Wolf senior Allison Wenzel picked up a ton of new swag during her trip to the state volleyball tourney. (Susan Wenzel photo)
Another step on the ladder to success.
As Cory Whitmore goes about the business of building a volleyball dynasty in Coupeville, the second-year coach has guided the Wolves to new heights.
Back-to-back Olympic League titles, with CHS winning all 27 sets in conference play this season, and year #2 capped by a trip to the 1A state tourney.
The visit to Yakima, in which the Wolves found themselves trapped in the “Group of Death,” was Coupeville’s first trip to the big dance since 2004.
And, while CHS fell Friday to sixth-ranked and undefeated Castle Rock, and defending state champ Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls), Whitmore, once he recovered from the emotionally-draining adventure, came away pleased.
“We are very happy to have had this great experience to cap off a fun season with a fantastic group of student/athletes,” he said. “They worked extremely hard to get to this point and we are very fortunate to have took the season to the last possible week.”
Coupeville closed the season at 13-5, tying the ’04 squad for the most wins in a single season.
Castle Rock:
The Rockets, who split four matches on their way to taking home a 6th place trophy, made off with a 25-8, 23-25, 25-8, 25-9 win.
One of Coupeville’s biggest strengths this season ended up backfiring a bit on them, as its service game wilted a bit under pressure.
“In all but the second set, our serving was a struggle,” Whitmore said. “We were attempting to be too aggressive and so lost our consistency.”
That second set, though, was the high-water mark for the Wolves in the tourney.
“We were able to find their weak points, which kept their offense out of sync and we we able to turn their offense into ours,” Whitmore said.
Coupeville’s back row defense, led by Hope Lodell and Payton Aparicio, who both scraped the floor for 13 digs apiece, was a particular standout.
Emma Smith paced the Wolves at the net with four kills, while Kyla Briscoe, Mikayla Elfrank and Aparicio notched two apiece.
The Wolves, who are normally an ace-firing beast at the service stripe, never truly got untracked, with Aparicio and Ashley Menges each hitting on two.
Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls):
The Eagles came into the tourney flying high – defending champs, undefeated (having not dropped a single set) and top-ranked, only to crash to the court hard Friday afternoon.
Picked apart by fourth-ranked King’s, which would go on to win its third state title and first since 2009, Lakeside was not happy entering the day’s second match.
Coupeville felt the full brunt of that anger.
The final score was 25-12, 25-10, 25-16, though the Wolves put up a decent fight.
“In all three sets we came out flat but competed hard,” Whitmore said. “We served much more consistently than versus Castle Rock, allowing our defense to slow down their very strong and balanced offense.”
Elfrank smoked three kills, with Smith, Katrina McGranahan and Aparicio each recording two.
Menges connected on three service aces, with Coupeville’s back row players spreading out the digs.
Lodell (7), Aparicio (7), Menges (6), Lauren Rose (5) and Briscoe (4) all chipped in to a solid group effort.
In the four years of the 1A Olympic League, the Wolf spikers have jumped from one win to six to 11 to 13.
As Whitmore looks ahead to his third season at the helm (never too early to plan), he knows losing seven seniors hurts.
But having a solid base of younger varsity stars — current juniors Emma Smith and Menges, as well as sophomores Scout Smith and Maya-Toomey-Stout and freshman Chelsea Prescott — plus a JV squad which went 12-1, bodes well for the future.
“We set a goal to make it to state and with the milestone achieved, this group can hold their heads up high, knowing that they left all they had out there on the court through four-plus years of hard work and dedication,” Whitmore said.
“I’m so proud of what this group of seniors have accomplished in their time with Coupeville volleyball,” he added. “And very much look forward to next season with a group looking to follow their legacy.”
