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Fired up Wolves tame Lions

October 1, 2026 by David Svien

Lexis Drake (5) and Isa Mc Fetridge both delivered strong performances in a win Thursday against Concrete. (Leann Leavitt photo)

Rack ’em up and knock ’em down.

Winning for the second time in less than 24 hours, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad swept visiting Concrete off the floor in style Thursday night.

Rolling to a neat ‘n tidy 25-15, 25-17, 25-15 victory, the Wolves get to 3-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 3-4 overall.

Looking fresh and fancy free even after traveling back and forth to Friday Harbor a day earlier, then attending school before hitting the court again, the CHS spikers were in control from start to finish.

The first few moments Thursday were a virtual highlight reel, with Tenley Stuurmans launching lasers from the service stripe, while freshmen Rhylee Inman and Zariyah Allen crunched winners at the net.

Coupeville remained hot on its serve, with Capri Anter, Willow Leedy-Bonifas, Haylee Armstrong, and Isa Mc Fetridge all putting together positive scoring streaks with the volleyball in their hands.

A crosscourt smash for a winner from Kennedy O’Neill kept the Lion defenders fidgety, while a resounding block from Lexis Drake denied Concrete a chance to fire up its own offense.

Point by point, Coupeville steadily built a substantial lead, and never let the visitors get into a rhythm, with Inman, Arianna Cunningham, and Drake closing out the first set with dramatic putaway shots.

Set #2 was more of the same positive vibes for the Wolves, with the student section starting to ramp up the noise in support.

Leedy-Bonifas put together a long, successful run on her serve, with Cunningham providing able support with a variety of shots which baffled and bedazzled the Lions, before Mc Fetridge slammed the door shut with her own stellar serves.

The entire match could be summed up in one late point, as the teams scrapped through a sustained rally, players on both sides coming up with saves to keep suspense in the air.

Until Cunningham elevated and smashed the crud out of the volleyball, scattering Lions in both directions with a wicked kill to bring an end to all that nonsense.

Capri Anter dreams of aces. (Bettie Sifuentes-Hart photo)

Concrete made a last-ditch stand in the third set, jumping out to its only lead of the night at 4-0 and holding on to the advantage until Anter strolled to the service line.

Firing off missiles on her grandpa Sean’s birthday, the Wolf senior turned a 6-4 deficit into a 9-6 lead, and Coupeville never looked back.

Armstrong followed her cousin’s lead shortly afterwards, ripping off her own five-point service run, before Cunningham pounded in the last nail on Concrete’s coffin with four more points.

Well, next-to-last nail.

The final exclamation point came courtesy Stuurmans, who hit the ball like a woman who wants to see if she can make the orb explode, delivering one last kill to haunt the Lions as they try and go to sleep tonight.

 

Thursday stats:

Zariyah Allen — 2 kills, 1 dig
Capri Anter — 6 digs, 4 aces
Haylee Armstrong — 4 digs, 4 assists, 3 aces
Arianna Cunningham — 10 kills, 5 digs, 2 aces
Lexis Drake — 2 kills, 1 solo block
Rhylee Inman — 3 kills
Willow Leedy-Bonifas — 11 digs, 4 aces
Isa Mc Fetridge — 5 digs, 2 aces
Kennedy O’Neill — 1 kill
Tenley Stuurmans — 4 kills, 3 digs, 15 assists, 2 solo blocks, 5 aces

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Strong finish, bright potential

October 1, 2026 by David Svien

Annabelle Cundiff was lethal at the service stripe Thursday against Concrete. (Leann Leavitt photo)

They finished the night on a high point. Or a lot of high points.

While the Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad dropped the first two sets Thursday to visiting Concrete by a 25-17, 25-19 score, the Wolves roared back to claim set #3 impressively, winning 25-7.

The strong finish bodes well for a young squad which is now 1-3 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 1-6 overall.

