Senior Emma Smith delivered 12 bone-rattling kills Tuesday, sparking Coupeville volleyball to a win over 2A Anacortes. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Scout Smith never stopped running.
The play was dead, it was over, it was done, it was finito, it was time to brush it off, take a deep breath and move on … except Scout Smith never stopped running.
Sprinting from one side of the court to the other, using every last stretched-out inch of her slender frame, she threw out one curled-up fist at the last millisecond and spun the volleyball over her head as she crashed through the bench on the way to the stands.
Improbably, impossibly, the ball rolled through the air, found the outstretched fingertips of one of Smith’s teammates, and flopped over the net, dropping to the floor with a soft plop which sent the Coupeville High School gym into delirium.
It was one small play, one small point, but in the blink of an eye, as a dead play turned into one more magical moment for a hyped-up Wolf volleyball squad, one thing was certain.
There was no freakin’ way Coupeville was losing Tuesday night.
Playing on coach Cory Whitmore’s birthday, the Wolf spikers put together one of the most electrifying team performances in program history, stunning 2A Anacortes 27-25, 16-25, 25-16, 25-23.
The non-conference victory, which came backed by a fan base which collectively lost its mind (and possibly, their voices) as they stamped until the bleachers cried uncle, lifts Coupeville to a pristine 2-0 on the season.
“I’m so excited to see us play this way,” Whitmore said. “We played to our strengths, rolled with every punch, and then immediately came back and won points almost every time playing the way we wanted to play.”
The key was six Wolves on the floor firing as one, “digging like crazy, serving consistently, getting on a roll, feeling it, and pouring it on.”
Whitmore ran eight players through his rotation against Anacortes, and every single one had at least one play that stands as a “that’s the way you do it” moment.
From Zoe Trujillo stepping off the bench midway through the match, and immediately getting a kill on her very first play, to Scout Smith, who doled out a team-high 22 assists (and never stopped running), the Wolves attacked from all angles.
But you have to step back, gaze in wonder at what Emma Smith accomplished, and know this match, right here, right now, is the one she could show to college coaches.
One she can tell her irrepressible niece about, again and again, as Aunt Emma’s biggest little fan gets old enough to appreciate the stories.
One she and longtime running mate Ashley Menges — seniors who have lived and breathed volleyball for half their lives and are off to a fantastic start to their swan song — will remember long after they have retired their knee pads, but are still best friends.
It was a night when Menges was on fire, when Maya Toomey-Stout was hoppin’ and poppin’, spraying daggers and takin’ names, when super sophomore Chelsea Prescott had the biggest plays of her career, when Hannah Davidson and Emma Mathusek played inspired ball.
But it was also the night Emma Smith strode into the gym a star, and exited as a legend.
It wasn’t just her 12 kills, but the fact every last one came at a major turning point.
That she used her height, her jumping ability, her fast fingers on blocks and tips, and, in the end, a right hand that smote the volleyball like Thor’s hammer connecting with the heads of so many Frost Giants.
“That’s my granddaughter and don’t forget it!!” bellowed Coupeville football legend Steve Smith, his buttons popping with pride.
“The best night of my life!!!” exclaimed mom Konni Smith, as she danced out of the gym.
“Emma was feeling that confidence,” Whitmore said, wearing a smile just a fraction smaller than that of his player’s mom. “Her play, both with her kills and her serving, was infectious, and everyone fed off of it.”
It was a match where both teams came full-tilt, making few errors and forcing their rivals to earn every point they won.
Anacortes, which had a size advantage, delivered heavy hits and tried to control the pace, but Coupeville was not in a mood to crack.
Almost every set featured the two squads taking turns putting together runs, and the stage was set right from the first moments.
The Seahawks jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, only to lose the lead when Scout Smith cracked off a run of five straight points on her serve.
Once ahead, Coupeville jammed its foot through the floor boards, stretching the lead out to as far as seven points, with Emma Smith slicing off body parts with a variety of wicked shots while stalking the net.
A nice run at the service stripe from Prescott, a monster mash of a spike off the fingertips of Menges, and the first set was turning into a run-away.
Until Anacortes rediscovered its groove, turning a 19-12 deficit into a 24-23 lead.
With the ball in hand and set point on tap, the Seahawks were unbeatable and … Emma Smith just killed someone. For really real.
Rising up and over the net with a single bound, nostrils flaring, eyes full of lightning, the Wolf senior smashed a winner which tore through the heart of the Anacortes defense, slamming into the floor and leaving a permanent dent.
Pity the poor janitor who has to buff that one out.
With both teams saving a set point, the first frame was finally settled when Prescott came flying up the middle of the court, following her own serve.
Bringing a furious end to a brief rally, the future (and present) of Wolf sports walloped a winner between two Seahawk defenders, sending her teammates jumping in a team-wide display of unbridled joy.
While the second set went to Anacortes, Coupeville hung tough, peppering its share of big hits and artful tips, and very little air went out of the gym.
And why not?
Mere seconds into the third set, Emma Smith was back to going medieval on the ball, Toomey-Stout was hanging in mid-air, firing from every angle and Mathusek and Scout Smith were keeping every ball in play.
Even the ones they shouldn’t have been able to reach.
Trujillo smacked a winner from the left side on her first swing of the night to stretch Coupeville’s lead to 14-9, Anacortes fought back to within 16-15, and then the gunfighter went to work.
Returning to the service line with a vengeance, Emma Smith fired off a string of winners, with one particularly nasty serve peeling three layers of skin off the Anacortes player who tried, and failed, to return the ball.
And her running mate? Right by her side, being awesome in perfect stride.
Menges closed the third set with an emphatic spike, going airborne on the right side and lashing the ball off the line on the left side, then the two seniors combined to slam the door in the night’s final set.
Control of the fourth frame veered madly, as Coupeville went up by three, then down by five, before things got knotted up at 20-20 when Emma Smith whacked a sizzling line-drive off of someone’s scalp.
Not to be outdone, Menges and Toomey-Stout followed up with big hits of their own, before three Wolves teamed up to stuff the final shot of the night from Anacortes.
The ball started to come across the net, met the combined resistance of the Wolves, and flopped backward, hitting the ground and rolling away as the celebration rippled across the court, through the CHS bench and to every layer of the gym.
Afterwards, after the cheers had quieted and the fans had departed, the Wolf players walked out, some solo, others in groups, all bouncing, all alive with the moment, flush with new, positive memories which will stay with them for the rest of their prep careers, and far beyond.
Sitting sprawled on the floor, waiting for her dad, assistant coach Chris Smith, to finish up, Scout Smith had finally stopped running.
She looked a little tired, a little jazzed, and a lot happy.
It was a good look.
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