicking winners on balls which sliced off any fingertips in their way.

Armstrong, down on the floor and using part of her jersey to clean a slick spot on the floor, bounded back up to position her teammates for success with high, arcing sets.

Finally, Drake ended the night on a crowd-pleasing run at the service line, reeling off seven straight points to slam the door shut for good.

 

Monday stats:

Capri Anter — 3 kills, 3 digs, 8 aces
Haylee Armstrong — 4 kills, 2 digs, 9 assists, 10 aces
Carly Burt — 1 dig, 1 ace
Lexis Drake — 3 kills, 2 digs, 1 assist, 3 aces, 1 solo block
Chloe Marzocca — 4 kills, 4 digs, 1 assist, 4 aces
Myra McDonald — 1 ace

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Young guns, big growth

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on October 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Haylee Armstrong, making friends and droppin’ spikes. (Michelle Armstrong photo)

Show up ready to go this season, and you’re guaranteed plenty of floor time.

Coupeville High School JV volleyball coach Ashley Menges has a short bench this time around, but that has allowed her to make sure her younger players will finish the campaign as true vets.

The Wolf spikers sit at 2-3 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 3-6 overall heading into a home non-conference rumble Monday with Providence Classical Christian.

Tipoff is 5:00 PM, with the varsity following at 6:30.

But, while they dropped their most recent full match, falling 2-1 to Mount Vernon Christian Thursday, that’s still a sign of improvement.

First time around, the Wolf JV was swept 3-0 by MVC.

Carly Burt (left) and Capri Anter are part of a promising pack of spikers. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

That continued growth was on full display Saturday as well, as Coupeville’s young spikers spent most of the day playing at a tournament in Oak Harbor.

With that night’s Homecoming dance on their minds, the Wolves won three of seven sets.

The highlights for a 2B school were a sweep of 1A Nooksack Valley (27-26, 25-23), and a split with 3A Mount Vernon (25-27, 25-16).

Coupeville also played 2A Lynden tough, losing 25-21, 25-15, and fell 25-12 in yet another matchup with MVC.

 

Oak Harbor Tourney stats:

Capri Anter — 14 kills, 16 digs, 1 assist, 7 aces
Haylee Armstrong — 9 kills, 11 digs, 23 assists, 11 aces
Carly Burt — 1 kill, 6 digs
Teagan Calkins — 21 digs, 2 assists
Lexis Drake — 13 kills
Chloe Marzocca — 3 kills, 3 digs, 6 aces
Myra McDonald — 1 kill, 3 aces
Dakota Strong — 8 kills, 5 aces

 

Coupeville varsity coach Cory Whitmore offers some suggestions to the young Wolves during Saturday’s tourney. (Jennifer Marzocca photo)

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Spikers fill up the stat sheet

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on October 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Lyla Stuurmans floats back to Earth after thumping another winner. (Nick Guay photo)

The numbers don’t lie.

Nine matches into the season, the Coupeville High School varsity spikers are filling up the stat sheet.

All nine girls who suit up for the squad have written their names in the record books, with four players currently leading the Wolves in at least one of the main statistical categories.

Junior setter Katie Marti and senior middle blocker Grey Peabody top CHS in two places, while junior outside hitters Madison McMillan and Lyla Stuurmans lead the squad in a single numbers race.

The only Wolves to appear in all six stat categories?

Marti and Stuurmans.

Nine superstars, all filling up the stat sheet. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

 

Varsity stats through Oct. 15:

 

Kills:

Lyla Stuurmans – 91
Grey Peabody – 73
Mia Farris – 71
Teagan Calkins – 41
Katie Marti – 16
Jada Heaton – 13
Madison McMillan – 6

 

Digs:

McMillan – 108
Farris – 98
Stuurmans – 71
Marti – 49
Taylor Brotemarkle – 41
Calkins – 15
Peabody – 8
Heaton – 5
Issabel Johnson – 5

 

Block – Solo:

Peabody – 8
Stuurmans – 3
Calkins – 1
Farris – 1
Heaton – 1
Marti – 1

 

Block – Assist:

Peabody – 9
Calkins – 4
Marti – 4
Heaton – 3
Stuurmans – 2

 

Assists:

Marti – 226
McMillan – 12
Stuurmans – 7
Brotemarkle – 3
Heaton – 3
Farris – 1
Johnson – 1
Peabody – 1

 

Service Aces:

Marti – 34
McMillan – 25
Farris – 23
Calkins – 18
Stuurmans – 18
Johnson – 13

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Sizzlin’ serves, valiant victory

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on October 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Grey Peabody dominated at the net Thursday, sparking Coupeville to a key league win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They’re on a tear.