Alita Blouin’s band of scrappy spikers gets a chance to get a lot of court time this weekend, with the JV slated to travel to Bellingham Saturday for a tourney hosted by Meridian.

The Wolves will enter play there coming off of one of their best sets of the season, as everything, and everyone, clicked in the finale against Concrete.

Cassandra Powers kicked things off with a five-point run on her serve, with Addison Jacobson, Emma Leavitt, and Annabelle Cundiff all popping aces as well as CHS led from start to finish.

The first two sets were a bit bumpier, though Coupeville put together positive plays in both.

Leavitt and Powers delivered a strong one-two combo, smashing a variety of winners at the net, but the Wolves had trouble putting together any scoring streaks in the opening frame.

Playing from behind, CHS got a sweet save on a runaway ball from never-say-die Olivia Martin and a crowd-pleasing tip winner off the fingers of Scarlett Spencer, but ultimately couldn’t reel the Lions in.

The second set was much more of a back-and-forth affair, at least in the beginning, with seven ties culminating in a 10-10 stalemate.

Then a Concrete server got hot, reeling off six consecutive points and the visitors threatened to pull away.

Coupeville put a stop to that, however, getting back to within 18-16 after Leavitt sparked a mini comeback by cranking a spike winner which slid the length of the net, then flipped over and dropped between Lion defenders.

Martin crushed an ace to get CHS within two, but the offense sputtered out after that, allowing Concrete to seal the win.

While the third set was for practice and didn’t change who won or lost, Coupeville’s ability to bounce back in a matter of minutes is something Blouin and her proteges can build upon.

The match also gave the Wolves a chance to give floor time to all 10 girls on the roster, with Sabrina Judnich, Hannah Roberts, Amira Anunciado, and Emily Rains also involved in the action.

 

Thursday stats:

Annabelle Cundiff — 2 aces
Addison Jacobson — 2 digs, 1 assist
Emma Leavitt — 8 kills, 3 digs, 3 assists, 2 aces
Olivia Martin — 16 digs, 2 aces
Cassandra Powers — 6 kills, 4 digs, 8 assists, 7 aces
Scarlett Spencer — 3 digs

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Scenic views, quick feet

October 1, 2026 by David Svien

The Wolves get fired up before heading to the starting line. (Kelly Powers photos)

It was time for the young guns to run in the sun.

A day after Fort Casey State Park was the site of a high school cross country race, the middle school harriers stepped up and took over the joint Thursday afternoon.

Hosting six other teams, with 167 runners hitting the line, Coupeville placed four runners in the top 10, headlined by 7th grader Juniper Dotson, who clocked in with a 2nd place performance.

She was joined by Sarai Dangerfield (5th) and Ava Clark (8th), while Jesse Kehoe finished 8th in the boys race.

South Whidbey swept both individual titles, with Kaylin Gutzmer and Emery Kline the fastest across the 1.7-mile course, while also collecting the team crowns.

Sarai Dangerfield

The girl’s battle was a nailbiter, with the Cougars edging Coupeville 53-61, while Granite Falls (82), Lakewood (93), and Northshore Christian (98) rounded out the top five squads.

Things were a bit more lopsided when it came to the boys, with South Whidbey (25) well ahead of King’s (74), Coupeville (75), Lakewood (87), and Northshore (89).

Coupeville returns to action when it travels to University Place Saturday for the John Payne XC Invite, a mega-event slated to have 19 middle school teams and 103 high school squads in action.

