Emma Leavitt was a terror at the service stripe Monday, peppering Lakewood with a series of aces. (Leann Leavitt photo)
Great coaches and great players make for great wins.
Opening a brand-new season of serves and sets Monday, the Coupeville Middle School volleyball squads swatted visiting Lakewood, rallying to knock off their big school rivals in a pair of three-set thrillers.
The match marked the return of spiker guru Cris Matochi and the coaching debut of Raven Vick, teaching the sport she loves to a new generation of girls in the same gym she once played in herself.
The 2020 Coupeville grad is now one-eighth of the way through her first season on the bench, and she likes the view.
“Overall, I think the girls played really well today,” Vick said. “It’s good experience playing against a much bigger school, and they were strong.”
Raven Vick, ready for her coaching debut. (Maria Reyes photo)
Vick’s sentiment was shared by fellow coach Matochi, especially on a day when the Wolves had 14 active players and faced Lakewood, which lists 54 spikers on its roster.
“Every one of the girls did their part for us,” he said. “They all filled their roles and had an impact. You like to see that.”
How the day played out:
Red Team:
Coupeville’s first six players battled back from a set down to win 21-25, 25-22, 15-10 in a barnburner.
The Wolves dug deep at the end, pulling off an 11-4 run to close the match, with Rhylin Price, Adeline Maynes, and Capri Anter coming up huge at the service stripe.
Tenley Stuurmans dropped in a dead-eye spike to kick-start the final run, with teammate Haylee Armstrong punctuating things with a ferocious winner, the ball slicing off a Lakewood kneecap or two as it skidded away from the Cougars.
The final stand brought the Wolves the W, but CMS battled with intensity all match.
The opening set featured eight ties, the final one at 21-21 after Coupeville fought back from five points down.
Armstrong and Price delivered big hits, while Lexis Drake hustled for every shot, but Lakewood managed to slip away at the end, thanks to some pinpoint serving.
The final point was agonizing, with a Lakewood serve slapping into the top of the net, then flopping over the obstacle at the last moment, dropping in for a surprise ace.
With all six Wolves on their heels, they were unable to counter the sudden reversal of fortune and could only watch in frustration as the ball limply smacked into the court.
It could have been a killer, but Coupeville’s six-pack of sluggers brushed the moment away and immediately fired right back up.
The second set was all Wolves, all the time, as Anter went on a torrid run to help spark her team to a 14-6 lead.
The CMS 8th grader blasted aces, one hitting a rival in the head, while also dropping a pair of note-perfect lob shots for winners while playing defense.
She got help from Armstrong, zinging winners, and Maynes, serving nuclear bombs which exploded, covering Lakewood hitters in shrapnel.
The Cougars were a tough team in their own right, however, and came all the way back to claim an 18-17 lead, despite losing one point when they served the volleyball directly into the ref’s crotch.
Faced with a deficit, Anter simply said, “Nope. Not today.”
Another run of points at the service stripe, with Armstrong soaring to flick a tip winner after a back-and-forth rally, and Coupeville headed back to the bench with the match knotted at a set apiece.
That set up the final frame, where the Wolves, drawing support from an enthusiastic crowd, swept the Cougars away.
Black Team:
Coupeville used a mix of players in the day’s second match, and again rallied from a set down, this time winning 9-25, 25-23, 15-8.
CMS 6th grader Emma Leavitt opened the match strongly, slamming a pair of aces on her first two serves, reminiscent of how older sister Jaimee once stalked the service stripe.
From there, Lakewood’s second squad, which featured a parade of under-handed servers methodically launching moonballs, got on a hot streak and ran away with the set.
Willow Leedy-Bonifas and Alexis Hewitt nailed drop-shot winners for the Wolves, with Leedy-Bonifas launching hers over her shoulder, but the Cougars were on a roll.
Which largely stopped in the second set, with Coupeville regaining control of the match at the service line.
Leavitt, Anter, Armstrong, Leedy-Bonifas, Maynes, and Stuurmans all collected points on their serves, while Isabella Bowder, Cheyanne Atteberry, Alyssa McGee, KeeArya Brown, and Olivia Martin scrambled on defense and made their coaches proud.
Plus, extra credit to Martin, who assisted the local media by matching jersey numbers up with player names pre-match.
She was the real hero, for me at least.
Trailing 2-1 in the third set, CMS grabbed the lead for good with Stuurmans twirling the ball and peppering Lakewood with aces.
Middle school rules limit servers to five points at the line, but that was enough, as Tenley staked the Wolves to a 6-2 advantage.
Lakewood fought hard, but to the horrified gasps of its fans, the Cougars were soon heading back to the bus with a two-loss day.
Leavitt drove the final stake in, closing the day with four straight aces to end the match.
Two of her service winners ripped off a chunk of the back line, earning a resounding “Yes!” from mom Leann, back in the gym, ready for another tour of duty as a volleyball mom.
Coupeville Sports 