Payton Aparicio and Coupeville volleyball are flying high. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
The final play of the match Wednesday told you everything you needed to know.
A Klahowya server launched the ball skyward, smacked the orb, then watched as it nestled into the net and flopped back on her side of the court.
Game, set, match and the air has completely gone out of the Eagles.
If you were naive enough to doubt the 1A Olympic League firmly belongs to the Coupeville High School volleyball program, then, I have a bridge to sell you, kid.
The Wolves have rolled through conference play, notching a second-straight league crown, and they have done it without dropping a set.
Flying high after a 25-15, 25-15, 25-19 dismantling of Klahowya, Coupeville is 8-0 in league (24-0 in sets played), 11-2 overall.
With one regular season match left, a trip to Port Townsend (2-5, 4-10) Saturday, the Wolves are chasing nothing short of perfection.
Though don’t tell them that, as, having tied last year’s team for wins, they have their eyes on bigger targets.
Districts are Nov. 4 in Tacoma, and CHS will need one win in two matches to earn the program’s first trip to state since 2004.
That team, coached by spiker guru Toni Crebbin, holds the program record with 13 wins in a season.
This year’s Wolf squad went out and methodically drilled Klahowya, then took time to honor its splendid seniors, seven players who form the core of a reborn program.
Katrina McGranahan, Hope Lodell, Kyla Briscoe, Allison Wenzel, Lauren Rose, Mikayla Elfrank and Payton Aparicio have played two seasons for coach Cory Whitmore and they have been two of the best seasons the Wolf spikers have ever enjoyed.
Coupeville is 16-1 in league play during his tenure, with the only slight mar a loss to Klahowya last season.
This year, it’s been all-Wolves, all-the-time, and nothing changed Wednesday night.
The largest deficit CHS faced at any moment was two points, and that was erased in a heartbeat by a couple of thunderous Wolf spikes which left divots in the floor and shredded the psyche of the Eagles.
After exchanging points to open the match, Coupeville surged when Lodell made her first trip to the service stripe.
“The Surgeon” sliced a few arms and legs off with a pair of back-to-back aces, then Aparicio and Elfrank painted the back line with wicked winners from the net and the rout was officially on.
While she’s only a superb sophomore, Scout Smith was more than willing to crash the party on Senior Night, and she drove the Eagles batty with her picture-perfect tips.
At one point in the first set, she rattled off three winners in a five-point run, gliding through the air, waiting for the defense to come to her, then angling the ball away from them with the tips of her deadly fingers.
If Klahowya had any thoughts of crowding the net, that quickly vanished as Briscoe pounded a nuclear strike off of an Eagle leg on a play set up by a spectacular last-second poke from Elfrank.
The Wolves were in total control, taking what was given them and exploiting every opportunity.
Elfrank, McGranahan and junior Emma Smith shut down any activity at the net, rising above it to quickly muffle any attacks from the Eagles.
Take a look at my notebook and you see a string of words like “massive hit” (Elfrank), “nasty ace” (Briscoe), “sliced off her kneecaps” (Aparicio) or, simply, “Hulk smash” (Emma Smith) and the picture paints itself.
When Klahowya could rally, the Wolves fought until they found an opening for a winner. But, many, many more times, Coupeville simply put the hammer down.
Which is exactly what Whitmore wants to see as his team heads towards its postseason run.
That the production is team-wide? Even better.
“I like the balance,” he said. “It was a good all-around effort. I get excited seeing our defense transition into offense, from a dig to a set to a put-away.
“I’m really happy with how we are playing.”
CHS spread out its stat sheet excellence, with Briscoe and Aparicio leading the attack with six kills apiece. Elfrank (5), Emma Smith (5) and Scout Smith (4) followed closely on their heels.
Aparicio added 10 digs and five aces, while Lodell (eight digs), Wenzel (7) and Briscoe (7) shared the load when it came time to go low and scrape the ball off the floor.
McGranahan and Ashley Menges tossed in three aces apiece, while Coupeville scored 39 points off of its serves.
