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Fab Five fuel frenzy

Angel Partida is one of five Wolves to score a varsity goal this season. (Jackie Saia photo)

They’ve got the magic toes.

Five Coupeville High School soccer players have scored this season for a Wolf varsity squad which is sitting pretty at 4-2 at the halfway point of the regular season.

CHS, which is 1-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League action, begins the second half of a 12-game run Friday, hosting Grace Academy.

Overall, the Wolves have three more rumbles on the road and three at home as they chase a playoff berth, with a home clash against Friday Harbor (Oct. 10) and a trip to Orcas Island (Oct. 24) the biggies.

Here’s who’s putting the ball in the back of the net through six games:

Cole White – 6
Nick Guay – 5
Preston Epp – 2
Ezra Boilek – 1
Angel Partida – 1

The Wolves celebrate a score. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Ace goaltender Lauren Marrs (in pink) celebrates Senior Night on the pitch. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

She retires a Wildcat but remains part of Wolf Nation.

Lauren Marrs is wrapping up a stellar four-year run as a goaltender on the Oak Harbor High School girls’ soccer team, and Tuesday was Senior Night for the Wildcats.

But while she reps the purple and gold these days, the defensive dynamo will always be remembered for her time in Coupeville.

From soccer to basketball, where she burned up the middle school nets with a steady supply of buckets, Marrs was a standout.

When high school arrived, she opted to move to the institution which gave me a diploma once upon a time and continued to show up and show out.

It was her choice, and while I might cry a bit over what could have been if she had remained a Wolf, good on Lauren for always being a class act.

Regardless of the uniform, Marrs bows out as one of the best Whidbey has produced, and she deserves your cheers.

Teagan Calkins (middle) filled up the stat sheet Tuesday in a home win. (Jackie Saia photo)

Get in, get out, make it as painless as possible.

Picking apart a winless Friday Harbor team which couldn’t generate much offense, or make much of a defensive stand, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad rolled to a straight-sets win Tuesday night.

It wasn’t spectacular, but it didn’t need to be.

It was precision work, it came out in favor of the Wolves to a 25-10, 25-9, 25-5 tune, and it handed CHS its first home victory of the season.

Now 1-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 2-4 overall, Coupeville is better than its record might sound.

Three of those losses came in agonizing five-set battle royales, while another one was to undefeated 1B powerhouse Neah Bay.

Squaring off with a Friday Harbor team which slipped to 0-8 on the season, the Wolves controlled every aspect of the match.

“We played clean, we scrambled really well in pursuit of the ball, and we played in our system tonight,” said coach Cory Whitmore as he pondered the sweet idea of an early dinner for once.

Katie Marti got things jumpin’, reeling off four straight points on her serve to begin the night, and it was mostly all gravy and good times from there.

The rallies were short, and generally ended in one way — with a Wolf mashing the life force out of the volleyball.

Whether it was Mia Farris and Lyla Stuurmans flying in from the side to tattoo winners, or young gun Teagan Calkins bounding skyward to crush a spike, the visitors had few answers.

In the middle of things, serene senior Grey Peabody was a tower of power, patrolling the net and refusing entrance to any wayward shots trying to sneak over the barrier.

Grey Peabody accepts the heartfelt thanks of a grateful Wolf Nation. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The second and third sets were more of the same, plastering a smile on the faces of most Wolf fans as they watched their spikers cruise to a lopsided win.

The Wolves peppered Friday Harbor with 21 official service aces, with Calkins collecting eight of those as mom Jackie Saia nodded along in approval of her daughter’s artistry.

With the win in hand, Coupeville turns its attention to Saturday, when Forks (6-2) arrives in town for a non-conference scrap.

That’s the second match in a run of five-straight home tilts for the Wolves, including the annual cancer awareness night next week.

The event, which raises money for the WhidbeyHealth breast cancer foundation includes a raffle.

Wolf Moms have collected 15 items, including “some really great baskets and gift cards.”

Tickets will be $5 apiece or $20 for five.

