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Posts Tagged ‘Arianna Cunningham’

Power, pop, and a big win

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on October 23, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Arianna Cunningham rises up to destroy the volleyball. (Jacob Lujan photos)

They brought a bunch of knives to a Forks fight.

With their big hitters delivering plenty of daggers Friday night, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad swept the visiting Spartans off the floor.

It was a well-played match, with plenty of long rallies, but ultimately the Wolves had the answer for anything and everything Forks hit their way, scoring a 25-22, 25-20, 25-22 straight-sets victory.

With the non-conference win, Scout Smith’s spikers get to 7-7 on the season and have won six of their last nine.

Up next is the regular season finale (and Senior Night) this coming Tuesday, October 27, with Friday Harbor visiting Cow Town.

After that, the district playoffs, which may include a home match.

But, if the Wolves were thinking of the postseason, they didn’t get ahead of themselves, staying committed and focused against a well-balanced foe.

The opening set was a battle of surges, with Coupeville jumping in front 6-3 with Tenley Stuurmans slicing winners from the service line, followed by Forks flipping things and surging ahead at 19-13.

But things ended positively for the Wolves, as they closed the frame on a 12-3 tear, with Arianna Cunningham madly mashing at the net while Capri Anter and Rhylee Inman peppered the Spartans with fiery aces.

Forks, proving plucky to the end, held off two set points but then helped out by sailing a serve long to hand CHS the magical 25th point.

Set #2 opened with freshman Zariyah Allen roaring in from the side to slice winners on back-to-back plays, before Inman and Kennedy O’Neill showed off their muscles by brutalizing the innocent volleyball to end intense rallies.

Kennedy O’Neill (3) and Rhylee Inman (4), ready to start flexing.

Haylee Armstrong was feeling it at the service line, winning five straight points, with Cunningham drilling a ball off the backline to push Coupeville way out in front at 12-4.

The visitors found their own mini hot streak, cutting the margin back down to 14-12, but couldn’t get any closer.

More highlight reel worthy plays from Inman and Cunningham, plus a dazzling flip winner off of Stuurmans fingertips, put CHS ahead 24-16, though Forks once again proved to be hard to knock out, avoiding four set points before #5 proved to be fatal.

The third, and final frame, was Coupeville’s all the way, as the Wolves led from start to (almost) finish, with one brief burp when Forks turned a 14-8 deficit into a very brief 16-15 lead.

Once again, however, CHS had the answer, with Anter and Armstrong making a deadly duo on their serve, and fellow Wolf senior Lexis Drake delivering several tasty kills.

Forks, the masters of never saying die apparently, played one ball off both the gym lights and a raised basketball backboard, then fought off three match points.

Answer needed?

Answer given, as Drake swooped in, walking on air to deliver a tip winner for the night’s final point, before dancing off to embrace her celebrating teammates.

 

Friday stats:

Zariyah Allen –4 kills, 2 digs
Capri Anter — 4 digs, 3 aces
Haylee Armstrong — 5 digs, 8 assists, 3 aces
Arianna Cunningham — 9 kills, 13 digs, 2 block assists
Lexis Drake — 3 kills, 1 block assist
Rhylee Inman — 2 kills, 5 digs, 1 assist, 1 solo block, 1 block assist, 2 aces
Willow Leedy-Bonifas — 27 digs, 1 assist
Kennedy O’Neill — 3 kills, 2 digs
Tenley Stuurmans — 3 kills, 8 digs, 14 assists, 2 block assists, 5 aces

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Red-hot start, ice-cold finish

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on October 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Wolves (top to bottom) Haylee Armstrong, Lexis Drake, and Capri Anter will celebrate Senior Night next week. (Julie Wheat photo)

Well, that was an unfortunate plot twist.

A strong start on the road Tuesday evaporated, sending the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad to a four-set loss at La Conner.

The Wolves, now 5-4 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 6-7 overall, opened the match on fire, taking set #1 by a tidy 25-13 score.

Then things got tricky, as the Braves (4-3) rallied to net the next three frames 25-18, 25-23, 25-13, earning a split in the season series after CHS won the first meeting in five sets.

Still, Coupeville, which has two regular season rumbles left, is virtually locked into a playoff berth, with the District 1/2 tourney slated to kick off November 2.

