Senior setter Maddie Georges is key to keeping the Wolf offense flowing. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
They’re Scottie Pippen, but they want to be Michael Jordan.
In the two seasons since Coupeville High School returned to 2B, the Wolf volleyball squad has been flawless in league play, with one caveat.
CHS is 16-0 against every Northwest 2B/1B League rival not named La Conner.
But the Braves, who have won three-straight 2B state titles, and six in the program’s history, are 5-0 against Coupeville in that time frame.
Which just means the chase is on.
“Of course, we will need to practice being prepared for every matchup that we will face this season,” CHS coach Cory Whitmore said.
“We know that La Conner will return a few players from their state championship team this past fall,” he added. “We always expect them to be good, so we will have to work on how to be better.”
Coupeville, which has six consecutive winning seasons with Whitmore at the helm, has plenty of firepower at its disposal.
Those players, a mix of grizzled vets and promising youngsters, is built for success now, and in the future.
“We had a very productive off-season,” Whitmore said. “I’m really looking forward to what we have prepared so far and the puzzle pieces we have in order to figure out our new identity along the way.”
A five-pack of seniors leads the way for the Wolves, with libero Alita Blouin, setter Maddie Georges, and middle blocker Jill Prince each boasting two years of varsity experience.
“They each bring a lot to their positional role,” Whitmore said. “The rest of the team will rely on that experience and look to them for guidance.”
Jill Prince, getting low here, is a force at the net for Coupeville.
Prince led CHS with 93 kills and nine block assists as a junior, while Blouin (207 digs) and Georges (225 assists and 48 service aces) also topped the stat sheet.
Joining the trio at the forefront of the roster are fellow seniors Taygin Jump and Ryanne Knoblich.
“Taygin will help bolster the backrow pass and dig game,” Whitmore said.
“Ryanne has about reinvented herself now as a six-rotation player – last season she played in a defensive specialist role, but we are so proud of the work she put in this offseason to make herself a terminal attacker on the pin.”
Other Wolves expected to have an impact on the varsity squad include junior Grey Peabody and sophomores Lyla Stuurmans, Madison McMillan, Katie Marti, and Mia Farris.
“I am so proud of the work Grey has put in during the offseason to be ready,” Whitmore said. “She will fill a vacant middle blocker position really well and become a fast attacker.
“Lyla really increased her serve receive range and is starting to scratch the surface of her attacking potential.”
Lyla Stuurmans is one of several young Wolves with a bright future.
McMillan and Marti both made their varsity debuts as freshmen, with Marti racking up 86 assists as a fill-in starter for ill or injured teammates.
Farris, riding the momentum of a very-strong freshman season on the softball diamond, “has really come on during the offseason, focusing on detailed technical fixes.
“Mia had a great camp,” Whitmore said. “I’m excited to see her continue that momentum in a number of potential roles.”
However the roster breaks down, the Wolves will be focused on two things — emphasizing their attacking efficiency and increasing the amount of block-touches.
“We need to generate points on offense and slow the ball down on defense for our backrow to collect a maximum amount of digs possible,” Whitmore said.
“This particular group is quite receptive to the detailed changes that we need to improve on our goals, and so I’m excited to see how far we can take them.”
Being able to blunt the power offered up by La Conner and other elite teams will be key to Coupeville’s own success.
“We have already started to address that we will have to improve our attacking efficiency if we want to beat the best teams in the league, district and state,” Whitmore said. “It will be a huge area of focus for us moving forward, and with some many factors that contribute to that growth.
“While it is unlikely for us to generate a wild amount of stuff blocks, we have been talking about making sure to get touches on the opponents’ attacks more often to slow down the speed at which their offense comes at us.”
Big kills and dynamic serves are always appreciated, but Whitmore points to his team’s bond as a tight-knit group as being just as important.
“Our team strengths will definitely come from this group’s productive and positive communication,” he said. “It has been a big area of conversation through the offseason, and they have had a taste of just how it can propel us when it is our focus.
“Another strength would be this group’s connectedness.
Similar to communication, I think that fans will be able to see a genuine trust they have for each other and how they have been excited for each other’s successes, thus in turn increasing those team successes.”
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