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Posts Tagged ‘Avalon Renninger’

Two Wolf netters still standing

Posted in Girls Tennis, tagged , , , , on May 7, 2019| Leave a Comment »

CHS sophomore Genna Wright played strongly through three matches Tuesday at the league tennis tourney before falling. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Six went off to districts, and two survive.

Coupeville High School juniors Tia Wurzrainer and Avalon Renninger survived day one of the North Sound Conference tennis tournament, and have punched a ticket to next week’s bi-district tourney.

The duo return to Granite Falls Wednesday, but don’t know if they’ll actually play another match at the league tourney.

Three doubles tandems (out of a field of 10) advance to bi-districts, and Mary Zisette and Allison Papritz of South Whidbey are through.

The Falcon duo, who finished 2nd at the state tourney last year, claimed the #1 seed by knocking off Wurzrainer and Renninger in the tourney championship match.

There are four teams vying to face Coupeville’s duo in the 2nd/3rd place match.

But, if either King’s #1 team or South Whidbey’s #2 squad gets there, the Wolves get a walk-over win, as they have already played, and beaten, those duos.

If it’s King’s #2 team or Granite Falls #1 duo, Wurzrainer and Renninger return to the court to play one final league tourney match.

Either way, the Wolf duo and coach Ken Stange head to the Overlake School in Redmond May 14 to play a loser-out bi-district match against a team from the Emerald City League.

Survive that and they go to the Redmond Tennis Club May 17 for the semifinals (and hopefully) final, with the top two teams at bi-districts moving on to state.

While Wurzrainer and Renninger play on, their teammates have reached the end of their seasons.

Singles players Genna Wright and Jillian Mayne and doubles duo Eryn Wood and Emily Fiedler had differing levels of success at the league tourney, but all failed to advance.

In a rare occurrence, though, Coupeville had no seniors in the postseason, and can return all six netters who stepped onto the court at the league tourney.

 

Complete Tuesday results:

 

Genna Wright:

Lost to Allison Giroux (King’s) 6-0, 6-3

Beat Gabriela Schmesing (Granite Falls) 6-1, 6-2

Lost to Emily Lundberg (Granite Falls) 6-4, 7-5

 

Jillian Mayne:

Lost to Scarlett Ren (King’s) 6-0, 6-0

Lost to Oliana Stange (South Whidbey) 6-2, 6-2

 

Avalon Renninger/Tia Wurzrainer:

Beat Ava Dreon/Christina Wang (King’s) 6-3, 6-4

Beat Ainsley Nelson/Farris Jokinen (South Whidbey) 6-0, 7-6(7-2)

Lost to Allison Papritz/Mary Zisette (South Whidbey) 6-0, 6-3

 

Eryn Wood/Emily Fiedler:

Lost to Elma Lu/Jackie Cheung-Main 6-4, 4-6, 4-6

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Court action? You surely jest

Posted in Girls Tennis, tagged , , , , on April 23, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Elaira Nicolle played strongly at #3 varsity doubles Tuesday, then came back around to win a JV match later in the day. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There are five varsity spring sports teams at Coupeville High School.

Baseball has played 17 games, softball 14, boys soccer 13, and even track and field has been to eight meets.

And girls tennis?

Well, good news, because against all odds, they completed their third match Tuesday afternoon!

In a season beset by scheduling conflicts and a whole lot of liquid sunshine, that’s a start, even if the Wolves did fall 4-1 at King’s.

It was the first full match Coupeville had played in two weeks, and, hopefully, the start of three in four days.

The Wolves, who sit at 0-3 after two losses to King’s (the powerhouse of the North Sound Conference at a shiny 6-0), are set to travel to South Whidbey Thursday and Friday Harbor the day after.

Facing off with a strong Knights team in Shoreline, Coupeville nabbed its single varsity win at #1 doubles, where Tia Wurzrainer and Avalon Renninger rolled to a straight-sets win.

The Wolves came dangerously close to a second victory, but Emily Fiedler and Eryn Wood were nipped in a third-set tiebreaker at #2 doubles.

