Sophomore Mia Farris filled up the stat sheet Saturday at the South Whidbey Invite. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
It was a long, but very successful day.
Taking advantage of getting to play inside on a smoke-filled day, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball team claimed second-place at the South Whidbey Invite.
The Wolves won nine of 12 sets, and came within a spike here, an ace there, of upending the tourney hosts in the championship showdown.
The next-door neighbors had identical 9-1 records heading into the finale, and if Coupeville had earned at least a split, it would have claimed the title based on point differential.
But the Falcons slipped away with a nail-biting 25-23, 25-20 win to claim first and set up a highly anticipated rematch Monday in Langley.
The first of two regular season rumbles between the non-conference rivals (the second is Oct. 6 in Coupeville), it kicks off at 7 PM at South Whidbey High School.
“I was proud of their resiliency throughout the (championship) match as they never gave up, and they responded well right out of timeouts,” said CHS coach Cory Whitmore.
“We are looking forward to more chances to face South Whidbey, and the invite provided us with plenty of experience as well as notes on what areas to focus on in upcoming practices.
“It was a long day with many lineup changes, but this team is there for each other, and it translates well on the court.”
Wolf fans packed the South Whidbey gym, something Whitmore greatly appreciated, and his players responded.
“I’m really proud of our showing today, and I hope the girls are too,” he said. “We saw seven different teams today, and I think we ran a different lineup for each of them.
“It was fun to get everyone in for a variety of roles and for a lengthy amount of game time, and I am excited for the experience it will provide us moving forward.”
Coupeville buzzed through teams such as Bremerton and Friday Harbor, and also won a come-from behind thriller against Northwest 2B/1B rival Mount Vernon Christian.
Before the South Whidbey faceoff, the only set the Wolves lost came against North Mason, and that’s a bit deceptive as it was the clock which gave the teams a split in their two-set match.
There was a 45-minute limit on matches, so Coupeville, which trailed 18-15 in the second set after taking the opener 25-15, was dinged by a quirk which can only happen in tourney play.
The Wolves used 11 spikers Saturday, and each of them brought something positive to the experience.
“A lot of players came up big at different moments today,” Whitmore said.
“Jill Prince, Grey Peabody, and Jada Heaton all took serious swings in the middle and worked hard in transition,” he added. “Maddie (Georges) ran the offense really well and served tough exactly when we needed it.”
Taygin Jump gave the Wolves a big emotional boost.
Whitmore also praised Katie Marti for “helping the team dig out from behind” against Mount Vernon Christian, Taygin Jump for her “emotional consistency, which helped teammates to focus on the present play,” and Alita Blouin for “taking so much pressure off the hitters to get on their routes.”
“Ryanne Knoblich and Lyla Stuurmans did a great job on the left side attack – both took a lot of swings and had to handle the ball on first contact as well,” Whitmore added.
“Madison McMillan came in for serving relief, placing serves well and would often stay in the back row to give either Ryanne or Lyla a bit of a break from their six rotations.”
And not to be overlooked was super sophomore Mia Farris.
“She came to play today. Not only was she very consistent but she was aggressive on her attacks,” Whitmore said.
“She was our go-to hitter for most the day and the setters found her in key moments, and she even went on a few serving runs as well.
“Very excited to see her drive to improve each day pay off.”
Tourney stats:
Alita Blouin — 1 kill, 27 digs, 4 assists, 13 aces
Mia Farris — 28 kills, 2 digs, 7 aces, 3 block assists
Maddie Georges — 3 kills, 8 digs, 55 assists, 10 aces, 1 block assist
Jada Heaton — 6 kills
Taygin Jump — 9 digs, 1 assist, 11 aces
Ryanne Knoblich — 23 kills, 15 digs, 6 aces
Katie Marti — 2 kills, 8 digs, 37 assists, 2 aces, 1 solo block
Madison McMillan — 3 kills, 10 digs, 4 aces
Grey Peabody — 16 kills, 1 dig
Jill Prince — 15 kills, 5 digs, 2 solo blocks, 4 block assists
Lyla Stuurmans — 13 kills, 9 digs, 7 aces, 1 solo block
Coupeville Sports 