Before then the Wolves host non-conference foe Forks this Friday, October 23, before welcoming Friday Harbor to town October 27 on Senior Night.

Tuesday’s tilt looked like a rout, in the best sense possible, in the early going.

Tenley Stuurmans opened things by ripping off four straight points on her serve, before freshman Rhylee Inman erupted for a seven-point run as the Wolves kept the La Conner crowd nice and quiet.

Zariyah Allen and Arianna Cunningham mashed winners at the net to keep the Braves on their heels, with Lexis Drake crunching a kill which caught the last corner of the court before merrily skidding away.

Everything was going right, whether it was Cunningham pulling a ball back out of the net with her fingertips to set up Stuurmans for the kill, or Willow Leedy-Bonifas zipping service winners to every section of the floor.

Arianna Cunningham delivered some big blows once again. (Jacob Lujan photo)

Flush with success after a lightning-fast first set, the Wolves went up 7-4 in frame #2 … and then things took a disturbing turn.

La Conner doesn’t have a wham-bam-scare-the-children big hitter currently — Ellie Marble is long gone out the door — but the Braves scramble, and they keep balls in play, and they keep nipping at you.

And it began to work, as the hosts surged in front, dodged a run of big hits from fab frosh Inman and Allen, and polished off the frame with a closing run of 21-11.

Coupeville rebounded almost immediately, surging out to an 11-4 lead in the third set, and still led as late as 19-15 after Drake launched an explosive winner while popping in from the right side of the floor.

But it wasn’t to be, as La Conner ran off seven straight points to reclaim the lead and ultimately snuck away with the go-ahead win.

Down two sets to one, Coupeville faced the same uphill battle it did when the teams met on Whidbey, only this time the Wolves ran out of rallies.

A series of floor-cracking kills from Stuurmans kept CHS in it up until a 10-10 stalemate, then the floor fell out from beneath the visitors.

La Conner slowly, steadily pulled away with a 12-0 surge to build what proved to be an insurmountable lead, though Coupeville did hold off two match points at the very end.

Now, the playoffs beckon and likely a third meeting between the Wolves and Braves.

 

Tuesday stats:

Zariyah Allen — 4 kills, 2 digs
Capri Anter — 11 digs, 1 ace
Haylee Armstrong — 8 digs, 11 assists, 2 aces
Arianna Cunningham — 8 kills, 10 digs
Lexis Drake — 3 kills, 1 dig
Rhylee Inman — 7 kills, 7 digs, 3 block assists, 3 aces
Willow Leedy-Bonifas — 12 digs, 1 assist, 3 aces
Kennedy O’Neill — 1 kill, 1 dig, 1 block assist
Tenley Stuurmans — 7 kills, 8 digs, 18 assists, 2 block assists, 4 aces

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Wild rumble, narrow loss

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on September 28, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Freshman Rhylee Inman is making an impact for Coupeville’s varsity. (Carissa Peters photo)

It was a brawl, with one bad bump in the road.

Toss out a miserable second set, when the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad got stung badly by a red-hot server, and Monday’s non-conference rumble with visiting Cedar Park Christian-Bothell was almost a dead heat.

In the end, however, the Eagles, repping a 1A private school, proved to be just a bit better (on this night), making off with a 23-25, 25-7, 25-23, 26-24 victory over their 2B hosts.

The loss drops Coupeville to 1-4 on the season, but Scout Smith’s spikers get right back at it with back-to-back contests later this week.

The Wolves travel to Friday Harbor Wednesday, before hosting Concrete Thursday, with both matches conference bouts.

If CHS can bring the heat, as it did for much of Monday’s match, things will likely end positively.

Squaring off with an athletic, often big-hitting Eagles squad, the Wolves opened strongly.

Capri Anter and Willow Leedy-Bonifas sparked Coupeville with strong runs at the service line, while Arianna Cunningham was feeling it, crashing in from the left side to deliver monumentous kills.

Once the Wolves snatched the lead at 2-1 in the opening frame, they never fell behind.

Cedar Park did briefly tie things up at 12-12, but an ace from Anter immediately pushed CHS back in front, and several winners flying off the fingers of Cunningham and Tenley Stuurmans pushed the hometown team to victory.