 

Tuesday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — 1 dig
Teagan Calkins — 3 kills, 3 digs, 8 aces, 1 block assist
Mia Farris — 6 kills, 4 digs, 4 aces
Jada Heaton — 1 kill, 1 block assist
Issabel Johnson — 1 dig, 1 ace
Katie Marti — 1 kill, 1 dig, 16 assists, 3 aces
Madison McMillan — 2 digs, 3 aces
Grey Peabody — 5 kills
Lyla Stuurmans — 5 kills, 3 digs, 2 aces

The Wolf freshmen are ready to rip up the gym. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They were down, but far from out.

Rallying after dropping a tight first set Tuesday, the Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad roared back to knock off visiting Friday Harbor.

With all seven girls in uniform putting up stats, the Wolves pulled out a 21-25, 25-16, 15-9 victory.

The rousing home win lifts CHS to 1-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 2-4 overall, and snaps a four-game losing skid.

Coupeville actually led for much of the first set, thanks to some pinpoint serving from Chloe Marzocca, Capri Anter, and Co.

A winner off the fingertips of freshman Dakota Strong put the Wolves up 18-16, but the visitors staged their own rally to steal the set away.

Dakota Strong floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee. (Jackie Saia photo)

Ashley Menges’ squad didn’t crumble, however, immediately taking back control of the match.

Anter sliced a winner just out of the reach of a rival to stake Coupeville to an early 3-2 lead in set two, and she and her teammates never gave the lead back.

Myra McDonald ruffled some feathers with a laser-like serve for an ace, while Lexis Drake lobbed a winner which arced high through the heavens, before plunging down to catch the very back of the line.

Through it all, cousins Haylee Armstrong and Anter were a titanic twosome, popping up everywhere on the court to track down ball after ball.

Riding high after the second set, Coupeville led from start to finish in the deciding frame.

The Wolves built a 10-3 lead in the race to 15 points, thanks to Drake throwing down a variety of winners on tantalizing tips ‘n wicked slicers, while Marzocca singed the net with a spike which slid the length of the barrier before dropping in for a point.

Lexis Drake is a star in both volleyball and cheer. (Photo by CHS Yearbook staff)

Carly Burt provided hustle off the bench for the Wolves, injured Aby Wood carefully kept stats for her teammates, and Anter sealed things, punching home a final winner.

The victory gives the Wolves a nice burst of energy heading into a non-conference home rumble Saturday with always-tough Forks.

 

Tuesday stats:

Capri Anter — 7 kills, 3 digs, 1 assist, 3 aces
Haylee Armstrong — 2 digs, 10 assists, 8 aces
Carly Burt — 1 dig, 1 assist
Lexis Drake — 3 kills, 3 digs
Chloe Marzocca — 2 kills, 2 digs, 1 assist, 2 aces
Myra McDonald — 1 dig, 3 aces
Dakota Strong — 1 kill, 2 digs

Cole White is an assassin with a soccer ball. (Jackie Saia photo)

It was the nailbiter everyone expected.

Playing on the road for only the second time in seven games this season, the Coupeville High School boys’ soccer squad fell 3-2 Tuesday in a heartbreaker at Mount Vernon Christian.

The loss snaps a four-game winning streak for the Wolves, ranked #7 in the state, and leaves them at 1-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 4-2 overall.

MVC, which began the day ranked #4 in RPI, is 1-1 in league, 7-2-1 overall.

Friday Harbor and Orcas Island, which played for the state title last season, currently sit atop the NWL standings at 2-0.

Tuesday’s tilt in Mount Vernon pitted two strong teams against each other, with the Hurricanes able to barely pull out the victory.

“Boy, I wanted that one,” said Coupeville coach Robert Wood. “Very emotional game, which of course means physical.”

The Wolves first score came courtesy an own goal, as MVC defenders got confused on who was supposed to pick up the ball and accidentally knocked the orb past their own goaltender.

CHS senior Cole White added his own goal, knocking a free kick into the back of the net for his team-leading sixth score of the season.

It was the 10th goal of his stellar prep career, making him just the 12th Coupeville boy to crack double digits scoring.

The Wolves get a prime chance to bounce right back, hosting Grace Academy Oct. 6 under Friday Night Lights.

Kickoff is 6:00 PM, admission is free, and the visiting Eagles will arrive on Whidbey carrying a 1-5 record.

With the girls’ program shut down for a season, Coupeville’s female booters are joining their male counterparts on the pitch. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)