 

Complete Tuesday results:

 

Varsity:

1st Singles — Genna Wright lost to Scarlett Ren 6-0, 6-0

2nd Singles — Jillian Mayne lost to Allison Giroux 6-1, 6-0

1st Doubles — Tia Wurzrainer/Avalon Renninger beat Caroline Baker/Grace Roberts 6-3, 6-2

2nd Doubles — Eryn Wood/Emily Fiedler lost to Ava Dreon/Christine Wang 4-6, 6-4, 10-8

3rd Doubles — Elaira Nicolle/Abby Mulholland lost to Elma Lu/Jackie Cheung-Main 6-2, 6-3

 

JV:

4th Doubles — Mary Milnes/Bruna Moratori lost 8-1

5th Doubles — Noelle Daigneault/Katelin McCormick lost 8-4

6th Doubles — Maddy Andrews/Milnes lost 8-2

7th Doubles — Cecelia Camarena/Cassidy Holmes lost 8-7

8th Doubles — Andrews/Nicolle won 8-2

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Big hits, quick snaps

Posted in Girls Tennis, tagged , , , , on March 27, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Cecilia Camarena reacts to getting the tennis ball stuck in her racket. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Wolf hard-court ace Genna Wright gets mid-match wisdom from CHS tennis guru Ken Stange (left) and team manager Drake Borden.

Jillian Mayne sends a screaming forehand the other way.

Avalon Renninger whispers to the ball, “I’m sorry, lil’ buddy, but I’m going to have to hurt you now.”

Eryn Wood prepares to unleash “The Serve of Death ‘n Destruction.”

Tia Wurzrainer snaps another winner cross court.

The sound of tennis balls being whapped always brings the photographers out from hiding.

With hard court action in Coupeville finally kicking off Wednesday, intrepid paparazzi John Fisken spent several hours clicking away, making sure to nab a shot of all 16 Wolves in action.

The pics above are but a small portion of what he shot.

To see everything, and possibly purchase some glossies (thereby helping fund scholarships for CHS senior student/athletes), pop over to:

https://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/Coupeville-Tennis-2018-2019/GT-2019-03-27-vs-Kings/

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Terrific trio top Wolf tennis roster

Posted in Girls Tennis, tagged , , , , , on March 4, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Still on the mend after back surgery, longtime Coupeville High School tennis coach Ken Stange is back on the courts, though not hitting as much as normal. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Junior netters Tia Wurzrainer (left) and Avalon Renninger, the team’s #1 doubles duo, lead the Wolves.

You can’t keep a good coach down.

Though he’s still recovering from spinal fusion surgery after a fall from a ladder, Coupeville High School girls tennis coach Ken Stange is back on the court.

While he’s limited on how much hitting he can do this spring, the longtime Wolf net guru has help from Drake Borden, an ace boys player pulling manager duty.

Also, as CHS moves into a new league, Stange can rely on his top returning players to help guide the newcomers.

Juniors Tia Wurzrainer and Avalon Renninger inherit the #1 doubles slot, replacing the graduated Sage Renninger and Payton Aparicio.

After finishing third at districts during their sophomore season, the duo are back and ready to take the next step on the success chart.

“We have strong leadership in Avalon and Tia. They had a fantastic season last year,” Stange said.

“Depending upon progress made and allocations given, they have an excellent chance to go far!”

Joining them is sophomore sensation Genna Wright, who played #1 singles as a mere freshman.

“Genna should be in position to have a strong year as well,” Stange said.

After the top three, however, the rest of the roster is very much a work in progress.

Only four other letter winners return, and the group of Jillian Mayne, Jaimee Masters, Elaira Nicolle, and Emily Fielder doesn’t feature anyone who played varsity regularly a year ago.

“Our weakness is that we are inexperienced,” Stange said. “With only three full-time varsity players from last season, we have some work to do, if we want to make waves in our league.”

Two freshmen, Eryn Wood and Abby Mulholland, “have shown great promise during the first week of practice,” and Stange always looks forward to seeing who will rise to the occasion with each new season.

“We have quite a few young players this year, so I expect lots of development as the season progresses,” he said.

After four seasons of ruling the roost in the Olympic League, Coupeville has set up shop in the new North Sound Conference in 2019.

Tennis is its own thing, however, as not all of the league’s six schools field a team.

Sultan and Cedar Park Christian sit tennis out, but Friday Harbor, the only Northwest League team to play the sport, has bounced over to join up with Coupeville, South Whidbey, King’s, and Granite Falls.

“We are in a new league with higher standards, and it will make for a competitive group,” Stange said. “I expect South Whidbey to be the gold standard; although, we have been able to stay close with them in recent years.”

Like the best coaches, Stange keeps an eye on the win/loss record, while putting the bigger emphasis on improvement, as individuals and as a team, and how the Wolves conduct themselves.

“(The season will be a success if) we try hard, we are happy with our results, we improve each day, and we demonstrate excellent sportsmanship,” he said.