The best combo play came courtesy Haylee Armstrong, who flicked a note-perfect set to her younger teammate, then watched in joy as Stuurmans pasted the ball off the backline.

Not to be outdone, Cunningham delivered a screaming winner which tore a piece of the floor off as it skidded away to seal the deal on a win in set #1.

Ready to rumble. (Bettie Sifuentes-Hart photo)

Set #2 wasn’t nearly as fun.

Early winners from Zariyah Allen, Rhylee Inman, and Kennedy O’Neill kept Coupeville close, but things disintegrated when a madly hopping Eagle went off on a 16-point run at the service stripe.

Down 22-3, Coupeville refused to take the easy way out, though, putting together a brief run of success after finally getting the CPC ace off the line.

While they couldn’t turn the momentary comeback into an epic turnaround, the momentum carried over into the third set for the Wolves.

Cunningham, playing one of her best matches ever, was a lethal force both on her serve and at the net, while a tip winner from Allen staked CHS to a 13-10 lead at the midpoint of the set.

From there the teams battled through six ties, with the last one coming at 23-23 after the fab frosh teamed up on a sparkling play.

Inman pulled off a miracle recovery, poking a ball back out of the net and skyward after the play seemed done, followed almost immediately by Allen slicing a winner that caught the Eagle defense flat-footed.

Cedar Park quieted the hometown fans, however, pulling off back-to-back tip winners to steal the set away and claim a 2-1 lead.

Which brought us to set #4, where another server got scorching, but this time one in red and black.

Leedy-Bonifas, with some help from a booming spike winner to the back corner from best bud Cunningham, delivered seven consecutive points at the line, pushing Coupeville out to a 12-3 lead and the promise of a fifth and deciding set lingered in the air.

The Eagles, a much-better team than their won/loss record might indicate, never backed off, but could never quite push past the Wolves, who held the set lead from the start to the (almost) finish.

Inman and Allen played like seasoned pros at the net, while Cunningham was bounding around, swinging like a mighty masher.

Not too long after an innocent ball cart was blown up by a spiker sprinting after a runaway ball, CHS found itself on the verge of knotting things up at two sets apiece.

Up 24-21, the Wolves needed just a single point … but couldn’t find it.

Cedar Park, holding off three set points, closed the match abruptly on a 5-0 run, denying the Wolves and guaranteeing itself a happy drive back to Bothell.

 

Monday stats:

Zariyah Allen — 5 kills, 2 digs, 1 block assist
Capri Anter — 8 digs, 3 aces
Haylee Armstrong — 1 kill, 8 digs, 5 assists, 2 aces
Arianna Cunningham — 10 kills, 13 digs, 1 assist, 1 solo block, 3 aces
Lexis Drake — 1 solo block
Rhylee Inman — 3 kills, 1 solo block
Willow Leedy-Bonifas — 15 digs, 1 assist, 4 aces
Isa Mc Fetridge — 1 dig
Kennedy O’Neill — 2 kills
Tenley Stuurmans — 3 kills, 4 digs, 16 assists, 1 block assist, 2 aces

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Spikers praised for leadership skills

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on June 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Arianna Cunningham (left) and Milly Somes

They’re the leaders of the pack.

Eight Wolf spikers were honored by Coupeville High School volleyball coaches this week as the program held a development camp.

The players, a mix of veterans and relative newbies, were hailed by Scout Smith and her staff for modeling the program’s core strengths of “leadership, excellence, accountability, and discipline.”

Olivia Martin (left) and Rhylee Inman

Isa Mc Fetridge (left) and Josie McColl

Capri Anter (left) and Halle Black

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Big meet, huge win

Posted in Track, tagged , , , , , on April 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Richmond Bandong was part of a record-setting relay unit Saturday. (Marquette Cunningham photo)

One of the smallest schools made some of the biggest noise.

Competing at the 23-team Dave Snyder’s Lil’ Norway Meet in Poulsbo Saturday, Coupeville High School shocked the track and field world in the mixed 4 x 100 relay.

Lining up against big school rivals North Kitsap, Bremerton, Lindbergh, and Clover Park, the Wolves, repping a 2B-sized student body, hit the tape first in a meet record 52 seconds, almost two seconds ahead of the second-place school.