Since coming dangerously close to ending four-time defending 2B state champ La Conner’s 12+ year conference winning streak in a five-set thriller, the Coupeville High School varsity spikers have rocked their foes.

The Wolves have won four straight, with win #4 coming at home Thursday against Mount Vernon Christian.

Coming from behind to nail down a 19-25, 25-13, 25-18, 25-15 victory, CHS improves to 3-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-4 overall.

Up next for the Wolves are back-to-back non-conference matches, with Providence Classical Christian (10-5) coming to Whidbey Monday, Oct. 16.

The next night, Coupeville enjoys a bus trip to Seattle to square off with The Bush School, which sits at 5-6.

Thursday’s win capped a week in which the Wolves won two of two in their own gym while dealing with all the side events associated with Homecoming.

“Really good team win tonight and super proud of the girls for their maturity as they fought through each set,” said Coupeville coach Cory Whitmore.

“MVC is much improved from previous seasons, and we knew we’d need to show up.”

The Hurricanes, who, like Coupeville, upended La Conner during the South Whidbey Invite, came out strongly, but the Wolves responded in kind.

“We played well even in dropping the first set, but MVC played very tenacious and very clean out of the gates,” Whitmore said.

“That’s the maturity and resiliency I’m proud of with the win tonight – they continued to trust and stick to our systems and just elevate it within the game plan, and it really panned out.”

Stellar play at the service stripe was key to the win.

Issabel Johnson cracks off a fearsome serve. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

“We HAD to serve tough tonight and that was where we came up big with all six servers,” Whitmore said.

“Our best set was the second, where we only committed two errors the entire set which is difficult to pull off while remaining aggressive.”

Across the board, the Wolves brought ferocious play to the floor.

“Madison (McMillan) covered so much of the court and just pinpointed her serving locations tonight,” Whitmore said.

“Katie (Marti) did a great job of distributing the ball. She made really smart choices and delivered the ball to her hitters, keeping them in rhythm.”

In particular, the fiery setter was on the same wavelength with senior slugger Grey Peabody.

“Katie and Grey really connected, but Grey was so smart tonight with her ball placement and aggressiveness on the overpasses,” Whitmore said.

“She also had to adjust her block and made it happen on the fly.”

While Peabody slammed home 12 kills, junior Mia Farris was hot on her heels, peppering the Hurricanes with 11 winners of her own.

“Mia had the offensive game she (and everyone) knew she could,” Whitmore said. “She’s been working so hard on her attack approach, and it popped tonight.

“She was zeroed in on the service line, and had such an air of confidence, there were moments that she truly took over the set.”

As Coupeville heads into Friday’s Homecoming parade and football game, and Saturday’s dance, the spikers are flying high, as they should be.

The Wolves celebrate another win. (Jackie Saia photo)

“They had to maintain a high level of energy and focus for a significant amount of time, and so I’m very proud of the way they pulled together to make it happen,” Whitmore said.

“Fun to get a Homecoming win.”

 

Thursday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — 2 digs
Teagan Calkins — 4 kills, 1 dig, 2 aces, 1 solo block, 2 block assists
Mia Farris — 11 kills, 8 digs, 6 aces, 1 solo block
Jada Heaton — 1 dig
Issabel Johnson — 1 ace
Katie Marti — 2 kills, 5 digs, 27 assists, 8 aces
Madison McMillan — 17 digs, 2 assists, 3 aces
Grey Peabody — 12 kills, 3 solo blocks, 2 block assists
Lyla Stuurmans — 7 kills, 3 digs, 1 ace, 2 solo blocks

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