Young guns Lilah Grinstead (left) and Kolby Johnson both played strongly Monday afternoon. (Nikki Grinstead photo)
Something new every day.
After 36 years of writing about high school and middle school sports, I witnessed something Monday afternoon I had never seen before.
A volleyball team win a set by one point, in a sport where “you have to win by two points” is the very first rule you learn.
It was a moment which caught parents, players, coaches, even an athletic director or two by surprise, though you can’t blame the ref, who was going off rules set down by the Cascade League.
Unpublicized rules. Irritating rules. Kill all the momentum in the match of the year rules.
But still … rules.
On a day when Coupeville Middle School and visiting King’s Junior High played nine sets of volleyball over a nearly four-hour stretch, it was just one moment.
But one which will live in infamy. As least as long as I’m around to grumble about it.
So, let’s get to it.
Level 1:
King’s came in undefeated while Coupeville’s top squad had just a single loss on its record.
The table was set, and the teams delivered a string of knockout punches, as set #1 unfolded like a bar room brawl.
Down 5-0, the Wolves rallied thanks to strong serving from Faith Rivers, Halle Black, and Reina Rivers, while sisters Josilyn McColl and Reagan Green prowled the net, smashing winners that split the defense.
CMS didn’t actually take the lead until 17-16, then pushed its newfound advantage out to 19-16 before things got really intense.
With both teams getting raucous support from their support crews, the Wolves and Knights went through seven ties down the stretch, with the final one at 26-26.
The Rivers sisters came up with back-to-back winners, with Reina walloping a running one-hander from the middle of the floor that cleared the net by about an inch, then sank fast, biting off a chunk of the floor and skidding away from the King’s defense.
Both teams saved set points, with Coupeville holding off one and the visitors twice keeping the Wolves from sealing the deal.
Then things got loopy.
A brief scoreboard error seemed to indicate the Wolves had won, but was (correctly) waved off, sending things back to a tie.
King’s pushed ahead at 27-26 on a service ace, then the bottom fell out of the world.
While the Knights were preparing to serve again, now with set point #2, and the Wolves were locked in to receive, the ref informed the scoring table that, under Cascade League rules, sets are now capped at 27 points.
For what seemed like an incredibly long time, but was really about 15 seconds or so, a room that had been ear-splitting went silent, then all the air was punched out of the gym as King’s players and coaches awkwardly celebrated a win they really didn’t seem to believe.
Given every moment of their volleyball lives has been devoted to that old chestnut — “you have to win by two.”
Now, the only rationale behind the “capping a set at 27 points” rule — a rule the Cascade League seemingly told no one but the refs about — would be to keep matches from going on forever.
Except … all three matches Monday featured a completely unnecessary third set for “practice,” even though King’s had claimed victory in each bout by sweeping the first two sets.
The Cascade League, saving two minutes, where the intensity was at 1,000, only to tack on another half hour, where the intensity was at about 17…
Brilliant.
So, how do you come back from being gut-punched by something like that?
The short answer is you don’t, as Coupeville struggled to get back into rhythm, and dropped the next two sets 25-9, 15-5 despite a couple of very strong plays.
McColl continued to throw down winners at the net, while Reina Rivers pulled off another lightning-quick save on a ball screaming by her thanks to a fast punching hand, but a 7-4 lead evaporated quickly as King’s closed on a 21-2 tear.
The best play in the second set was actually a point Coupeville didn’t win, just because it made the visiting coach look like she was having a stroke.
King’s, thinking it had won a point, went into a six-player celebration prematurely, while Halle Black, not giving up on the play, threw herself towards the net on the fly, caught the rapidly falling ball just above the ground and spun it back over the net.
The volleyball missed landing fair by a single strand of hair, as all six King’s players watched in horror.
Had it been 100% successful, and not just 99.97%, the chances the King’s coach would have made her players walk back to Everett seems about 1000%.
Set #3 was over quickly but did feature Brinn Meek and Arley Bosler saving wayward balls and Faith Rivers peppering a few more service winners.
The Wolf spikers enjoy a moment in the great outdoors. (Jackie Saia photo)
Level 2:
Coupeville put up a spirited fight before falling 25-18, 25-11, 15-10.
Kolby Johnson and Scotlyn Helm had the hot hand at the service stripe in the early going, staking CMS to a 9-5 lead in the opening frame before King’s rallied to take control.
Even as the visitors started to pull away, the Wolves continued to chomp at them, with Lilah Grinstead popping an ace which caught the net and slid over, while Abby Hunt and Mia Goers had some zing on their serves.
Trailing 24-15, Coupeville held off three set points, forcing King’s to work extra hard for the close-out point. Johnson cranked an ace, with Helm popping into the air to flick a tip winner which froze the defense in place.
The next two sets were similar, with the scrappy Wolves pushing hard, but the confident, talented Knights having just a bit more firepower in crunch time.
Diana Teran Herrera proved to be the master of the mid-court flip, shooting a pair of balls into narrow gaps for Wolf points, while Grinstead held off yet another set point the old-fashioned way, by mashing a service ace that tore off a rival arm or two on its way to nirvana.
Proving plucky to the end, the Wolves held off a set point in the third frame as well, completing the trifecta of dodging danger — a trait which should benefit them in the future.
Level 3:
The score was a bit lopsided at 25-10, 25-8, 15-6, but Coupeville’s greenest team flashed moments of brilliance, while showing a lot of grit.
Selina Milburn, River Castellanos, Lindsey Ashby, Evelynn McDonald, and Lily Jacobson all scored points off of their serves, with Annabelle Wold and Zora Worthington bringing big-time hustle.
McDonald snatched the spotlight with a particularly nasty service winner, connecting on a liner which came in low and hot, screaming over the net before thunking off of a King’s player for a very satisfying point.
What’s next:
Coupeville has back-to-back home matches Wednesday and Thursday, hosting Lakewood and Sultan, respectively, before closing the season October 19 with a trip to South Whidbey.
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