Dresden Rusch

 

Thursday results:

 

GIRLS:

Juniper Dotson (2nd) 11:03.3
Sarai Dangerfield (5th) 11:25.5
Ava Clark (8th) 11:43.0
Abi Dangerfield (14th) 12:12.7
Luna Strong (33rd) 14:12.1
Alayla Schwarz (34th) 14:23.8
Leah Hernandez (38th) 14:40.9
Dresden Rusch (48th) 15:38.9
Lillian Lachnit (50th) 15:56.0
Gracie Gonzalez (56th) 17:45.6

 

Mica McCloskey

 

BOYS:

Jesse Kehoe (8th) 10:03.8
Nicholas Strong (13th) 10:17.5
Cole Van Dyke (17th) 10:36.7
John Davis (18th) 10:41.0
Mica McCloskey (23rd) 11:05.1
Leo Hernandez-Gomez (29th) 11:25.1
Antonio Echeverria Bryant (30th) 11:25.2
Gavin Goldman (39th) 11:58.2
Hayden Maynes (51st) 12:40.0
Brody Griffith (53rd) 12:59.0
Stone Simpson (61st) 13:38.9
Quinton Freeman (81st) 16:29.1
Danny Powers (85th) 17:34.8
Henry Engel (96th) 22:09.0

 

John Davis

Lillian Lachnit

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Mighty mashers deliver stirring road win

September 30, 2026 by David Svien

Win in hand, the Wolf spikers head home. (Bettie Sifuentes-Hart photo)

It was close, but everything broke the right way.

Refusing to buckle against a scrappy foe Wednesday, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad traveled to Friday Harbor and delivered a stirring straight-sets win.

Knocking off the host Wolverines 25-23, 29-27, 25-20 in a highly competitive rumble, Scout Smith’s spikers get to 2-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 2-4 overall.

And they’ll get right back at it in a matter of mere hours, hosting Concrete Thursday in Cow Town, with JV playing at 5:00 PM and varsity at 6:30ish.

Instead of being tired when they face the Lions, the Wolves should still be flying high on adrenaline from Wednesday’s clash.

Kennedy O’Neill delivered Coupeville’s first wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am kill to knot things up at 5-5 in the opening set, and the battle was launched.

The teams endured through 11 ties in the first frame, with the last at 23-23, but it was the Wolves who had the momentum when it mattered the most.

Despite strong work at the service stripe from Haylee Armstrong and at the net from Tenley Stuurmans, CHS trailed by a point here, a point there most of the set, before closing on an 8-2 tear.

Fab frosh Zariyah Allen kick-started the final push, delivering a tip winner that froze the defense, before Arianna Cunningham knocked the Wolverines back on their heels, drilling a kill with some serious nastiness exploding from her powerhouse arm.

That set up Willow Leedy-Bonifas to deliver a four-point run on her serve, though it was Armstrong who came back around to close out the set with an ace which caught the backline and made Friday Harbor weep salty tears of regret.

Yes, the whole island cried…

Haylee Armstrong (middle), Kennedy O’Neill, and their fan club president go island-hopping. (Michelle Armstrong photo)

The second set was actually even more intense, with 13 ties and both teams holding off two set points before Coupeville clinched the frame off of a tip winner from Armstrong, who danced away as the locals cried some more.

Getting to that final freeze-frame, comprised of equal parts Wolf joy and Wolverine despair, was set up by both teams selling out play after play, the ebb and flow of the match filled with surprise saves and wicked winners.

Rhylee Inman, Coupeville’s other freshman phenom, notched a pair of well-placed shots, while Capri Anter and Isa Mc Fetridge stalked the service stripe, looking to fire up the ace machine, and Lexis Drake helped make the net a no-fly zone for the Wolverines.

CHS had set points at 24-23 and 25-24, only to see the hosts dodge the bullet, before Friday Harbor came within a point of tying things up with leads at 26-25 and 27-26.

Cunningham denied her rivals with a kill off the back line, before Allen and Armstrong delivered back-to-back winners to finally end things in a second set threatening to run forever.

That seemed to knock the air out of the Wolverines for a bit, as Coupeville rocketed out to a 10-1 lead in the third set, with Stuurmans and Anter unleashing on their serve.

The Wolf lead got all the way to 20-9, before Friday Harbor found a last gasp, briefly derailing things by going off on its own 10-2 tear to cut the deficit down to 22-19.

There was no collapse coming, however, just a brief burp, as Coupeville righted itself and put the match away with a final bit of firepower.

