Olivia Schaffeld and her friends are a pristine 3-0 on the season. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
It wasn’t flawless, but it didn’t need to be.
Rising to the occasion in crucial moments, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad overcame a few hiccups Thursday, running visiting Orcas Island off the floor in straight sets.
Even with a few misfires along the way, the Wolves never trailed, not even by a point, and convincingly won 25-14, 25-19, 25-16.
The victory lifts Coupeville to 3-0 on the season and keeps it atop the Northwest 2B/1B League standings.
Facing an “energetic” Orcas team which didn’t have many heavy hitters, but did possess a lot of moxie, the Wolves responded to every surge by the visitors.
“We had somewhat shaky execution at times, but we worked our way out of trouble, which is a big positive,” said Coupeville coach Cory Whitmore.
In particular, he praised the connection between setter Maddie Georges and big hitter Lucy Tenore, who popped for a team-high seven kills.
“You can see Maddie feels very confident setting for Lucy, and they have a very solid connection,” Whitmore said.
That duo got their team going in the early stages Thursday, with Georges opening the match at the service stripe, and Tenore and Olivia Schaffeld connecting almost immediately on winners to fuel a quick 3-0 run.
Two turns later, it was Schaffeld with the ball in her hand, and her four-point tear at the line sent Coupeville sprinting towards a first-set win.
Jill Prince was a powerful ally, teaming up with Tenore to stuff Orcas at the net, then climbing the ladder solo to thrash the stuffing out of the ball on a later play.
It was an equal opportunity kind of night, with virtually everyone in a Wolf uniform pulling off at least one crowd-pleasing play as things unfolded.
Whether it was Lyla Stuurmans leaning far back over her head to catch a falling ball, before firing off a winner which sliced ‘n diced the Vikings, or Georges twisting in mid-air to flip a shot over the heads of the defense, the highlight reel was full.
Schaffeld won the “best reaction” award, punching a ball inches from her face to save a point, while Tenore prowled the net like a wild beast unleashed.
Ending the opening set with back-to-back winners, the junior powerhouse then immediately bounced back to open set #2 with yet another knee-buckling kill.
Coupeville jumped out fast — romping to a 5-0 lead, then stretching it to 13-5 — and sauntered in for the set win, with Taygin Jump and Alita Blouin peppering their foes with unreturnable serves along the way.
The third set was more of the same, with Coupeville simply too deep and too talented for the very-scrappy Vikings to derail.
Freshman Savina Wells, who had been busy poppin’ shots all match from the left side, delivered a gorgeous ace which soared high, then dropped fast, successfully nicking the last flake of paint off the backline.
That caused proud papa Lyle Wells to fist punch the air in delight while dancing atop the top row of the bleachers, a perfect punctuation note to another night of Wolf success.
Thursday stats:
Alita Blouin — 14 digs, 2 assists, 1 ace
Maddie Georges — 1 kill, 9 digs, 10 assists, 3 aces
Taygin Jump — 2 digs
Ryanne Knoblich — 5 digs
Grey Peabody — 1 kill, 1 block assist
Jill Prince — 5 kills, 3 block assists
Olivia Schaffeld — 1 kill, 5 digs, 3 aces
Lyla Stuurmans — 2 kills, 3 digs
Lucy Tenore — 7 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace, 3 block assists
Savina Wells — 4 kills, 3 digs, 3 aces, 1 block assist
“Let the bodies hit the floor!”
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