For longer-term goals, Stange would like his team to finish in the top two in the league standings, advance at least two entries to districts, and get at least one entry to state.

As he rebuilds his own strength, he expects his players to do the same.

“I feel fortunate to have Avalon and Tia leading the charge for me this season,” Stange said. “I am not at 100% this season, and they will be essential to our entire team’s success.

“Luckily the path was laid for them by Valen Trujillo, Payton Aparicio, and Sage Renninger.”

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“This one hurt”

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on December 8, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Avalon Renninger had four points and six rebounds Saturday as the Coupeville varsity girls absorbed a tough road loss. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Legendary basketball coach George Raveling once said, “Life is about turning obstacles into opportunities.”

It’s a lesson the Coupeville High School varsity girls basketball team will need to embrace.

The Wolves looked like they were headed for their second-straight win Saturday, but took an unexpected left turn off a cliff with no parachute, watching in horror as their victory slipped away.

Able to score only seven points across the game’s final 16 minutes, Coupeville surrendered an eight-point advantage, tumbling to an unexpected 31-27 loss at Orcas Island.

The non-conference defeat drops the Wolves to 1-4 on the season.

With four days until their North Sound Conference opener at South Whidbey, it also presents them with a major gut-check moment.

“Now it’s up to us to turn things around,” said CHS coach David King. “Tonight’s game was an unexpected obstacle. This coming week will determine if we can turn it into opportunities.”

Despite a long day of bus and ferry travel to get to a far-flung outpost, Coupeville came out strongly, using its defensive press to disrupt the Orcas attack.

While they struggled a bit with turnovers, the Wolves did get going on offense in the second quarter, taking a 5-5 stalemate after one quarter and turning it into a 20-12 lead at the half.

Sophomore Chelsea Prescott and senior Ema Smith were a two-woman wrecking crew in the opening half, combining for 11 of their team’s points, with all of them coming in the second frame.

Prescott got hers the old-fashioned way, hitting three field goals, while Ema Smith stroked a three-ball and slipped a pair of free throws through the twines.

Toss in a pair of buckets from Avalon Renninger, a long trey off the fingertips of Scout Smith and a field goal from Lindsey Roberts, and CHS was beginning to click on the offensive end of the floor.

One of Renninger’s scores was especially highlight reel worthy.

A long pass intended for Roberts flew over her head as she charged down the sideline in pursuit.

Instead of giving up, the senior captain hit another gear only she has, saving the ball at the last millisecond (while crashing into the Orcas ticket-taker) and re-directing it towards her teammate.

Sprinting up the middle of the floor, Renninger, a professional ball-hawk, snatched the loose orb, pivoted and promptly banged home the bucket to complete an “all-out hustle play.”

Unfortunately for the Wolves, things dried up severely after that.

“Coming out for the third, everything went sideways,” King said. “We couldn’t take care of the ball, and, when we did, our offense slowed down to a snail’s pace.”

Coupeville went nearly five minutes into the second half without scoring, finally breaking through on a free throw from Prescott and a breakaway layup by Tia Wurzrainer.

And yet, despite tallying just three points in the third, the Wolves were holding on to the lead heading into the fourth.

But, up by four, they continued to stall on offense and didn’t help themselves at the free throw line, missing all five of their attempts in the final quarter.

“Orcas had taken the momentum from us; they kept fighting and got into the bonus and in the fourth they shot eight free throws and made four,” King said. “They also beat our press a couple of times with a full court dribble-drive that resulted in layups or getting to the free throw line.

“We played very well for about a quarter and a half,” he added. “The game is four quarters, and we just didn’t get it done and Orcas did.”

The way they lost, even more than the L itself, is what haunts the man at the helm.

“As a coach, this was a tough loss,” King said. “We can’t take possessions off — not keeping the ball moving — on offense. We turn the ball over 21 times, it’s going to show up in our ability to score.”

But there are still 13 regular season games left, including all 10 league contests, and Coupeville’s coach is confident his team can find its sweet spot.

“I was pleased with the press and the many deflections and our 16 steals,” King said. “Just need to convert those.

“We will see if we can correct some things,” he added. “We have to learn when we have a lead, we can’t let up.”

Prescott paced the Wolves with nine points, three rebounds and two steals, while Ema Smith (5), Renninger (4), Roberts (4), Scout Smith (3) and Wurzrainer (2) also scored.

Hannah Davidson and Renninger each snatched six rebounds, Ema Smith topped the stat sheet with five steals and Scout Smith doled out two assists.

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