Cunningham climbed an invisible ladder one final time, her furious fist tenderized the volleyball, and winner, winner, what’s for dinner on the ferry?

Whatever was available, it surely tasted like sweet, sweet victory.

 

Wednesday stats:

Zariyah Allen — 6 kills
Capri Anter — 3 kills, 8 digs, 1 ace
Haylee Armstrong — 2 kills, 7 digs, 8 assists, 2 aces
Arianna Cunningham — 8 kills, 17 digs, 1 block assist, 1 ace
Lexis Drake — 1 dig, 1 block assist
Rhylee Inman — 2 kills, 3 digs, 1 block assist
Willow Leedy-Bonifas — 13 digs, 3 aces
Isa Mc Fetridge — 2 digs, 1 ace
Kennedy O’Neill — 6 kills, 3 digs, 1 block assist
Tenley Stuurmans — 11 kills, 8 digs, 21 assists, 1 solo block, 3 aces

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Spikes and chicken sandwiches for everyone!

September 30, 2026 by David Svien

The Wolves invade Granite Falls. (Photos courtesy Mandi Murdy)

Another milestone in the books.

The Coupeville Middle School volleyball players and coaches made their first road trip of the season Wednesday, surviving a long and winding trek to the wilds of Granite Falls.

As the day played out, the young Wolves learned to adapt on the fly, as their hosts flipped the schedule without alerting CMS, but were rewarded with a stop to fuel up at Chick-fil-A.

So, you lose some, you win some.

Facing off with a rival with a deep roster — Granite Falls sends students on to a high school with a student body more than twice the size of Coupeville’s — the Wolves stayed competitive but couldn’t quite pull off any upset wins.

Ready to get scrappy.

 

How CMS fared:

 

Level 1:

“They kept fighting even when they were down,” said Wolf coach Elizabeth Mallett. “They communicated and kept the energy up despite the loss.”

Halle Black and Jasmine Allen drew praise for their “good work ethic and teamwork,” as they “were put into new rotations and adapted well to the new spots.”

Spike-happy siblings Reina Rivers and Faith Rivers “hustled for every second ball,” while “Josie McColl had some aggressive kills at the net,” Mallett said.

Brinnley Meek, Reagan Green, and Milly Somes rounded out the Wolf roster.

 

Level 2:

Granite Falls had “several strong overhand servers, including some jump servers,” said coach Mandi Black, while Coupeville struggled with its own serve.

“A lot less aggressiveness in this game than in our first game we played,” she added. “Rough away game today, lots of cold feet and big nerves from the girls.”

Still, the Wolves put together some solid play, with Black hailing Arley Bosler, who moved into the libero position and made an immediate impact.

“She did great in this role, and I am excited to see her learn and grow in it.”

Evelynn McDonald and Diana Teran Herrera made their season debuts, making their presence felt while deepening the roster.

“Diana got all of her serves over and did a great job stepping into the game,” Black said. “Evelynn was aggressive about calling the ball and working to get a pass over.

“We learned a lot from this game, and we have a strong practice plan moving forward.”

 

Level 3:

Coupeville’s mighty mashers left it all on the floor, earning a big thumbs-up from coach Audrey Meek.

“They had an OUTSTANDING match,” she said. “All fighting and hustling to every ball. Team three went out hot and just kept it burning.”

River Castellanos and Lily Jacobson delivered three service aces apiece, while Lindsey Ashby and Evelynn McDonald “had attitudes that carried the team and kept them positive all night.

“Selina Milburn and Scotlyn Helm were dynamite passers and had some phenomenal serves,” Meek added. “Zora Worthington and Annabelle Wold were ninjas on the court and were ready for the ball.”

 

Up next:

Coupeville continues its three-game road trip, with visits to Sultan October 5 and Northshore Christian Academy October 7.

The Wolves finally play on their own court again October 12, when King’s comes to Cow Town.

“Chik-fil-A is calling us!!”

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