The CHS unit, comprised of Lillian Ketterling, Richmond Bandong, Tamsin Ward, and Liam Blas, includes three sophomores and a freshman.

“Great way to end the meet!!!” said CHS coaches Elizabeth Bitting and Bob Martin as they likely exchanged high fives all the way back to Cow Town.

The spoils of (track) war. (Bob Martin photo)

Coupeville made a last-second detour to even attend the Lil’ Norway meet, as it was originally slated to travel to Forks Saturday before shuffling things.

Bellarmine Prep and Aberdeen took full advantage of deep rosters to claim the girls and boys team titles, respectively, while the Wolves were 17th and 19th.

Along with the huge win in the mixed 4 x 100, Coupeville picked up 12 PRs on the day.

CHS is back in action next Saturday, April 25, but much closer to home, when the Wolves host the Cow Town Classic Invite at Mickey Clark Field.

Lexis Drake debates how many relay teams she wants to run with. (Marquette Cunningham photo)

 

Saturday’s results:

 

GIRLS:

100 — Isa Mc Fetridge (29th) 14.09 *PR*

200 — Mc Fetridge (16th) 28.95 *PR*

400 — Taylor Marrs (20th) 1:14.52 *PR*

100 Hurdles — Myra McDonald (25th) 23.05; Frankie Tenore (26th) 24.54

300 Hurdles — Kennedy O’Neill (22nd) 59.98 *PR*; Devon Wyman (27th) 1:11.16

4 x 100 Relay — Arianna Cunningham, Lexis Drake, Willow Leedy-Bonifas, Mc Fetridge (13th) 56.72

4 x 200 Relay — Lillian Ketterling, Leedy-Bonifas, Drake, Mc Fetridge (15th) 2:03.62

DMR 4000 Relay — Mikayla Wagner, A. Cunningham, Wyman, Laken Simpson (7th) 15:37.79

Shot Put — Ward (10th) 30-03

Discus — Ketterling (11th) 74-04; Ward (23rd) 58-02

Javelin — A. Cunningham (11th) 76-10

High Jump — Ward (10th) 4-08; Tenore (15th) 4-04

Pole Vault — Ketterling (7th) 7-06

Long Jump — McDonald (33rd) 9-05.75; O’Neill (35th) 9-02.75

Triple Jump — Leedy-Bonifas (13th) 28-00.50 *PR*; A. Cunningham (14th) 25-11.25

 

BOYS:

100 — Marquette Cunningham (29th) 12.26; Liam Blas (36th) 12.46

200 — Nathan Coxsey (33rd) 25.55 *PR*; Shiloh Sandlin (38th) 27.83 *PR*

400 — Brian Thompson (21st) 58.55 *PR*

800 — Ossian Merkel (27th) 2:24.07 *PR*; Johnathan Jacobsen (33rd) 2:33.58 *PR*

1600 — George Spear (22nd) 5:01.66; Hunter Atteberry (37th) 5:56.87 *PR*

3200 — Spear (15th) 11:24.72; Kenneth Jacobsen (20th) 11:34.53

300 Hurdles — Edmund Wilson (22nd) 50.12

4 x 100 Relay — M. Cunningham, Blas, Beckett Green, Houston (16th) 47.79

4 x 200 Relay — Richmond Bandong, Sage Arends, Coxsey, Wilson (10th) 1:43.25

4 x 400 Relay — Wilson, Thompson, Will Tierney, Green (14th) 4:00.69

DMR 4000 Relay — Merkel, Tierney, K. Jacobsen, Cyrus Sparacio (4th) 11:56.71

Shot Put — Zachary Saho (11th) 38-09.75 *PR*; Khanor Jump (29th) 33-03.25

Discus — Jump (18th) 105-03; Blas (24th) 97-01

Javelin — Bandong (25th) 101-05; J. Jacobsen (30th) 78-10

Long Jump — Arends (12th) 18-05; Thompson (26th) 17-01

 

CO-ED:

Mixed 4 x 100 Relay — Ketterling, Bandong, Ward, Blas (1st) 53.80

Heading home after a successful day on the mainland. (Amber Wyman photo)

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