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Portraits from a season out of time

Posted in Boys Soccer, Girls Soccer, Volleyball, tagged CHS Wolves, John Fisken photos, portraits, Soccer, volleyball on May 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Ryanne Knoblich leads off a collection of CHS fall sports portraits. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Snap goes the camera, capturing the portraits which define a season.

As we head into the last week of fall sports, a collection of images featuring some of the Wolf athletes still hard at work.

They come to us from John Fisken, whose work can be found at:

John’s Photos (johnsphotos.net)

Nick Guay

Sofia Milasich

Issabel Johnson

Preston Epp

Gwen Crowder

Allie Lucero

Logan Martin

Mollie Bailey

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Concrete Covid cases cancel Coupeville celebration

Posted in Volleyball, tagged CHS Wolves, Concrete, Covid-19, Senior Night, volleyball on May 1, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Jaimee Masters and her fellow Coupeville volleyball seniors are having a tough time getting their customary celebration. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

“I feel like we are in an episode of The Twilight Zone.”

This pandemic-altered school year has been a difficult one for everyone involved in athletics, and Coupeville High School volleyball coach Cory Whitmore has spent much of his season just trying to keep things working.

With four of seven Northwest 2B/1B League schools having Covid issues which have affected volleyball, the Wolves have seen their schedule change almost daily.

The latest hit — Concrete cancelling on Coupeville hours before what was supposed to be Senior Night in Cow Town.

The Lions reported two positive Covid cases in their spiker program, erasing Saturday’s varsity and JV matches, and shutting Concrete’s program down a week before the end of the season.

This follows on the heels of La Conner and Darrington both taking 10-day breaks mid-season after their own positive cases, while Friday Harbor sat out all fall sports after cases spiked in the San Juan Islands.

Coupeville, Mount Vernon Christian, and Orcas Island — which has instituted a no-fan policy for all games — are the only schools to avoid Covid quarantines (knock on wood) during the compressed fall season.

The Wolves have been affected, though, especially when it has come to trying to hold Senior Night.

CHS has one home contest left among its three remaining scheduled matches — but that is against Orcas, which will only play if fans are barred from the gym.

At this point, Coupeville’s Senior Night has been switched at least three times, only to have each plan upended by the pandemic.

Whitmore and Coupeville Athletic Director Willie Smith are scrambling (once again) to make sure Wolf 12th graders Jaimee Masters, Maddie Vondrak, Chelsea Prescott, and Kylie Chernikoff get their moment in the spotlight in front of friends and family.

Two possibilities include arranging a match with Darrington — now back from quarantine — or switching a May 7 road match at La Conner to a home affair.

For Whitmore, who was writing letters to his senior spikers when the Concrete cancellation came, the mission is simple.

“We can still honor our incredible seniors that deserve recognition,” he said.

“We will make it happen.”

UPDATE #1 — May 1 – 1:40 PM:

Senior Night rescheduled for Wednesday, May 5, with Darrington coming to Coupeville.

JV at 5:00 PM in CMS gym, varsity 6:30 in CHS gym.

UPDATE #2 — May 3 – 12:45 PM:

Concrete volleyball program reinstated by Skagit Health Department.

Darrington match cancelled.

Friday, May 7 match with La Conner switched from road game to home game, and will be new Senior Night.

JV 6:00, varsity 7:30.

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Wolves tangle with state champs

Posted in Volleyball, tagged CHS Wolves, Kylie Chernikoff, La Conner, Northwest League, volleyball on April 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Maddie Vondrak tied for team honors Thursday, ripping off six kills against La Conner. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Not even a brush with Covid can slow down La Conner High School volleyball.

The two-time defending 2B state champs, back from a midseason 10-day shutdown of the program, haven’t missed a beat when they’re allowed to play.

Case in point, Thursday night, as the Braves swept varsity and JV matches from visiting Coupeville, while remaining the only Northwest 2B/1B League school to knock off the feisty Wolf spikers this season.

With the losses, both CHS squads drop to 4-2, with four matches left on their pandemic-shortened 10-match campaigns.

La Conner’s squads are each 6-0, with their varsity having won all 18 sets played. The Braves JV is an almost-perfect 17-1 in sets.

Coupeville gets right back at it Saturday, hosting Concrete on Senior Night, and the Wolves will get a third crack at the league’s premier program May 7.

With Darrington having shut down its program because of Covid concerns, the Wolves replaced their second match with the Loggers with a third tangle with the school which dominates NWL volleyball action.

It’s the old adage of “you have to beat the best to be the best,” so buckle up your chin strap (metaphorically, at least) and go in swinging from your toes.

How Thursday played out:

Varsity:

Coupeville made the powerhouse Braves work for points, but ultimately fell 25-12, 25-14, 25-15.

La Conner was led by Ellie Marble, who sprayed 20 kills to go with 11 digs and two service aces, and Emma Keller, who doled out 28 assists

The Wolves countered with six kills apiece from Maddie Vondrak, Jill Prince, and Chelsea Prescott, with the latter of that trio also going low for five digs.

Kylie Chernikoff came up big with five kills and six digs, while Maddie Georges (23 assists, four digs), Alita Blouin (10 digs), Jaimee Masters (five digs), Lucy Tenore (one kill, one dig), and Abby Mulholland (a dig) all chipped in to the team effort.

“We improved since our last outing against them,” said CHS coach Cory Whitmore. “We passed better, limiting reception errors and taking more swings at them.

“Our middle blockers had strong hitting percentages each – Maddie Vondrak hitting .417 and Jill Prince hitting .385.”

With four matches left to play, including a third rumble with La Conner, Whitmore continues to preach improvement and hard work.

“Attempting to slow their offense down will always be a tough task, but we have to come up with ways to counter with our own,” he said. “I thought the girls fought with a lot more heart this time.

“We are looking forward to finishing up our last week of the season strong.”

JV:

Coupeville was swept in three, but the young spikers came close to upending La Conner in the final set before being nipped 26-24.

That late surge was a definite positive for Wolf coach Ashley Menges.

“First two sets we were sitting and watching a lot. We just didn’t look ready for it,” she said.

“La Conner’s a good team, but I’ve seen the level we play at time and time again this season, we just didn’t play there when it counted.

“The girls had a much better third set, but we still have much to work on before we meet them again.”

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